The beginning of a happy hooker story...

I began rug hooking just over a year ago.  My mother-in-law had done some hooking in the past and had a bunch of unfinished projects, a frame, a cutter, hooks, and some wool in a cupboard in her family room.  I asked her if I could borrow some of the tools to try it out, and she gave it all to me!  I read a few books, talked with a few experienced hookers and dove in. Before I knew it, I found myself hoarding wool and hiding in my office, hook in hand.

My first project was to finish one that my mother-in-law had started many years ago.  She was making a chairpad with a Newfoundland dog on it.  When she started it, they had a Newfy boy named Yogi, who was all black with a white patch on his chest.  She was hooking it with narrow #4 strips and the dog was fiished, but the background was not.  With her permission, I pulled out the background and replaced it with some wool that I found at a Goodwill store.  The backing is burlap, but it was fraying, so I put linen behind it and hooked the background through both the linen and burlap for stability. I still have not finished whipstitching the border, but I love the way it turned out.