Latch Hook Selfies

Here are some images of the latch hook selfies created by my grade 6 students this year. They started by taking photos of each other. They then uploaded their image to a website called leftsource.com. You can use this site to create gridded patterns for free. You can use up to 64 colours. I limited the colour choices to 7 but some used fewer. The website even generated a shopping list depending on the company we order our latch hooking supplies from! The rugs measure approximately 9x12 inches. We worked on them at school for a couple of classes and then worked at home. We had a monthly hookin during which I photographed progress. Students completed these over 6 months. 

Here is our whole display of finished rugs. We had many encouraging comments about this project!

Students brainstormed this list once the project was finished:

SOME THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED BY WORKING ON A LONG-TERM PROJECT LIKE THIS:

·      To not procrastinate.

·      That listening to music helps with concentration for this kind of project.

·      That practice improves skill.

·      To work on the project regularly otherwise you might forget how to do it.

·      To follow our instructions/chart carefully.

·      That working with wool is a calming activity.

·      Working from the bottom up was easier because the ends weren’t in the way.

·      Working on this project can help deal with sadness, stress and other emotions.

·      That it takes a lot of patience to finish something like this.

·      That being impatient can lead to making mistakes.

·      That leaving things until the last minute is stressful. It also leaves no time to correct,   or to get more materials...

Blue Heron

Blue Heron, hooked rug, 9x12 inches

Blue Heron, detail

Blue Heron, detail

This is a rug I was inspired to make after a Green Mountains Hooked Rugs workshop with Jon Ciemiewicz. During his classes with us, Jon shared slideshows of his work, inspiring images, some riddles and prizes. He also covered several of his methods for dyeing wool using one single slow cooker! I have since used many of his ideas when hooking and dyeing. Thanks Jon!

The heron and the tree were hooked with many bits of wool hiding in my bag of "noodles". I dyed the water and background of trees using one single piece of Dorr wool. I measured how long my horizontal strips needed to be in order to hook a full line. I then measured a piece of wool that wide and as tall as the background. Using various values and tints of blue and green dye, I "painted" the background wool as one piece in a large metal casserole dish. In order to keep the painted strips in order, I cut 4 of them at a time horizontally as I hooked and taped the pieces together with masking tape until I was ready to use them.