K.I.S.S.

For those of you who don't know this anagram, it means Keep it Simple Silly - or you can substitute a stronger word for the last S. It is an expression I use a lot at work in an effort to keep from over-complicating things. It's a very good adage for everyone and I should really follow it more often.

Every once in a while I stumble into a rug hooking project that reinforces how true this is. The picture with this blog is a fine example. My husband asked me if I would hook him a mat for his side of the bed at the cottage. When I asked him what he had in mind, and he told me - a brown and beige checkerboard - I thought it sounded boring. He was very certain - he didn't want a lot of colours. He didn't want a fancy design. I asked if he wanted a border - he said no. I asked if he would like a hit or miss panel on either side. He said no. He just wants a plain checkerboard - 24 x 24. Hmmmph.

So, last week I got out all my brown wools. And all my beige wools. And I cut a bunch of strips and made two big piles of the two colours. Already, I could see that perhaps this wasn't going to be so boring after all. As you can see, something wonderful happened as soon as I started mixing the textures around inside the squares of the checkerboard. There's something akin to a log cabin pattern that is happening in each of the squares. It's simple. But it's beautiful. And here I was trying to make it more complicated than it needs to be.

It's a wonderful respite from busier probjects that I have on the go, and I find I want to keep going to see how the textures in the squares look next to one another. There's something quite hypnotic about the simplicity. I think this rug will go quickly and I will write another post about it when I get it hooked and perhaps another as I finish the whipping.

I like the simplicity of this project. And there's nothing silly or stupid about it at all.