Cottage vs City Hooking

We went to the cottage this weekend and this is what I worked on. It's a commissioned sign for a family who visited us there this summer. I always feel this is the perfect visual for cottage hooking - Hudson Bay blanket et al - in fact it was my Rugged Moose sign which prompted the order.

I hooked for a couple of hours on Saturday and then again early Sunday morning. As I sat there hooking on Sunday morning, I realized how different my hooking experience is there than it is at home. As a "cottage hooker", since my studio is not finished and won't be for a while, I hook in the living room. I hook in the quiet, watching the view out the window over the deck (a view which is never unattractive). I sip my coffee and ponder, which is very different from at home.

As a "city hooker", I generally hook in the evenings - after dinner and clean up are done. I tend to hook in the basement family room, with a load of laundry going. And I hook with the TV on. Usually something that is relatively mindless, so I can hook and look at the same time.

I think if I had one to choose just one way to hook, the "cottage hooker" would win. The quieter hooking inspires different thoughts than TV-on hooking. I guess not having the distraction allows me to focus more on the project. So I think about the wool, the project, the recipient. It is definitely much more "mindful" hooking.

For example, as I was working on the border of this sign, I started to remember where the white wool came from - "as is" from King Textiles near my office. And I thought about all the other projects it has been used in. It's been sky in a couple of projects - and it's been background in many. I don't remember how much of this wool I originally purchased, but there is still a chunk of it left in my stash. So, it will grace a few more pieces before it is gone.

The lettering in this sign is made up of two old sports jackets that I got at Goodwill. And it has been lettering in many pieces - including the Rugged Moose sign. I'm sure I could trace it to many more projects, and the browns keep changing, but they all go together. Same with the black backgrounds - always a mix from whatever is on hand, with one plaid moving forward into the next piece.

The green is from an old blanket mixed with some green from a jacket. The red is an old skirt. And the yellow is a combination of some wool that I dyed and a woman's jacket that felt like cashmere. I really love the way this border frames the lettering.

The sign will be delivered on December 10th when we will get together with the Fitzgeralds for our annual Festive Cocktails. They really fell in love with all the hooked pieces at the cottage when they visited this summer and were originally going to order 5 signs for all their family gifts. Thank goodness the order was scaled back to just this one, since I have many other Christmas projects left to do before the big day.

So the "city hooker" will be busy on the frame with the TV on until Christmas - making little gifts for lots of folk. Then, from December 27 to New Year's DAy, the "cottage hooker" will get to ponder again.