Thursday, July 17, 2025

Sometimes the Pattern Chooses You

I haven't bought too many rug hooking patterns in my 20+ years of hooking. I either design my own, or work from photographs. But every once and a while I choose the pattern, for a number of reasons; to support the designer, or because I think it will be a good learning curve, or something that I wouldn't design on my own. 

But sometimes a pattern chooses you - or at least that is what it feels like. Recently it happened to me. 

My local rug hooking group had our second annual "Estate and Stash Buster Sale", a fundraiser we do for our local Food Share. As people give up their hooking, for whatever reason, the supplies are snatched up by other eager rug hookers. And often there are some older patterns that someone started and couldn't finish - or hadn't been started at all.

One of the "not started at all" patterns kept whispering to me during the sale. I looked at it, walked away, and then returned for another look.

It's a very old pattern, and quite large. Kind of looks like a tapestry. I saw three people on horseback, riding through a meadow of flowers and was smitten. Not for me, but for my grand daughter. Was it a coincidence that we had just seen Disney's live-action Snow White a few days before? I think perhaps.  After all, the pattern featured a King, Queen and Princess, or so I believed. I was now transfixed.

But when I took a closer look, and actually saw the name of the pattern "Star of the East", I realized that this was in fact the three wise men - especially once I saw the star. And why did the Queen have a beard. When I realized this, I had a good chuckle.

However, who says it cannot be a King, Queen and Princess riding through a meadow of flowers. And the star can just become a sun, or clouds or something else that suits its new "iteration". I may just trace and copy some of the flowers, which I think is more fairy tale like.

I have started with the King, who is in the centre. The Princess will be to the left of him, and the Queen will be to his right (without a beard). And they will all live "happily ever after".

This will definitely be a labour of love. The image is faint on the surprisingly supple backing. And I have decided to punch the outlines and then fill in with yarn. Hoping to dedicate a few hours a week, and that it may be done by Christmas. My grand daughter certainly didn't ask me to do this, and hasn't seen it. But I hope it will keep her believing in fairy tales for many years to come. 

It makes me smile when I sit with it, that I projected my vision onto this rug. But I definitely think it called to me, because nobody else had chosen it in all these years. 

I will try to post updates as I move along. 



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Sometimes the Pattern Chooses You

I haven't bought too many rug hooking patterns in my 20+ years of hooking. I either design my own, or work from photographs. But every o...