Tip of the Week -- Use a Color Wheel

Yesterday I was counting crocuses -- today I am shoveling snow.  It's pretty, but I am ready for spring and all it brings . . . . 

It has been a tough week.  My daughter was in a car accident on Saturday.  She is fine and it wasn't her fault, but her car was totaled.  It was traumatic for her and pretty stressful for me, trying to help her from the other side of the country. Pete has been gone all week, taking care of his elderly parents, so the three of us spent lots of time on the phone and computer. Thank goodness for cell phones and the internet. They made a difficult experience a little easier to handle.  Clara is now the owner of a brand new car that she hopes will last her many years.

I am working on a pattern I designed last year in honor of the Fairfield Rug Show that is no more.  The pattern is called Fairfield Floral and I am hooking it with secondary colors in a tetrad, meaning I am using a double complimentary contrast -- purple, pink, yellow and green.  That means if you draw a rectangle between the secondary colors on a color wheel, I am using the colors you find at the corner of the rectangle.  This is an unusual color combination for me -- I am not a fan of purple -- but I am a fan of complimentary color schemes.  This is a good exercise in color theory.  It will be interesting to see if I can make a rug in colors I don't normally use or like.  This is in progress -- I have to re-hook the right side of the vase, and I am not liking the white echinacia, so they will be coming out . . .

So that's my tip of the week: Use a color wheel to help you plan a successful rug. It is an inexpensive and valuable tool for the rug hooker.