Coaster and Cup

The Stash Sisters had a coaster mat and cup exchange on Saturday. I hooked a sheep out of yarn and wool to match a mug I found at the British Isles tea shop here in the Village. I even tried something different in terms of finishing. I actually crocheted the edge with yarn to match the sheep. I choose this edging because the mat was circular and I thought it would lay flat nicely and give a nice bind off so the back would look as good as the front.

And here is the wonderful mug and mat that I received from one of my dearest friends Lurie. I love it so much and am drinking tea from it as I am writing this. A little cottage in England on a bluff...what a wonderful place to be!

Gift idea for the sports guy

Wondering what to do about the uncle or brother or dad or grandpa who loves sports? Tired of buying them team t-shirts and sweatshirts and hats? Me too. So this year, I found a team mug for the Rockets and hooked a basketball coaster with the team's logo. Along with a ticket to the game, it should make a fun and unusual gift for Grandpa.

Gerber Daisy Cup Coaster

Another gift idea with the holidays approaching. This time it is an oversized gerber daisy cup coaster with a china mug.

I just sketched the daisy on my linen. I didn't draw some petals long enough, so I just drew over them. It won't matter since the lines are only meant to be rough guides to my hooking.

I hooked the center first with yellow using value #1 around outside of center, #2 around next, #4 and #5 in middle. Then I set my petal hue #8 next to the yellow and #7 next to it. At the end of the process I didn't like this choice and replaced it with brown.

I hooked my dark values, #7 and #8 around the edges of the petals that are behind the other petals. I hooked #3 and #4 around the edges of the petals that are on top. I hooked #5 and #6 around the petals in between the #7-8 and #3-4 petals. I hooked #1 and #2 inside the #3-4 petals.

I filled in #5-6 petals with #3 and #4, and the #7-8 petals with #6. Then I finished the edge by using a zigzag stretch stitch close to the edge of the hooking. I trimmed it next to the stitching and clipped the areas where the petal edge jutted inwards. I used 3/4" strip of wool, attaching it with a whip stitch by hand and catching every loop all the way around. Then I tacked it down on the back all the way around. I steam pressed it really well to flatten.

Finishing the back of the cabbage rose

Kim asked in the comments on my post about the cabbage rose coaster how I finished the back. I didn't do much. I took a piece of wool 3/4" wide and stitched it by hand to the outer edge of the hooked piece, catching the outer hooked strip between each loop. Then I cut around the backing about 1/2" from the hooked edge. I tacked down the loose edge of the strip all the way around.

I used wool instead of binding tape because I wanted a soft narrow strip to bind off with. The reason for this is that I have a curvy outer edge so I needed flexibility in the binding so I wouldn't end up with a bunch of lumps all the way around.

If you really want to make it "pretty" you could take a piece of wool the shape of the coaster and tack it all the way around the back over the binding. I didn't do this, but you could.

Hooking a wide-cut rose as a coaster

The Stash Sisters ATHA guild here in Houston has been talking about doing a coaster and cup exchange for February. When we tossed around this idea, I immediately thought of all the great tea cups and mugs that the British Isles shop in the Village has for sale, and how fun it might be to create a flower mat to match a cup design. Then I started to think about Christmas presents I would like to make...and this led me to go over to the shop and pick up a mug as a gift for a family member (can't say who) and draw out an oversized rose coaster. I took pictures as I progressed since I wanted to show how easy it is to use an 8-gradated swatch in a wide-cut to create more realism in hooking. The key is to use all the 8 values, and to put the lightest value (#1) against the darkest value (#8) on the edge of the petals to make them pop out.

So here is the cup and coaster finished. I'm showing it because I used the rose on the front as my inspiration.

I took a sharpie and drew the petals very roughly on the linen. Just a sketchy outline. Then I went in with my #1 value (#6 cut) and I hooked all the edges of the petals that I thought looked the lightest in the picture of the rose on the cup.

Next, I went in with my #8 value and I hooked all the areas that were the darkest in the picture of the rose on the cup.

Third, I went in with my #4 value. It is a medium value, so I laid it down in between the lines I had hooked with #1 and #8. Just haphazard. Nothing planned. Nothing structured anymore than making sure that the #4 had to be between the #1 and #8.

Fourth, I went in with my #6 value. I placed it between #4 and #8.

Fifth, I went in with my #2 value. I placed it between #1 and #4, and on the edges of those petals I had not already edged with #1.

Sixth, I went in with my #3 value and hooked it between #2 and #4, wherever it would fit.

Seventh, I went in with my #5 value between #4 and #6, wherever it would fit.

Eight, I went in with my #7 value between #6 and #8, wherever it would fit.

That's it. Essentially what this amounts to is staggering values between each other. This process allows for a more free-form structure of the rose than careful planning in fine-cut hooking when each petal is hooked one at a time. It allows for the rose to emerge from a structure of very light (where the light is hitting the flower) and very dark (where the shadows are on the flower). Then all the rest is just hooked in between.

It was easy to do and only took me one evening from start to finish. The binding took another sitting, but not a whole evening.

Weeks 13 and 14: Ten-Minute Challenge Round Up

Welcome to new challengers, Wendy Walsh and Terri Lehmer!

Congratulations to Jenny Anderson with this autumn beauty "Acorns" she posted on the RHD Ten-Minute Challenge forum; Robin H. finished "Rufous the Weiner Dog" as a tribute to her pet (also posted on RHD); I finished this oversized cabbage rose coaster for a Christmas gift (more on this in another post):