The Last Talavera Tutorial

Posted by Laura Kenyon on October 29, 2016

Here is a rug in progress hooked by Brenda Neafsey. I love how she has added purple to the mix. Nicely Done!!

So when we last met, we were painting clouds. How are they coming along? Before you get to close to the bottom, be sure to hook in the curved line over the corner motif.

Otherwise that will be a very bumpy line.

Let's go over to the opposite corner at the top, the squares...

Before we get started on the checkerboard, we need to fill in the primitive scrolls, or parentheses or whatever you call them. They are the fence that will keep the two motif fields separated. I used the bright blue, and echoed it at the bottom, surrounding the big flower.

I used the lightest pink for the background and the darker for the grid lines. Where the lines intersect, I hooked brown. This mimics where the artist would paint with glaze and there would be two layers as the lines meet, making the corners a little darker.

There is nothing tricky about the checkerboard. It is much easier that the diamonds. Hook the dark lines and interrupt them with the brown, two rows of each. Then hook a row of the lighter pink next to the darker line all the way around the periphery of each square. Then fill in. Trying to turn too many corners may warp the straight lines, so don't be afraid to cut each strip as you get to the end of a row.

The way I hooked it is very subtle. You can dress it up by hooking the background in white, giving it more contrast. Or here is a sample from pottery where extra dots and lines are added.

Let's talk about dots and circles a bit. Beginners have a hard time with the concept of working on a square grid and hooking curves and circles. It is not so much about putting a round peg in a square hole as it seems.

How do you make a small dot? A really small dot..like a accent of light in an eye, or a tiny spot on an animals fur. Use a narrow strip and hook just the two ends, leaving them a little long.

Then twist them together and cut them to the length you want.

How about a little bigger dot....

We want to hook a triangle around the center hole of the circle. Think of it as a clock face with the center left open.

Start at 4 o'clock, turn and hook a loop at 8 o'clock and at 12 o,clock and finish by bringing the end out at 4 o'clock again. Remember to turn your work or your hand so that the hook is pointing into the center like the hands of the clock. This makes a little bigger dot as it is or it can be the beginning of a circle like the center of the flower.

To continue to make the circle larger, hook another row around it. I am using another color just to better demonstrate the second row.

Hook this row close to the center to kind of nudge everythinginto place. There is no formula, just try to make it as round as possible and be sure that your hook is turning around the circle to keep the loops running around the center.

So, that is how we hook a circle...from the inside out with as many rows as it takes to fill the area. Now go ahead and hook the center of the flower.

The remainder of this rug is easy-peasy. I used white as the background for the whole bottom. The flower is simple outline in the 4-cut blue and fill. I used turquoise to even out the patch of clouds on the other side. The leaves just touch the edges of the blue around the flower. If you want to use another color as the background around the flower, you certainly can.

Moving to the right, I kept with the beautiful blue on the white field. The six little brushmarks are hooked just the same was as the paisley forms on the pumpkin's cheek.

The little grouping under his chin can be anything you want. I did stay away from the dark orange in any of the background since I think of it as the pumpkin skin. But, you see I did use a drop of the lighter orange.

The last motif in the bottom corner lets you show off how round you can hook a circle now.