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Latch (Hook) the Rainbow: Tips & Tricks for Intuitive Latch Hooking

July 31, 2018 12 Comments

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.
As loyal blog readers & fans of Very Serious Crafts, are well aware, I developed an obsession with a new yarn craft this spring and summer. And that obsession goes by the name latch hook. The project I’m sharing today is special – it’s the project that launched a creative compulsion that shows no sign of stopping. The basic idea behind this four panel latch hook piece was simple: find a way to beautifully use and share the massive quantity of yarn scraps in my stash. What you’re looking at here is more than 20 years of ends from knitting, crochet and yarn craft projects, all of which were collecting dust for one reason or another.

Want to get going with latch hook? Let’s get you started: Things to Latch Hook / Latch Hook Basics / Basic Latch Hook Finishing / Tiered Colorblock Wall Hanging (tutorial & free latch hook pattern)

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.
To be quite honest, I’ve had this particular project done for a little bit and have been sitting on it because I couldn’t quite figure out if this made more sense as a tutorial, a pattern, a tips & tricks for success guide, or simply sharing some photos of this project that I love. In the end, I’m going with kind of a combo of the two. If you’re a dog lover, you’re in luck, because Woodrow & Storm (viewers of my Instagram Stories will be well acquainted with them…) decided to help out with the photos. And they did a very good job.

The other unusual thing about this project & today’s post is the fact that everything is very strikingly contemporary looking. Instead of my usual primary colors and quasi-vintage vibe, this rainbow latch hook is positively present-day! Shocking, I’m sure.

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Supplies required for this project

rug canvas (I used a piece of 24″ by 30″canvas cut exactly in half vertically and horizontally. Each quadrant of this 2 panel by 2 panel piece measures 12″ by 15″.)
latch hook tool
scissors
ruler
cardboard
yarn (particularly scraps in as many colors as possible)

Don’t forget – if you’re new to latch hook, check out this basics tutorial for more helpful information.  

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Intuitive Latch Hook

In my head, and then in person at my contemporary latch hook workshop last month, I’ve been referring to this style of latch hooking as “intuitive latch hook.” Instead of working from a pattern or having a limited number of colors, textures, weights and yarns to work with, you work basic latch hook stitches on 4 identically-sized pieces of rug canvas. But before you begin, you simply map out what colors you want to focus on for each square. The way my scrap stash broke down was like this: the upper left rectangle ranges from light pinks to dark oranges, upper right from buttery cream to deep evergreen, lower left covers aqua to eggplant, and the bottom right is simply pure white to pure black with browns sandwiched in the middle. (Apparently I haven’t been a huge knitter of earth tones in my knit & crochet career.)

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.
Why do this? It’s simple, really. I didn’t want this yarn and all of its attached memories of learning and developing my craft go to waste. Sewists have quilting and other scrap fabric projects to show off their handmaking history in beautiful detail. Why can’t yarn crafters have the same? And by the way, it was super fun to make this! It gave me a chance to meditate on color and mastering a new technique (which, again, I’m addicted to for real right now). Plus taking a long, hard look at the detritus of my stash, and by extension my entire career from childhood crafter to professional handmaker. It was a very interesting, introspective process.

And if I’m being a little emotional/woo woo here for your taste… In the end, this is freaking pretty and I like it and I can’t wait to smile as I walk by a pretty yarn rainbow in my house. The end.

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Tips & Tricks for Intuitive Latch Hooking 

  • All of the pieces of yarn used to make this latch hook piece measure 3.75″ to 4.25″ in length, all were hand cut.
  • If you’re working with yarn that’s particularly thin (think DK/sport, fingering or lace weight if you know your yarns), work several strands held together as one to form your latch hook knots for that section. So you’ll cut 2 (sport/DK) or 3 (fingering or lace weight) strands of the yarn in question and work a single stitch using all of those strands as if they were a single scrap of yarn. That way you don’t end up with skinny little yarn pieces in your rug canvas that not only leave visual gaps, they also tend to undo and fall off! Pro tips, friends. Pro. Tips.
  • If you’re working with heavier weight or bulky yarn, don’t latch hook in every single cell of your rug canvas. It gets too dense and makes the canvas curl back on itself and not lay flat. Skip every other cell like a checkerboard and you’re golden. (see the back detail shots of this project to see what I mean.)
  • Don’t forget to leave yourself a perimeter of 1-2″ of unused rug canvas around your work for each panel of rug canvas for finishing your work.
  • If you’ve got a LOT of one color, only use part of it at a time. You’re manually cutting your latch hook yarn into scraps piece by piece, so chip away at a single color section and then switch it up. Just like I learned my stash is pretty lean on browns as I worked this project, you might find that you really have a thing for blues and purples. (And hey – if you’re hue-exclusive, you could do an entire tapestry or two in just gradients of one color family. Just sayin’!)
  • The closest thing I have to a pattern for this is the following doodle I made in my design notebook. I used straight up Crayola Markers – the 8 or 10 pack – to give myself a rough idea of where each color was going to go and remind myself that the red and neutral panels’ gradient ran top to bottom, and that the green and blue panels ran left to right.

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Front-of-Panel Details

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.
Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Back-of-Panel Details

Check out what the back of each panel looks like, particularly for handling extra thick or thin yarn.

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.
In the end, remember this sort of project is all about having fun while learning a new technique! Plus, this lets you clear out those last bits of your yarn stash that might not otherwise have a home. Whatever you make is going to work out just fine – this is all about playing with color, texture and pattern. You can do whatever you want, but hopefully these tips & tricks will help guide you to success with your own intuitive latch hook! As always, if you’ve got any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or via email at heidi [at] handsoccupied [dot] com.

Latch (Hook) the Rainbow - This simple, four-panel latch hook project is all about finding a way to beautifully use and share scraps from your yarn stash. Gather your yarn ends! Quilters get to use fabric scraps to create beautiful works of art from their leftovers. Why can't the same concept apply to yarn crafters? Learn all about how to make an intuitive latch hook project like this with a craft tutorial from professional Knit & Crochet Designer, Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Filed Under: Latch Hook, Yarn Crafts Tagged With: how to latch hook, intuitive latch hook, latch hook, latch hook tutorial, rug canvas, wall hanging

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Elizabeth Lyons

    March 4, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    what type of different yarn did you use for this project?

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 6, 2019 at 9:34 am

      I used dozens of different yarns – all of it came from leftover ends in my stash! :)

      Reply
  2. Ruth Hogberg

    March 23, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    How did you hang this project. I loved it so much I have two finished but they don’t lay flat on the wall when I hang them.
    Hint please.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 24, 2019 at 9:41 am

      You might want to attach a lightweight frame or sew a couple of dowels to the back of the project, hidden from view while hanging. Since latch hook is a rug-making technique, there is flexibility in the canvas you use. The biggest thing I’d keep in mind as you come up with a flat-hanging system is weight. I’d focus on balsa wood or small dowels to avoid your piece weighing a ton!

      Reply
  3. Nahed Minawi

    March 7, 2020 at 8:23 am

    Hello! These are gorgeous. Is there an entry on exctly how to hang these? Are they hanging from a nail in the wall? Cn you explain a bit more please about how to weigh them down? A picture would be amazing. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 28, 2020 at 12:50 pm

      I haven’t done a blog post about latch hook hanging tips, but it’s on my to do list for the near future! Sorry for the delay in response – I was writing a book about latch hook these past few months which covers everything from start to finish, including hanging. 👍🏻 Keep your eyes peeled for more tutorials on this blog and on bookshelves in fall 2020. See a sneak peek here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-LBzb1JlvI/?igshid=160g83svo4ump

      Reply
  4. Kathy

    May 16, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    You have inspired me looks like different lengths of thread have tons of stash yarn just waiting for canvas ty for this great artistic blog

    Reply
    • Heidi

      May 29, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      You’re so welcome! I have been so worried no one would “get” my explanation of a more artistic approach to the medium, so it’s great to hear from you! Have you gotten to try this method yourself yet?

      Reply
  5. Arti

    April 5, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    These pieces have inspired me to start off with this art form! They look absolutely stunning and so do your dogs!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      April 7, 2021 at 11:15 am

      Thank you so much – it’s a real blast! :)

      Reply
  6. Jayda

    May 16, 2021 at 5:14 pm

    Thanks so much for this inspiring blog post!! I have just ordered canvas to try it on my own – I remember helping my mom with a couple of latch hook projects as a kid and it was such a joyful experience. This kind of “intuitive” approach is exactly what I crave from the medium after trying out patterns and such. I can’t wait to get started :)

    Reply
    • Heidi

      May 24, 2021 at 3:10 pm

      Let me know if you get stuck or have questions, good luck! -Heidi :)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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