Learning to Hook

I am hooking my first big rug. I don't have any sort of pattern, which may be a mistake in my first large scale attempt, but I am enjoying the soothing rhythm of hooking. The nice thing is, I just have it all in a big laundry basket and at moments when things are calm or the babies are asleep, I can just pick up and start. I began the project with a black border and then spent a couple of months staring at the blank space on the rug warp trying to envision what might fill the outer boundary. In the end, I decided to go for something simple, circles of different colors at random spacing. My Aunt Glee sent the warp and some lovely colors of wool that she dyed, which I am using in along with some wool I have here. All of the wool is recycled, or probably more accurately put, reused from old clothing and secondhand store finds.
Here is a picture of all the different items I used to make the circles:



Seems that Eleanor is interested in learning to hook too. I am probably not the one to teach her since I am so inexperienced myself, but hopefully she will be able to work with Nana and Aunt Glee the next time we are together, so that they can impart their vast knowledge of the art on her. I think it is so nice that she has an interest in the rug. I believe that if she is exposed to the wool, the process of cutting and using ones hands to create, she will learn naturally and enjoy creating as well. Even if she doesn't want to hook rugs, I think that being in a creative environment will help her imagination and that is something that I feel responsible to help foster.
Here are some pictures of Eleanor -- checking out the wool, practicing her hooking, and getting bored with the rug warp and starting in on the couch: