My name is Karen Kahle and I am an artist from Eugene, Oregon. For the past 19 years or so I have hooked and designed rugs for my mail order business called Primitive Spirit.
I chose the name Primitive Spirit because my designs are in the primitive style of rug hooking. The look is vintage, stylized, with soft, time-worn colors. These are the colors I live with and make me feel at home and happy.
Other than my mail order business, I have travelled to teach classes about color. I self-publish several dye books that feature my antique colors, as well as The Marbleized Wool Book on creating colorful wool without using dyes.
In 2012 I began this blog to be an outlet to share my creative work and a place to tell my followers about new products and workshops. Among the hundreds of posts I have written I have shared techniques and sources of inspiration, and given free patterns and tutorials. I feel fortunate through this blog to be able to expand my circle of crafting friends.
I have many creative loves, and besides rug hooking I enjoy painting, crocheting, knitting, sewing, doll making, jewelry making, and faux finishing furniture. I love antiquing, fiesta ware, walking, organic gardening, and cooking healthy foods.
Some of my most popular blog posts are:
My happy crochet memory gave me an inspiration
Hint for knitting a repeated pattern
Here is a fun dye method that gives you uncommon results
Sharing with you some new patterns for 2015
Here are places where you can see more of my work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/primitivespirit
http://www.etsy.com/shop/primitivespirit
Click on this gray logo in the sidebar to the right to see my Pinterest pages. Follow me!
If you would like to support my blogging work at any time and donate any amount at all, I have a button at the end of this post for that purpose. I am happy to share inspiration, photos, free patterns, and other ideas with you. For me it is a joy, however it takes a great deal of my time. Know that I appreciate your kindness if you choose to contribute to my work.
Please share a link to my blog with your crafty friends!
If you choose to ‘Follow Blog via email’ to the right, you will automatically be notified of new posts as soon as they are published. Be a part of my blog family!
My readers are what it is all about. Thank you for taking a bit of time out of your day to spend here. It is my hope that you will always come away with a bit of inspiration, enough to pull you away from your worries and cares of the day and take you to your hook, your color pots, your knitting needles, your brush, your tools of the trade — and create!
Sincerely, Karen
primitivespirit 
I love, love, love the new blog – can’t wait to see more rugs!
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thanks for checking out my blog!
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LOVE YOUR WEB SITE!!! I LIVE IN BROOKLIN,MAINE AND I JUST STARTED HOOKING 2 YEARS AGO.I AM A FRIEND OF CAROL AND ALAN R. IN FLORIDA AND CAROL’S SISTER PATRICIA IS A VERY DEAR FRIEND ALSO IN FLORIDA!! I AM SHARON HOLDEN.
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truly a small world! happy that we can all be knit together on my blog! welcome, karen
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I am interested in the Friday project – the hit and miss geometric.
How do I proceed? – looking forward to this interactive project.
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click on my photo to the right above the words “HOOK ON FRIDAY”. that will take you to the info. great to have you join us!
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Do you publish a schedule of when/where you will be teaching in the future? My friend and I might like to travel to a class sometime. Thanks!
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thank you for your interest, i will publish a schedule soon.
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Your blog is beautiful, Karen. I found you while looking for just that: beautiful blogs to nominate for the One Lovely Blog award. Take a look, and kudos for your inspiring work! http://teresayoung.com/2012/06/12/a-blog-award-nomination/
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many thanks!
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Beautiful.
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Finally found you! I admired a picture of one of your rugs several years ago but couldn’t find much about you on the web. Now, thanks to pinterest, I have found lots of lovely info. Thanks.
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Hi there,
I just read an article on vacation and travelling that you posted a while back on your blog: https://primitivespirit.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/vacation-time/
I thought you might be interested in a vacation infographic we just published, it’s titled ‘Vacation Time goes unused for most Americans’, check it out: http://complianceandsafety.com/blog/vacation-infographic-vacation-time-goes-unused-for-most-americans/
If you like it, feel free to publish it on your site.
Thanks a lot,
Matthew Pelletier
Director of Public Relations
C&S Safety Training Videos
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I love your carpet bag on I love rug hooking site! It is definitely on my to do list!!!
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Came across your blog today and have to let you know how much I love it. I’m an addicted and eclectic crafter, your work is inspirational.
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thank you, rob, let’s create!
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Love your work and your hair lol
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Would love to know how to get the instructions on how to use and thread a vintagerug crafters tufting hook please
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Do you ever give individual lessons? I visit my sister in Oregon and would love to book an afternoon for private lesson in rug hooking. I will watch your blog for classes. I am a beginner and want to learn.
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taffra, no i don’t teach beginning students. i would suggest picking up a copy of Rug Hooking Magazine (B&N stores) and finding out what is near you as far as classes and guilds. you may be surprised as what is available in your area. once you get the basics in hand, you might then be interested in taking a color workshop from me.
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While surfing through Pinterest I came across your Site…..I thought I would have a look. My married name is Robertson, my maiden name is Kahle………Karen Kahle. It kinda freaked me out to see somebody else with the same name! Lol
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my married name was kahle, so i can’t claim to be part of the clan!
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Today, I was cruising through Pinterest patterns, & come across your crochet tank. Of course I love it, then see I have the pattern set aside awaiting my hands to create a piece. Enjoyed your blog page, especially to learn your name is Karen as well as mine, residing in Eugene, Oregon for the past 51 years. Although I have yet to set up a blog, Etsy, site I enjoy creating a variety of craft items; crochet, knit, scrapbooking, and much more! You do great work! Thank you for sharing!
Karen
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thanks for connecting with me!
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Reading your blog is like reading about me! Now I need to get off the computer and get some dyeing done! Maureen in Washington state
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Hello! Could you recommend a specific iron to use for steaming rugs?
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i use any kind that has steam. i like the ones that have a burst of steam feature. used irons can be a thrifty alternative!
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Okay….thank you.
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Hi
I’m desperately looking for one of those non-electric tufting machines… I am in South Africa and want to start teaching the women in the townships to make items so they can support themselves and their children.
I cant find the correct name or the product for sale ANYWHERE…
Please help me and point me in some sort of direction. I am really desperate!
Thank you very much
Kind Regards and looking forward to hearing from you…please.
Celia Opperman
South Africa
+2772 963 1063
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they are called rug crafters speed tufting tool, or yarn crafters speed tufting tool. often you can find them on ebay. send me your email and we can talk further.
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Hello Karen, Thank you so much for your kind comment on my blog! I loved reading your post above. It appears we are both deeply enmeshed with aesthetic observation. “So what of it all? Did I do justice to the mystery? I don’t know ” this is such a fascinating question and, I believe, trying to answer this question is a profound task. Using ourselves as a conduit, each of us answers in such a unique way, it was a pleasure to see your work – how you respond. Each year I try to explore more facets of this question – going deeper. “It is as if I am living both today and in another time period” I would like to know why you feel this way – and is it a specific time period – why that period? And “I see life as a puzzle and the many pieces of it create a picture that elevates it to become a huge surprise.” Wow! what a line! I want that line to be an entire post – if not a book! : )
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rebecca, i have relished rereading your comment, knowing that we have made this connection. i will revisit your questions and ideas. i just bought a copy of your book Alchemy, and am nibbling off bits at a time like a sinfully rich piece of chocolate cake. i want it to last! heartfelt thanks for putting your ideas into a book and your blog.
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Hi! I’m looking for Tasha Tudor and here I am! Found an article about her on your blog. And I love your blog and your work, specially, the bags! But I love crochet, tricot and all manual crafters!
I’m from Brasil, south of Brasil (Rio Grande do Sul) and sorry for my English! I’m triyng writing without translation…
Now I’ll keep looking and getting to know your blog.
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thanks for commenting! welcome to my blog, happy to hear from you!
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I came across this on Pinterest and had a question in general. My grandmother did many speed-tufted wall rugs in the 1980’s. I still have 4 of them. There is one that has begun to unravel. How do I fix this? What type of glue do I need to use? I will take all the help I can get! Thank you. You have beautiful work.
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thanks for reading my blog and commenting. i don’t have experience with the rugs that have glue on the back. you might do a google search on repairing glued hooked rugs.
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Thank you, I will look that up. Would you know how to repair an unraveled speed-tufted rug?
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if the backing is still in good shape you can just use a crochet hook to get the loops back in place. if it is disintegrated, it is more complex of a problem. search for repairing vintage hooked rugs and there may be a video or instructions to guide you.
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Thank you. Previous searches we unsuccessful.
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