Just stopped by to dash off a quick post – a “postette” perhaps? – as I’ve got tons to do to get ready for this week’s hooking activities. Tomorrow, being the first Tuesday of the month, will find me at Albuquerque’s Botanic Garden participating in my guild’s monthly demonstration. I’ll be bringing my recently completed bed sheet rug and the new one that I’m working on. Yes, I am rather obsessed and finding these rugs great fun to work on.
One finished bed sheet rug to show off at the Biopark tomorrow.And a new bed sheet rug to demo with the guild.
Then there’s this week’s 3-day rug camp with Cheryl Bollenbach. Like I mentioned last week, I finally decided that I wanted to do a portrait of my dog Tynan. But not a realistic interpretation looks- and color-wise. I do want to realistically capture his spirit. I managed to draw him onto the monk’s cloth a few days ago. Picked the colors only this morning and still have to sew the twill tape onto the pattern. So much to do before Wednesday!!!
Tynan and I are off to workshop with the Adobe Wool Arts Guild and Cheryl Bollenbach Wednesday.
What are your hooking plans and/or goals this week?
Refilling the creativity tank (photo by GermanGirl at rgbstock.com)
It happens: the creativity tank starts to run low and needs gassing up. After rushing to finish and then submit “Ribbons Over Albuquerque” last week, I had to come down, recharge, give my brain and swollen hands a rest. That’s not a bad thing; it opens me up to new experiences which is always a great thing for dreaming up new rugs and mats.
So, just what do I do when I’m not hooking but still want to keep the fires stoked?
I cook. Gluten-freedom has made that a little…interesting. But you can’t beat it for almost immediate gratification. And my family is oh, so appreciative.
Field trip! Last week Tom and I headed toFlowers seen at Albuquerque’s Biopark last week.
Albuquerque’s Biopark Botanic Garden where I do rug hooking demos once a month. I’d never seen the rest of the park! Now we’ll go every season to see how it changes.
I take pictures of things I deem “interesting” as possible design candidates. If the pic sucks, just hit DELETE. Easy-peasy.
Never underestimate the joy in visiting a Penzeys spice store just to sniff the merchandise. Especially if it’s next door to a Michael’s. Just be careful around the Berbere Seasoning if you value the nerves and blood vessels in your nasal cavities.
I grab the dog and the husband and hit a trail. Or even a nearby sidewalk. You never know what you might see even in your own neighborhood. (Don’t forget the camera!)
Between my arthritis and my newest rug, I’ve been spending some time hooking beyond my comfort level. The project for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council’s Colors of the Southwest exhibit – you know, the one I’ve been going on and on about – was due early this week, and late last week I hadn’t even finished the hooking! That meant that Thursday and Friday I hooked during the day, an unusual event for me. I generally work in the evening for two to three hours while I watch television. So far that’s not taxed my RA too much.
Friday I was able to start finishing the main body of “Ribbons Over Albuquerque” (more on that in another post) and preparing its little “outrigger” piece. This is precisely where we approached and then zoomed by the comfort level. First and foremost was the physical. The main part of the rug is approximately 13″x39″.
Time to sew on the binding. Ouch!
Now I really don’t mind the hand-stitching involved: tacking down the monks’ cloth backing and then sewing up the twill tape nice and pretty like. It’s easy when I use wool strips and/or yarn. Needles flow into those fibers like a knife into butter. Not so t-shirts. It’s tough getting even an itty bitty needle to pierce tightly packed t-shirt loops. But I did it, finished it late Saturday afternoon. My knuckles are still recovering.
The little outrigger part of the rug constituted the weekend’s other challenge. When I initially designed the project, I intended for the bows, i.e., the “ribbons over Albuquerque,” to all be hooked into the one piece. Preparing the pattern, though, I realized that one of the bows, the very top one, needed to “sail off” into the air, as it were. How to do that?
Luckily for me, Lucy Richard of the Wooly Mason Jar sparked some conversation on Facebook by posting something about finishing rugs. This led to talk about the Doris Eaton Edge – her method of sewing binding tape to the rug before she hooks it (as I do) and reverse hooking the row immediately next to the tape which I have never done. Until now. Because the bow was to be hooked from a white, “crepey,” diaphonous fabric, I needed to beef it up, you know, make it bulky enough so that it would stand “up” and be visible next to the much bigger and much more colorful part of the project.
Various thoughts came to mind. I needed something with more body than twill tape to edge the little bow. And it couldn’t be black like the twill tape on the big piece because it would be visible. What to use??? I’d edged the other bows in the piece with a lightweight silver ribbon, but was afraid to use that as binding tape; figured stitches would rip right out of that sucker.
Sudden lightbulb moment!
Stitching the binding – wired ribbon – to the design.
I had a roll of wired silver ribbon in-house. I could easily stitch backing to a wire edge. It worked like a charm. I was able to boost the ribbon’s inherent bulk by using Doris’s reverse-hooked first row. Sure, it was a little wonky pulling those loops. In the end, I decided not to attach the two pieces, to hang them separately, but the exaggerated, almost 3-D effect of the white bow allows it to hold its own next to the big piece.
“Binding” all stitched on and first row of loops hooked a la Doris Eaton. (I.e., you’re seeing the back of those loops.)
All hooked and trimmed. Ready to sew down “binding.”
Thank you to my Adobe Wool Arts Guild members, Mary Ramsey and Melinda Lamott, for their support Saturday while I was working on the little white bow. We participated in the Albuquerque Biopark‘s Winter Wool Festival giving demos and helping little kids pull loops. I love doing that stuff. sharing our passion. So what if I wasn’t using wool?
Is rug hooking easy for you, your safe, happy place? Or do you spice it up trying new techniques or use fibers other than wool? How’s it feel going beyond your comfort level? Share your experiences.
For those interested, here is the YouTube link for the Doris Eaton Edge: The Doris Eaton Edge
Melinda Lamott and a young rug hooking disciple. “Drink the Cool Aid, Padawan.”
One Christmas mat all hooked up and ready to be steamed and finished. Time to design and start another!
Christmas is on its way, gathering speed whether we’re ready or not. I am not ready, but then I’m never ready for this big holiday. Like I’ve mentioned before, this year is tough. Call us crazy, but we left Massachusetts in July and moved to Albuquerque not knowing a soul. I knew this time of year would be difficult, but knowing and living that are two completely different animals.
All is NOT lost, however. I’m rushing to get this post out because tomorrow is my guild’s regular monthly meeting. With a twist; it’s our Christmas party! Instead of meeting at the library, we’re off to a generous member’s home for a potluck luncheon. So, it’ll be a day of good food, adult beverages, and hooking. Can you tell I’m looking forward to it? First, however, I must design and put together a little mat to work on while I’m there. Oh, and the chick pea salad (gluten free and delicious, if I do say) won’t make itself.
The giant dragonfly welcomed us to River of Lights. Its wings moved!Pretty flowers!
While I’m off with my preparations, enjoy a bit of the light show Tom and I attended last week at the same Albuquerque Botanic Gardens where the guild does our monthly demos. River of Lights is what it’s called, and it was absolutely incredible with hundreds of huge light sculptures.
You’ll have to take my word on that as the battery died on the phone soon after we arrived. Won’t make that mistake next year.
How are your holiday preparations going? Are you ready? And please tell me that you’re making time for at least a little hooking.
A ship of lights ready to carry my cold self away…But as a butterfly, I can sail off on my own. With my hot cup of Starbucks tea, that is.
Welcome and come on in for a fabulous rug hooking demonstration at the BioPark!
I finally remembered to 1) bring my phone to a guild event and 2) take some pics to share. I’m patting myself on the back as it’s taken me four tries to do this. (It must be menopause; there have been far too many ditzy doings lately.)
As I’ve mentioned before, the first Tuesday of the month brings guild members to Albuquerque’s BioPark, the Botanic Garden, specifically, to recruit new individuals to our cult to the craft/art (a distinction for another time) of rug hooking. This was my second time participating. Not that it was without surprises.
Fall at the the Farmhouse at Albuquerque’s BioPark – Botanic Gardens.
Because I needed to pick up an official demonstrator badge from the office of education (who’d done a background check on all my previous lives), I arrived a few minutes early. Checking the guild’s folder, I ascertained that I was the first to arrive. I thought I’d be a good doobie and grab the attendance/feedback form and signage indicating to the public that TODAY YOU HAVE THE WONDERFUL CHANCE TO LEARN ALL ABOUT RUG HOOKING!. No problem there. Being all official-like, I headed back to the car to drive down the EMPLOYEE ONLY road to the reproduction farmhouse where they’ve parked us. Yes, I am that important now.
Info on the “olden days” in New Mexico, the 1920s and 30s.
Again, no issues. No one stopped me or even gave me the opportunity to flash my badge. Secretly I was a little letdown by that. Anyway, no one was in the house when I got there. I found an actual worker with a key to open the back room then retrieved chairs and the hooking paraphernalia we keep there. You know, copies of Rug Hooking Magazine, a hoop with some backing for people brave enough to try their hand at hooking, some wool, and a cutter. Oh, and another sign to post on the porch just in case folks missed the first one when they arrived at the park.
I sat down and waited for the others to show. I hooked some. I said hello to a few brave souls who really were just looking for the restroom. Had a discussion with a woman who thought hooking might be a perfect way to relieve some of the repetitive motion problems she’s having crocheting all the time. We would’ve chatted longer, but her daughter got antsy. I might add that her toddler granddaughter was perfectly fine. Maybe the daughter needs to learn a craft, if only to slow down and appreciate a lovely fall day at the park. But I digress. Anyway, they toddled off leaving me alone once more, fearful that the busload of kids I saw on my way in might descend on me en masse. I imagined fingers in cutters and pre-teen sneakers on the table runner I was just finishing up. And then…
Two of Nancy’s mats. She’s doing one for each season.
The cavalry arrived. Okay, maybe not the cavalry, but Nancy and Linda, two fellow guild members. Hurray! I wouldn’t have to spend the four hours talking to myself or hiding from adolescent hoards. (Yeah, no field trip groups ever showed.) Linda actually showed up with a wannabe, a woman who’d seen our demo in the BioPark’s calendar. Very cool. She hung with us most of the day, asked a lot of questions, tried out my hook, read the magazines, and is thinking seriously about buying a kit to give it all a try. Clearly, our work in the BioPark was done. For this month.
Tell us about your experiences demonstrating hooking. Maybe it was at a special event or during an arts/craft fair where you were vending. How many stories have you heard from folks reminiscing about grandparents or mothers who hooked? Do you let them try their hand at it? How about the people who “remember” doing the same thing as a kid when they were really latch-hooking? My personal favorite was the woman who told me she used to hook, yet clearly had no knowledge of it. She went on to suggest that I elasticize a round rug and call it a toilet seat cover. Thanks lady! Got a tale like that? Tell us in the comments below..
One of Nancy’s traditional, wool hooked rugs and my not-so-traditional table runner made of t-shirts and crepey fabrics. We try to show people that there are no rules in this art; no limits other than the ones we impose on ourselves.
