Southern Route 4, the Jemez Mountain Trail, somewhere around Jemez Pueblo.
Escaping the city heat was only one of the things on our minds yesterday when Tom and I headed off for a day out. The kid’s been driving us crazy, my RA won’t stabilize, and once in a while I need back-to-nature.
Much as I like Albuquerque, I come from a succession of small towns in Connecticut then Kansas then Connecticut again and then Massachusetts. Albuquerque’s got a population of just over a half million. Sure, it’s spread out – much as most western cities – but that can make for a butt-load of cranky-pants people driving in 104 degree weather.
Soda Dam is a 300-foot long natural dam created by mineral deposits from a hot spring. Very cool.
We’d promised the dog that he could get out too, so northward ho the three of us went. Mountains sounding coolish (compared to here), we headed up the Jemez Mountain Trail, a national scenic by-way, towards Los Alamos. Enjoy some pics!
Welcome to Battleship Rock; it marks the confluence of the Jemez River and San Antonio Creek. Yesterday it also marked the location of a nascent forest fire. Maybe you can see it to the right of the rock. Fortunately, the fire was contained by last night. Especially fortunate as I took the photo standing in the driveway of a YMCA camp, and I could actually hear the kids celebrating someone’s birthday in the mess hall.Vibrantly green conifers all over the mountains.
New Mexico – it’s not all dry desert. We hiked about a third of a mile down to the stream, but my knees opted not to continue on to the hot springs.Really, the only clouds we saw all day.
To come around a curve and find…this amazed Tom and me. It’s the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It’s one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, about 17 miles in diameter. You might have seen it on the news this week. A woman running a marathon stumbled upon a mama bear and her three cubs. Thank goodness she lived to tell the tale.I loved it up there so much that the next plan is to spend a couple of nights in Jemez Springs when we get a chance. Tynan’s happy; there are a couple of little motels that welcome polite dogs. He can be very polite. As long as we give him lots of snacks.
Will you be escaping the city this summer? Where will you go? What will you do?
Spot #55 was mine this week. And for most of the summer, I believe. We did pretty well filling up the 8’x10′ space, don’t you think?
Sunday was my birthday; it was also my first time vending at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards Market. Since I managed to sell a piece, it was a very happy birthday for me. Sure, it wasn’t a huge mat – it was a mug rug and matching mug – but it paid my table fees and gave me a nice boost of confidence in a new place.
Tortillas, tamales, fritters, rooibos teas, mustards, breads and pastries, jams and mustards, and more! It was all there.
For those who have never been before, the Rail Yards Market runs from 10:00 in the morning till 2:00 p.m. Thank goodness, because during the summer, it’s getting pretty darn warm here in Albuquerque. I think we hit 94 or 95 that day. The market’s incredibly well run. It fills with locals and visitors both. I managed to meet a guy who came from Newtown, Connecticut. That’s one town over from where I grew up!
While most folks weren’t all that familiar with rug hooking, the response was definitely favorable. That I was hooking while I sat there was, as usual, a great conversation starter. (Even for the once-upon-a-time latch hookers. 🙂 )
How many of you have had the problem of the neighboring booth being a jewelry maker? Pam Schroder and her husband Tom were selling her chainmaille jewelry. Nice! She’s the Bling Weaver.Farm freshness!
The place has a great vibe what with the entertainment venue being about 30 feet from where I sat.This past Sunday brought us belly dancers and singer-songwriters. Aromas from Jamaican, New Mexican, and other foods waft through the place from nearby food trucks and stands. Besides different arts and crafts, you can pick up whatever produce and flowers are in season.
Unforunately, I didn’t get this woman’s card, but she also proved that fiber is alive and well out here in New Mexico.LOTS of food and gluten-free to boot!
I have a week off and then, come Fathers’ Day, I’m back. I”m looking forward to it. (Even Tom didn’t complain about sitting there people-watching.) I’ve got a few things to tweak and some signs to make based on would-be customer comments and such. Folks asked when I’d be returning, something I’m taking as an excellent omen. Till then there’s more hooking to be done!
The Rail Yards Market – Albuquerque is finally here! For me, that is. Once juried in, I opted to skip May and sell in the summer and early fall every other week. With so many excellent artisans around here, management gave me August off to make room. I won’t complain.
I enjoy sales and such. I try to bring work with me; it generates all kinds of conversation and memories. “I remember helping my grandmother do this…” (Of course, all hookers know that “I did this in the 70s” really means they did a latch hook kit their mom bought them.) Certainly, kids love to try their hand at hooking. And in a town where weaving and quilting are the fiber arts queens, I think it’s time for a new princess to show her hand. I’m happy to be hooking’s ambassadress.
High on Hooking getting ready to go out on the road. Or at least to the Rail Yards Market for a few hours.
If you’re in the Albuquerque area between 10:00 a.m. and 2 p.m. this coming Sunday, please stop by. There’s art, food, farmers and their produce, music, and a general good time to be had by all.
Before I can get there, though, I have a lot to do:
Remake tags for every rug. The ones still on some of the mats contain High on Hooking’s info pre-New Mexico.
Check to make sure that my Square is working properly.
Photograph newer rugs.
Finish a couple of mug rugs up. I steamed them two days ago.
Pay June’s rent to the Railyards or all this will be moot.
Sew some hangers onto some of the rugs.
Purchase a basket or two for the small mats.
Many of you know the work that goes into getting ready for a show or sale. I’m not new to this rodeo, but I haven’t done it for well over a year given that we were in the midst of packing, selling a house, and moving in 2015. Time to sweep out the cobwebs and…climb back in that saddle again…
Many hookers are averse to selling away their artwork. Not me; I have too many at this point. Even too many to give away. And I’m making more all the time! Here’s hoping they sell. Are your rugs and mats adorning your own home, given as gifts, hidden away in a closet, or sold to make room for more and/or to purchase materials to make more?
Lest we forget the work on the frame. It’s a new bed sheet rug but on monks’ cloth this time rather than on a latch hook backing. Narrower strips, more holes to fill means it’s taking a lot more time!
Cheryl Bollenbach (r) and Dagmar hold up Dag’s rug for show and tell Friday. Dag’s son was the original artist, but she’s the one putting the life into it. She’s a fearless fiber artist who incorporated all kinds of new techniques into this rug.
Hard to believe, but it’s a full week later and the open workshop with Cheryl Bollenbach has come and gone.
Fortunately, the lessons learned and the camaraderie enjoyed go on. Case in point: many of us from the Adobe Wool Arts guild are gathering Friday for another round of dyeing. Okay, personally, I’m not doing any dyeing; I don’t even have any wool to dye. I’m just going to hang out and provide the comedy.
Even though I was working with t-shirt strips last week, it didn’t stop me from purchasing some of Cheryl’s wools. I love the sparkly stuff; every rug needs a little bling in it.Check out the stem action on Dagmar’s rug. By incorporating cording and stitching and her own hand-dyed yarn, she punched up the texture factor.Linda’s Celtic color-planning. Oh, my!
I’ve included a bunch of pics I took last week. Some are of rugs, some are of rugs and their people, and some are just of folks concentrating on their hooking or having fun.
Mary and her dog sat next to me. She was so life-like (the dog, not Mary; Mary is full of life), that I had to reach over and pet her now and again. Again, the dog, not Mary.How my own psychedelic Tynan (the Welsh springer spaniel) is coming. BTW, he’s made out of old t-shirts.
Cheryl helped each of us develop some new skills, learn a few tricks, and look further into what it is we’re aiming to get out of this art/craft of rug hooking. She did some “long and lovely” dying in the Fry Daddy.
The other Linda’s rug included her Mom. I salute Linda for learning hoe to do a realistic face.Mary’s mountainscape is full of color. It made her absolutely giddy for the three days.
Cathy spent three days hooking and then sculpting these rocks. Very cool.
Friday, Cheryl finally put the “fire” into her presentation as she’d been promising: she demonstrated how we might enjoy aiming a heat gun onto decorated Tyvek to shrivel it. “Cut it into strips and you can really hook this up,” she told us. For those not familiar with Albuquerque springs, they tend to be rather windy. Indeed, Friday, Mother Nature let it gust. The doors of our police substation venue were desperate to open and close on their own; Linda was almost blown down as she stepped outside. Maybe fire wasn’t the best idea for the day especially given our EMS facility. Nonetheless, Cheryl was up for it. Alas, the heat gun on hand wasn’t. Too hot, it blew holes into the Tyvek. They were, we noted, quite interesting-looking holes. (Sorry, the wind precluded photos being taken.) Yet I’m sure something could’ve been done with that Tyvek and some wool and a little imagination. And even the foot-long, blue twist tie Cheryl deposited on my table Wednesday afternoon. That’s how she made us feel about hooking. Anything is possible.
Some of the colors I’m using on Tynan.The values of those same greens. I think that one of the most valuable things I learned was how my phone’s camera can make me use color better and thus improve as a hooker.
A “long and lovely” cooking.…and voila ! Here’s the piece all dyed and washed and ready to use. And it’s all mine because I won it!
Darlene hooking her rose with those skinny, little #3 cuts.
Denise, still new to hooking, even did some proddy work. (I’ve never done that…)
Thank you, Cheryl Bollenbach, for an an informative and plain old fun three days. Kudos to Catherine Kelly for all your organizational work and to all the other members of the Adobe Wool Arts guild for the hospitality and friendship you’ve shown me these last several months since I moved to town.
Denise working hard. So is Pat behind her, Pat who’s been hooking longer than most anyone!Hookers just gotta have fun.Much as Rug Hooking Magazine has the first rug last, Liz presented her first rug and her new second rug. Bravo, Liz!
Our new “raised gardening beds.” Water goes down the PVC pipe from the hose and collects below the soil in each tub. From there it “wicks up” and reduces the need for daily manual watering. In theory, that’s how it works. We shall see.
Gardening, rug hooking in Albuquerque – what’s old is new again for us here in Albuquerque. At least for Tom and me.
First the gardening. In Massachusetts, planting didn’t happen till mid-May, even early June some years. Not here. Pansies started in late February, and this week we were at Lowes buying herbs and flowers. Today we started planting. Forget the garden bed in the middle of the yard or digging into the soil, though. Instead of dirt, our yard is basically hard-packed sand. So Tom did some – pardon the pun – digging online and came up with these contraptions on the left.
Given how dry it is here in the high desert, they’re supposed to help with watering too. Next week, we’ll pick up a large horse trough and tomato plants. Back east we used to do yard work on automatic pilot. Here it’s gardening 101 all over again.
New mat made out of old bed sheets.
Then there’s my newest rug, one I previewed a few weeks ago in the Experimenting post. I’m just finishing it up now – whip stitching, of course. (From last week’s post, you know how much I love doing that.) The fun thing about this mat is that it’s hooked completely out of bed sheets on a latch hook background. It came out nice and fluffy. Perfect, perhaps, for a bathroom. Already, I’ve been out collecting more sheets at my local Savers so I can start a new one.
I’m so excited to be giving new lives to old linens and clothes. Recycling, upcycling, whatever you choose to call it, keeps stuff out of landfills and looks pretty fine as well.
Whip stitching along the backside of the bed sheet rug.
Many hookers have branched out to alternative fibers these days, if only to add texture and other layers of interest to their rugs. Please post pics of your experiments on High on Hooking’s Facebook page.
