Category: alternative fibers
So, we have a little time on our hands…
Like you, it appears that I have a little time on my hands. So much has changed EVERYWHERE ALL OVER THE WORLD since my last post. It boggles the mind. Or, like my daughter put it, “I really can’t process this.”
Luckily, the governor here in New Mexico was on the stick and started closing things down pretty early, before we had but a few cases of COVID-19. And we have a less dense population than larger metropolitan areas in the country, especially on the coasts. Even more fortuitously, Tom and I saw the writing on the wall and started hoarding toilet paper laying in supplies before the stores were mobbed. Best of all, I managed to get my hair cut the day before we pretty much closed down town. Score! (If you saw how I mangled my toenails a couple of days earlier, you’d appreciate this better.)
The reality is that our home is a pretty comfy place to be confined to. Not that we’re truly confined. We regularly walk in the bosque, the woods running along the Rio Grande near here. Trips to Walmart and Sprouts and even Costco aren’t forbidden, though I fear they’ll become more and more dicey as Albuquerque creeps closer to our peak viral load come the end of April. We have a freezer full of meat and frozen veggies, plenty of wine and olive oil (the latter being the original reason for our Costco membership; the former being an awesome benefit), a treadmill and bike, LOTS of dog food, books galore, and subscriptions to both Prime and Netflix. Best of all, both Tom and I are starting out healthy. That can’t be understated. Oh, and we even still like each other more than two weeks into social distancing from all other people.
But I do miss my friends and the activities that keep me running around like rug hooking demos in the BioPark, guild meetings, time working with Susan’s Legacy, teaching, visiting and lunches out… This week’s excursions out of the house: 1) Walmart for longer term provisions and 2) the blood bank. If you can donate, call your local blood center or hospital; donations are desperately needed everywhere!
Truthfully, I’m glad to have this gift of time. Even though I don’t work-work any more, I have responsibilities that keep me engaged in the community at large. Frankly sometimes they feel overwhelming. Probably because I don’t work-work, parent full time, and do all that other stuff at the same time. My efficiency and tolerance are out of practice. A couple of weeks ago, when this all started, I thought, yes!, I can do all the things I’ve been putting off. I can spring clean and re-organize the cupboards and pantry. I can clear out the piles. Have I? Not at all. Although, in an initial burst of energy and enthusiasm, I did clean the master closet (containing clothes and
hooking supplies) and adjoining laundry room. That’s it. Turns out I haven’t even hooked as much as I normally would. Though most of my hooking gets done in the evening, I typically day-hook a couple of times a week with guild-mates and friends. Yeah, one afternoon of day-hooking all lock-down. I didn’t think my efficiency could be any lower, but without due dates and such…free fall.
Vending and teaching events are all cancelled. Who knows when we’ll be able to reschedule? Venues like the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center, already in a precarious financial situation, may even fail. If you love NMFAC, old EVFAC, like me, donate to it. You probably have your own favorite organizations; support them before you lose them.
Things look kind of bleak, but they have in the past too. Live in the moment and do the things you’ve been putting off. Call a relative stuck at home alone. Talk to an old friend. I did that yesterday for over an hour. Where else did I have to be? It felt great catching up. Make things, anything: a rug, a shawl, a short story, a cake, a garden. We all know that when we’re creative, our mental health improves.
To conclude, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to show us what you are making these days. Maybe you’ll provide a little inspiration to someone who needs it. I want to see a bunch of photos on the High on Hooking Facebook page. Or email them to Laura@highonhooking.com; I’ll share them. And let us know how you and yours are doing. Spouses, partners, kids, grand-kids, and pets. Love the pets! Use the gift of time to stay home, stay busy, and stay healthy!
About the Ribbon Rug Journal
For all those who’ve been watching my Instagram account and wondering, I’m finally getting around to talking Ribbon Rug Journal. What’s the old adage? That you can make anything a habit if you do it for 21 days? I’ve managed to keep up with it for over two months – that’s 70 days! – so chances are good that I’ll make it farther. And by creating a whole blog post about the damn thing, I’ve got further accountability (read that as digging myself further into a hole). I think. Maybe.
For those of you who are wondering what the hell I’m talking about, a picture is worth a thousand words. And the first pic shown above is the entire Ribbon Rug Journal thus far. See, I’ve had a few rolls of burlap ribbon hanging around the house for a years. I wanted to do something “hooking” with them, maybe make a Christmas banner or something despite the fact that I’m loathe to hook Christmas anything.
One day in December I was showering (that’s important; the shower is where I do all my best thinking) and could see through the glass shower door into the closet where I keep a bunch of my fiber stuff. Including sed burlap ribbon rolls up on a high shelf. Suddenly it comes to me: hook a little something every day into the burlap ribbon, you know, kind of Jack Kerouac-esque. But I wouldn’t write or type my “journal,” I’d hook it.
You come up with a GREAT idea and you run with it. You don’t really think about:
- What every day of a whole year means (when even posting to a blog once a week has become too demanding);
- What if you have to travel?;
- Your days are often already much too filled with other stuff;
- Burlap ribbon might not be the best backing to hook on;
- You might actually get sick of the project;
- You’ve already got how many other projects going?;
- And so on; you get the drift.
And yet, “she” persisted. I’m not actually sick of the project, so that’s good. Very good, in fact. Some folks suggested I limit it to a month rather than a year, or maybe hook monthly entries, but I decided to stick with the original idea. I don’t know why. I don’t even know why I felt a need to add an extra project to my life!
I am abiding by a few rules:
- Each space measures approximately 2.5″x3″.
- Other than perhaps purchasing more burlap ribbon, I have to use whatever I have on hand to hook each day. It is permissible to steal materials from anyone who might be with me when I’m hooking the ribbon rug journal.
- Ideally, each entry should have something to do with my day. But if I’m desperate, you might see a “quilt square” of worms. You try coming up with something every single freaking day.
- I am allowed to incorporate other fiber techniques if I choose (and feel up to it).
- I must keep scrupulous documentation of each day’s entry (beyond what I put on Instagram. I keep a notebook.
There are evenings that I suddenly remember I have to hook the day’s entry (the horror!), but so far so good. However, I have learned a few things.
- It can take a LOT longer to hook each day’s journal entry than I anticipated. (I am soooo behind on many other “real” projects.) First I have to come up with something that interests me and that can physically be hooked into the damn ribbon. Each space is about 2″x3″ so details must be limited. I generally draw it in with the Sharpie.
- My ideas don’t always pan out once they’re hooked. Like that quail the other night. He didn’t even get an eye! Maybe if I used the trick whereby you look at your work from a distance… But no, without my title and explanation, you’d have had no idea it was even a bird.
- Nonetheless, I’ve taken to looking at my entries as sketches. And sketches aren’t made to be erased. They’re for learning. So, I’ve rarely pulled an entry out. (Who wants to start over after an hour when an actual rug is waiting to be hooked???)
- Drinking and hooking in tiny spaces can be…unfortunate. Back in January Tom and I had a great bottle of wine on our anniversary. There was shrimp cocktail. There might have even been wine before the wine. But after the festivities…there was the Ribbon Rug Journal.
- Every night there is the Ribbon Rug Journal. If I blow it off one evening, it will just multiply to two Ribbon Rug Journal entries. That would be more unfortunate than sub-par inebriated hooking. It’s better to suck it up and complete the exercise daily. No being lazy.
- Burlap does indeed suck to work with. I’ve even got a regular hashtag #burlapsuckstoworkwith. In the case of the ribbon, it’s the threads perpendicular and attached to the edges that break. Then you get holes. I’ve had to wrap yarn and strips and whatever I’m hooking with around the edge just to keep the whole day from falling out.
- Yarn works best! Yarn thinner than rug yarn, though I can get the latter and a #6 strip through the backing if I stay away
from the ribbon’s edge. Which I don’t always do because of the day’s design. Also, being fond of alternative fibers in my regular hooking, I continue to use them here: ribbon, teabag paper, kitchen string, plastic bags, etc. I look forward to whatever else I might try.
- People are really getting into the Ribbon Rug Journal. I’ve even had requests. @Vickisuestone of Instagram asked for a ladybug last week. I could do that, and I did. Melinda and I were carpooling and stuck in traffic last month. She suggested the night’s entry be a car in traffic. I hooked my little red car. No room for the traffic. But I’m so happy people are responding favorably to what has the potential to become my personal hell.
So, that’s the deal with the Ribbon Rug Journal. If you haven’t seen it, you can find each installment on my Instagram account, as I mentioned, and on my Facebook pages, my own and High on Hooking’s. If you have any ideas for me, I’m happy to hear them. It would help if you sent wine too. (Alcohol kills germs, right?)
Hemming, Hooking, and Punching, oh my!
Here in Albuquerque, we’re hemming, hooking, and punching, oh my!
HEMMING
The secret project is almost done. The hooking’s complete, but there’s a LOT of hemming to be done, rug binding to be sewn down. It’s been taking a LOT of my time. But if I can finish that and figure how to hang it, I think that I’ll enter it into a fiber show up in Santa Fe to run during the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center (formerly Española Valley Fiber Arts Center) Fiber Crawl in May. Check out the info whether you’d like to be a participant or would prefer to check out the festivities this year.
HOOKING
Cathy and I have one more evening in Santa Fe as artists in residence at the Inn on the Alameda. There’s not been all that much action, but we usually get in a few good chats with a guest or two. Two weeks ago we met a group of ladies who came from all over the US to take a workshop that would teach them how to make clothes from the cloth that they’d woven back at home. They were really into the tactile nature of our hooked rugs. One woman had inherited hooking paraphernalia from a relative and got all hyped visiting us. Another loved the idea of using used clothing, especially t-shirts, and wants to give hooking a try. Alas, she isn’t from here, so she’ll have to find a teacher on her own.
Meanwhile, Friday, a friend of a LeeAnne, an AWAG guild mate of mine, came here for an intro lesson Friday. (Bowyn was a BEAR, wanting desperately to become her new best friend. Ideas of what to do with a dog when you teach in your home? Till he’s trained, that is.) Barbara came last week so that she could attend AWAG’s first hooking retreat of the new year. If you’re in the area of Hope Church on Juan Tabo in Albuquerque Wednesday or Friday, 10-3, we cordially invite you to stop by. If hooking’s your thing, bring that. Knitting, embroidery, whatever, we’re happy to have you. (FYI, Thursday, we’ll be holding an in-guild miniature punch needle class, so our hospitality will be “compromised.”)
Lastly, as you can see in the photo, Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” It’s a cheery and color-full rug that I’m hooking with old woven bed sheets. Unlike other on-going projects, it’s highly portable. Each evening, too, I hook my daily entry on the ribbon rug journal. More on that next time.
PUNCHING
And lest anyone forget, Saturday, February 29, I host my first Intro to Punch Needle Rug Hooking class up in Santa Fe, in the New Mexico Fiber Center’s new shop. It opened back in November. Most exciting, doing a class in Santa Fe instead of Española cuts my commute by a full 30 minutes! If you haven’t been there, make sure you make a trip. It’s cute and carries more finished goods than the Española headquarters. And if you’d like to try punching à la Amy Oxford, sign up ASAP. If you can’t make that class, contact me about a class in my home or even yours.
Okay, things could be a lot worse. Hemming, hooking, and punching are all better than working in an office or shoveling snow or even having a mammogram or dental work. Frankly, they’re better than teaching Bowyn over and over how to be a good canine citizen. He’s stubborn and more than a little crazy, that one. But you have to love him. Or at least Tom and I have to. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THIS WINTER DAY?
A new year and a new look!
It finally happened: We have a new look! What a way to start off 2020. Hopefully, you like it. It’s a bit cleaner, and, hey, change is good.
A little catch-up…
The year’s started quietly enough. I’m currently prepping for an introductory punch needle rug hooking class at the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center in Santa Fe. (Note that this is Española Valley Fiber Arts Center’s new name, and the class is in the shop they launched in November down near the Rail Yards. Guess I’m not the only one with a new look.) It’ll run on Saturday, February 29, 10:00-2:00. Bring a small pair of scissors and a lunch/snack. And be ready to have some fun! More info here.
The secret project is still secret. Had to get some other work done besides the website, so we’ll be working to finish that in February. Yikes, that’s only a day away!!!
Cathy Kelly and I are still “working” as artists in residence up in Santa Fe at the Inn on the Alameda. It’s a swell hotel, big old fireplace and all, but truthfully, it’s been a bit of a bust thus far. There’s not much traffic coming through. Big surprise; it’s winter. Next year, I hope to “graduate” to one of the busier hotels on the town’s historical plaza. If you’re around, though, we’ll be at the Inn again February 7 and 21, both Fridays.
We’ve had bad news regarding a couple of events where I usually vend each year. Albuquerque’s apparently still up in the air regarding the Recycled Art Festival. After having nowhere to put us last year, a new home was promised for this year. Sure. And I’ve got swampland in Florida for sale. Also, the end may be near for the High Desert Studio Tour in November. I’m always at my friend Dagmar’s home/studio where she creates BEAUTIFUL hand-dyed yarns under the name ZiaWoolz. 🙁 We’re hoping to bring new life to this event, so hang on for more info.
Lovely news! Many of you have probably seen Karen Miller‘s book that came out last fall: Eyes Open to the World – Memories of Travel in Wool. One of my rugs is featured in it! I’m very grateful to Karen for that. It’s a delightful book to read and take in. And it gives me more rug hooking street cred, if you know what I mean. And that’s despite the fact that my rug was hooked in recycled t-shirts, not wool. 🙂
I guess that’s it for hooking news for now. Regarding the boys, Tynan is fit as ever. A bit furry this time of year, of course. Bowyn, ah, Bowyn. He’s a character that one and not nearly as easy as his big brother. We’ve had a dog trainer in as there’s NO WAY that he could handle the excitement of a puppy class. By that I mean he would generate much of the excitement. Some might even call it…CHAOS. But after being so sick with puppy strangles last summer when he was just a wee one, he’s definitely bounced back. And I do mean bounce. If you get our Instagram feed, you know that we call him Sharknado. Always in the air, always the mouth open. Some day he’ll be a great dog like Tynan. Some day…
I think that’s enough for today and three other marathon days at my computer revamping this site, giving it the new look. It’s not even live yet. Pray that that went well and that you’re happily reading away on your own electronic device. And if you have any questions for us here at High on Hooking, know that we’re only an email away. Happy 2020!