Hope to see you at Fall Fiber Fiesta
in Santa Fe this weekend.
Admission is free.
I’ll have rugs and mats of all sizes available.
Mention this blog article and get 10% off any rug!
Fall Fiber Fiesta – visit Santa Fe this Weekend!
Category: Christmas
Visit Dagmar and me Saturday on the High Desert Studio Tour! Hand-dyed yarns and hand-hooked rugs!
I’m back! It’s only been a couple of weeks, but I feel kind of better even if I didn’t make it back to friends and family in New England. (For that story, see this post.) Anyway, Tom and I and the dog did manage to take a couple of day trips. The first was up to north of Taos near the ski area. We hiked for a couple of hours then picked up lunch in the very cool, little village of Arroyo Seco. Tom counted every one of the 19 stream crossings that we did in that two hours. But both of us had dry feet – quite the balancing act! – at the end. Tynan, he just forded through them all. Why should he care if he gets wet? Or muddy? Or what happens to the car when he gets back in?
Last week the three of us headed to Los Alamos via the Jemez Mountains. We’d never taken that drive in the fall. Gorgeous! Thus far one of my favorite parts of New Mexico. We didn’t hike this time; we wanted to get home before Albuquerque’s rush hour traffic. But we managed lunch in Los Alamos. It was a good day.
Meanwhile I’m busily trying to finish up small and mug-type rugs to sell at the High Desert Studio Tour (scroll down through the page to the part about the tour) this coming Saturday. If you recall, my friend Dagmar of ZiaWoolz invited me again this year to sell at her house/studio. She’s #3 on the map. If you’re in the area, come hang out with us for a bit. I’ll have chocolate!
What I don’t sell at Dag’s I hope to unload sell at Santa Fe’s Fall Fiber Fiesta at the Scottish Rite Temple come November 17-19. The 17th is an artists’ reception in the evening, 5:00-8:00, costs $10. Saturday and Sunday hours are 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, no charge. Unless you buy something, of course. 🙂 Hope you stop by there too to pick up some gifts for the quickly approaching holidays. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just over two weeks away!
Lastly, Tynan did not forget to bring you this week’s “What’s on the frame” feature. Of course, he received his commission. God forbid I forget that. Talk to you next week!
When someone buys and then alters your art…
…not only alters your art, but improves it! What to think? Me, I decided that it was great.
I sold a small wall-hanging at the Sunflower Festival just over a week ago. Technically, it was of a poinsettia, though it didn’t scream Christmas. (I tend not to hook overtly holiday-ish items; they take so long to hook, I wouldn’t want to put them away after a month.) Indeed, the customer didn’t even recognize it as a poinsettia at first; to her it was an attractive, artsy rug that went well with the colors in her living room. Then she told me what she was going to do with it.
“It’ll make a great pillow to set on my fireplace.”
Very cool, I thought. “Would you send me a photo when you finish it?”
“Of course!”
Nonetheless, I was concerned that when she finally made the pillow, she’d either forget or have lost my card with the email address.
I needn’t have worried. That was Saturday. I think it was Tuesday afternoon when I saw an email with an unfamiliar address pop into my box. The message:
Hi Laura,
I bought your poinsettia at the sunflower festival on Saturday. I turned it into a pillow, stitching a backing from a green fabric remnant I had and stuffing it with poly filling. Here it is in front of our kiva. You can see it has a good home. It is nestled on an afghan my grandmother crocheted about 50 years ago. Thanks for your artistry.
Ada
Leonard Cohen once stated that “Artists’ intentions mean nothing.” And I agree. Especially if you’re selling your art. Sure, the poinsettia made a nifty wall-hanging or table-topper, but Ada saw it as a colorful pillow perfect for her living room. I’m happy that she was able to take a piece of my art and make it her own as well. And I’m grateful to her for sharing it with me.
Planning for the hooking New Year
Happy New Year and welcome back to High on Hooking! So excited to have you here. If you recall my last post, I talked about resting up during the holidays and considering what I want to do in 2017. Not sure I really rested, but I did manage to cut back some of my social media use, and I have to admit I enjoyed that and taking a few weeks off from blog writing too.
I did finish my class proposal for the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. Hopefully, I’ll hear back from them soon, but in the meantime buddy Melinda and I are hoping to get up north on a yarn-centric field trip next week. We’ll stop at the Center on our way to say hi. And we have coupons for the shop. Yea!!!
Another goal was more reading; I did that! Hell, I’m still doing that. I managed to read all the stories assigned to me by Fifth Wednesday and even started a new book for pleasure. (It’s called Steps and Exes: A Novel of Family, and it’s by Laura Kalpakian. I’m enjoying it; you might too.) Meanwhile, I’m also reading a few others (you know, the ones in the car, in the bathroom, the
kitchen…) For purposes of bettering myself as High on Hooking, though, I’m deep into Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin and Deanne Fitzpatrick’s Simply Modern: Contemporary Designs for Hooked Rugs. I’ve had the latter for a while and flipped through for inspiration; now I’m committed to actually reading a few pages each evening before I start hooking.
And of course, just as in the old year, in the new year there has been hooking. After I finished my autumnal Tree of Life (okay, it’s not really finished, only the hooking’s done), I started a “new/old” rug. Someone gifted my guild (Adobe Wool Arts Guild, aka AWAG) with some old patterns last year, and even though I don’t really use patterns, I took one. It’s very traditional, but I wanted to make it more “me.” So I’m using t-shirts. So far it looks pretty cool according to guild members. I concur. Thoughts?
You might also remember that I mentioned finally getting my “big” Fiber Arts Fiesta project together as it’s due for jurying on March 1. I really do have a great idea of what I want to do. It’s a little mixed media, and it’s sitting in my brain. BUT, I’ve realized that I’m running low on time what with a lot on my plate, so that one’s going on the back burner. I’ll enter the rug above for sure, maybe something else I did last year too. AND…
Here’s a slightly updated Tynan. He’s my dog that I started back in May when Cheryl Bollenbach was here “classing up” AWAG. I meant with all my heart and soul to get back to him after High on Hooking stopped selling in 2016. Somehow that didn’t happen, and now AWAG’s made plans to have Cheryl back for another workshop come this May. Woohoo! HOWEVER, I certainly can’t have last year’s project unfinished when she returns, so last week I picked Tynan up again – slightly panicked, I admit, after all these months. We did okay, got the second eye in which was what really had my panties in a bunch. So, we’re on our way…
And if rug hooking wasn’t enough, I got a yen to do some crocheting over the holidays. Here’s what’s on the crochet hook right now (which is on the opposite side of my chair from the rug hook). It’s a child’s afghan; maybe we’ll be able to sell it this coming season. Regardless, it’s a nice diversion.
That’s my story for now and I’m sticking to it. What’s making you high on hooking this New Year?
“Resting” in December and looking to hooking in 2017
The calendar tells me that there are 15 or so days left to December and 2016. The 15 prior to today – and many more before them – seem to have just come and gone in a rush of mug rugs and holiday fairs and fall visitors and holiday preparations and meetings for this and that. Add in a dollup of family issues and arthritis crap, and I’ve realized that something’s gotta give or I will.
Fortunately, I’ve actually managed to get most presents bought and my cards and packages posted. (We were hoping to get back to New England this Christmas, but the kid has to work, so no dice. We will DEFINITELY be there next year!) Now I need to take some time, not really to rest per se, but to recharge and start thinking about 2017. That means sitting down by myself and playing and planning. The “by myself” part is the BIGGIE. Social media’s been a constant bug in my ear lately – the blog, Facebook posts for myself, H on H, and my guild. Hell, it takes so much time just to delete all the holiday offers I’m getting in my two mailboxes every minute of every hour of the last two months! And then there’s the stuff I actually want or have to read! It’s time to get off of the merry-go-round for a couple of weeks. Oh, I know it won’t be a complete black-out; I’m not that good. (Plus I’m nosy.) Still, I need to remember what it’s like to enjoy sharing something rather than feeling as if life on earth depends on my posting it.
What exactly will I play and plan, you ask? Don’t worry; I’ve got plenty to keep me busy for a LOT LONGER than I have.
- First and foremost, I have to get my class proposal to the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. Should’ve had it done last week, but that’s the holidays for you.
- Since I’ve been going on about Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta coming up in May, I really have to get on that stick and get my own project started. I’ve been running things through my mind for months, and I think I know what I want to create. Well, I almost did; it changed some last night in bed. Different lightbulb went on keeping me up. It’s time to run with all the ideas, mock them up, whatever. The thing is due for jurying come March 1. That’s like two months away! Gotta get to work.
- Website and other business stuff. Jean Ottosen‘s been so good talking about her
Newest issue of Fifth Wednesday Journal. business changes and challenges, that she’s inspired me. It’s time for a more formal approach. Jean, be warned! You may get a call.
- Reading and reading and reading. I love to read, but this time of year, I don’t get a lot of pleasure reading done because it has to wait till I get in bed and you all know what happens then. Make no mistake, I’m reading plenty – at least two short stories each evening. I read the slush pile for a great lit journal, Fifth Wednesday, from October through January (and again in the spring). It’s a labor of love, particularly this year as we’re reading for the twentieth anniversary issue. LOTS of authors are sending stories in hoping to be included. Some are good, some aren’t. But it’s a great chance to switch up that creativity thing.
In between all those “workish” things, there’s always time for some fun. Yesterday the Adobe Wool Arts Guild celebrated the holidays and another happy year hooking together. Dagmar Beinenz-Byrd of ZiaWoolz hosted marvelously. There was food and a fiber-themed Yankee Swap And food. And hooking. And fun. Always fun. I got so lucky when I moved here and joined AWAG. I love my guild.
I wish you all a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and here’s to 2017! See you in a couple of weeks!
