Category: dogs

July 12, 2019

Tynan’s got a new little brother! Grrrr…

A little brother my ass… Tynan here. She was going to show you more photos from her trip up the Rhine, but I had to step in and tell you what the idiots have done now.

Tynan's little brother, Welsh Springer spaniel puppy. — This is…my new “little brother.” His name is Bowyn. He is NOT replacing me as the **High on Hooking dog**. Do not make me repeat that.

Yes, it’s a puppy. Sure, they tried to tell me that it’s “all for you, Tynan. He’ll rejuvenate you.” What the hell does that mean? I won’t be 11 anymore? Right.

I suppose I should’ve been suspicious when the baby gates and the food bowl and, okay, the itty-bitty crate showed up. But she’s always buying crap for this or that cause. My antennae should’ve twitched when he didn’t complain.

So, they’re all excited. “Wanna go for a ride, Tynan? To see your sister up in Durango?” I like Durango, and the kid is there. We can hike. They get me all riled up. We do the three and a half hour drive. Another clue I missed. We stop at McDonalds, even have a picnic on the grass. They actually feed me french fries and chicken from her salad. Not a tiny bite, but lots of fries. Ketchup and everything. Half the freakin’ chicken! How could I miss that they were playing me?

Me pretending to sleep on the way up to Durango. If only I’d known…

We pick the kid up from her apartment; check in at a hotel right downtown. I try out the bed. Nice. Next thing I know there’s a phone call and the mistress is rushing us off the bed and out the door. We’re in front of the hotel and I see…me! Or a dog that looks like me, another Welsh Springer spaniel. Oh! And in the rush and confusion, the mistress, she’s reaching down and picking up another tiny dog, a puppy that I realize also looks very similar to me. Oh!!

Long story short, we head for some very green grass – normally one of my most favorite things now that we live in the desert and have fake grass – and sit down. And I learn that the puppy is…ours. I mean…theirs. They can’t stop playing with it. I notice that it can’t stop trying to bite things – fingers, ankles, shoes, tails. What the hell? No one talked to me about this acquisition. Seems to me they should’ve, right?

Laura with Tynan's little brother, a Welsh Springer spaniel puppy. — Look at him! No manners. He’s trying to maul her. And she likes it. (Shaking my head here.)

Now we’re back home, and he’s upset the previously happy sang-froid of our comfy home. Baby gates keep me out of the master bedroom where I like to lie on the bathroom tiles.(And don’t even think of telling me to lie on all the other tiles in the house.) He gets on my bed. Toys are everywhere. Worst thing ever: He doesn’t know that we go outside to do our business! Ew!

Tynan and his little brother, a Welsh Springer spaniel puppy — What he does to me. This. It’s all I can say.

I had NOTHING to do with this mess. Nothing. Talk to the “little brother.”

The only good thing about his lack of civility and toilet training is that I still get to go visit my hooking ladies whenever the idiotress goes. He does not. They were here yesterday ostensibly to help me buck up, but really to visit…my “little brother.” At least they brought me treats. I love my ladies.

Now that I’ve gotten this off my chest, I’m going to take advantage of that fact that he’s napping (and not snapping or yowling) and get some sleep myself. He woke us up twice last night to pee and then again this morning at the ungodly hour of 5:45. I’m tired.

Please send biscuits. For big dogs.

–Tynan

May 1, 2019

Albuquerque fiber-phernalia and Donna Hrkman

Donna Hrkman, rug hooking teacher, and Indian Boy rug. — Donna Hrkman holding her rug “Indian Boy.”

I know, I know, I’ve been gone a few weeks, but with all the fiber-phernalia going on in the Albuquerque area, you can’t blame me.

All the guilds participating in our BIG FIBER ARTS FIESTA are busy preparing their booths and volunteers. And, of course, the hundreds of masterpieces that will be on display for those three days. Let me remind you: Thursday-Saturday, May 30, 31 and June 1; hours are 10-5; at Expo New Mexico. There will also be: classes; over 50 vendors; Betty Busby as featured artist; five different special exhibits (including the Adobe Wool Arts Guild‘s friendship rugs!); demonstrations, and a free craft – good for the kids…and you!

Rug hooking exhibit — High on Hooking’s and **Catherine Kelly**‘s display at last year’s Fiber Crawl. Location: **Casa San Ysidro** in Albuquerque.

Before we can even get to Expo and the Fiesta, we’ve got the New Mexico’s second annual fiber adventure: FIBER CRAWL! High on Hooking will be participating again this year as a vendor/demonstrator; we’ll be at the Open Space Visitors’ Center (conveniently close to home!) for the three days. The whole thing is organized by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. As pulled from the website:

The New Mexico Fiber Crawl is an opportunity to explore fiber studios and farms, experience fiber demonstrations, attend special gallery and museum events, win prizes, and visit fiber arts shops.

Whether you are a fiber enthusiast, a visitor, a friend or a collector, the 2019 New Mexico Fiber Crawl is a great way to discover and enjoy the world of fiber arts in Northern New Mexico. You’ll meet the weavers, knitters, spinners, felters, embroiderers and new media artists who are sharing their love of the fiber arts at this event. Plus, you’ll have a great time!

Donna Hrkman, rug hooking teacher, and class. — Members of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild surround Donna Hrkman to learn her technique for enlarging an image to be used as a pattern.

Lastly and most fun, a couple of weeks ago, the esteemed rug hooking teacher DONNA HRKMAN was here in Albuquerque sharing tips of the trade with and instilling self-confidence into members of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG). We cannot gush enough about her class, the exquisite rugs she shared, the patterns she drew, the wool and other goodies she brought to us. Not only that, she was just plain fun to be with. Unfortunately, her plane came in almost a full day late, so sight-seeing was limited, but we all rolled with the punches. We got cozy with one another at a meet-and-greet supper here at High on Hooking’s crib with plenty of vittles left for Tuesday’s lunch. Dinner’s out included margaritas and New Mexican food along with excellent conversation. For any hooking group or guild looking for a teacher, we at AWAG can’t recommend Donna enough.

Donna Hrkman and Alheimer's hooked rug. — Donna Hrkman describes how she created the hooked words in her “Alzheimer’s Rug.”

And lastly, I wanted to show you what being a busy hooking bee finally did for me. Maybe you saw it on our Instagram post.

Dog and writer celebrate finish of a hooked rug. — “Big Boucherouite” is finally done! Tynan and I celebrate. Tom’s margarita completed our little party.

I started this rug over a year ago, worked on it sporadically till late November of 2018. (Because I’m not involved in enough stuff as it is.) After my vending year was over, I started hooking in earnest, finally finishing the hooking maybe a month or so ago. After giving my arthritic hands a break, I started the finish work. Everything was done and the High on Hooking tag sewn on this Sunday afternoon. Did you hear my sigh on relief?

Please share your spring fiber-phernalia here

and on our Facebook page.

April 9, 2019

Change is…GOOD!

Tynan on hooked rug. — Tynan presents this week’s “What’s on the frame.” This would be a teaser for **Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta** (May 30 and 31, June 1). The **Adobe Wool Arts Guild** will have a special exhibit, “9 on 9,” comprised of friendship rugs. Tynan has managed to sit on at least two of them thus far.

Change requires a new way of looking at old things. Looking at anything differently is good; it gets you out of your old head and makes you see with new eyes. Less “same old, same old.” And so High on Hooking has to do some changing. Nothing that drastic, just something to shake us up a little, get the juices flowing again.

Over the last year Instagram has proven to be a real mover and a shaker. Even more than Pinterest these days, I love to see the beautiful items that everyone’s making and showing on Instagram. And so few words are needed. The photographs alone drive traffic to an artist’s website and Etsy shop. Because of this development and because, frankly, I’m tired of coming up with scintillating topics week after week, I plan on reducing the number of blog posts here at High on Hooking. Don’t worry, I promised Tynan that he could still post now and again. And you know you can find him on our Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Thought you might like this close-up of the friendship rug’s background. Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know how to hook wool strips. Guild member Cathy Kelly dyed it for me. (Okay, I was there doing some poking and prodding and dropping in some dye…)
Relatedly, it’s time to simplify some and pare down…the website itself. Again, change is good, and I’d like a new look. Also, I prefer to sell via my Etsy shop or directly. Directly as in, if you see something you like here on the website, just shoot me an email or a call. (No middlemen making money that way. 🙂 ) So, as I find time in the next couple of months (not an easy feat), the site will be changing. Because I’m doing it myself, we could also get lost in the Internet ether now and again. In that case, find me on the Facebook or Instagram pages. And know that the gallery page is currently hopelessly out of date!
If you follow my Instagram feed, maybe you noticed the new rug I’m working on. In between finishing “Big Boucherouite” and a couple of others. Maybe you looked closely and realized that it’s not actually hooked; rather it’s punched. Yep, I’m adding to the repertoire. But punching for me didn’t come out of nowhere. I used to do quite a bit of it, even spent four days with Amy Oxford one summer at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts before she moved into her own digs. And, like wool strips which I really don’t care to punch, you can punch t-shirt strips. I’ve done it. Haven’t tried bedsheets. Will have to think that one out. Not!
Why Amy Oxford’s had a run on her punch needles, besides Instagram that is. Because everyone loves how cool it looks from the back! BTW, this is being punched with wool yarns.

I think that’s enough change for one day, don’t you?

How are you mixing things up this spring? What change are you making?

March 26, 2019

And just like that, “Big Boucherouite” is hooked

Big Boucherouite hooked rug — This is what “Big Boucherouite” looked like yesterday afternoon when I sat down to hook. Some of you may have seen it on **Instagram**. Clearly, the race was on. Actually, the race had been on since Sunday when I hooked for a good seven hours.

Okay, maybe not “just like that,” but the “Big Boucherouite” is hooked. Finally. After about three and a half months of hooking approximately three hours per day. My arthritic hands are not particularly pleased with me at the moment, and I haven’t even told them about the next part: hemming. Putting needle and thread into hooked bed sheets and t-shirts isn’t the most fun thing one can do. I’ll give the hands a week or two off before we start to sew.

“Big Boucherouite” is hooked completely from old bed sheets and t-shirts. This is recycled (fiber) art at its best. 🙂

“Big Boucherouite” all hooked up. There’s a LOT of hemming to be done there. Don’t anyone expect to see this bad boy in the **Etsy shop** for a while.

In the meantime I have to finish my friendship rug – the entire background which does include words (I know, I know!). At least hooking wool is more gentle on the paws than hooking cotton. The friendship rug has to be completed by Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta just like “Big Boucherouite.” In fact, all nine of the guild‘s friendship rugs constitute a special exhibit. If you can make it, Fiesta is May 30, 31 and June 1 at Expo here in Albuquerque.

Dog on Big Boucherouite hooked rug — Tynan was not to be denied. He feels it’s his job to present the rugs. And pick up a treat for his troubles…

Fellow hookers, I’ve spent an incredible amount of time hooking the background of one BIG rug; the friendship rug isn’t as large, but it ain’t small either. I’ve been dreaming of other rugs I want/need to start. Ideas to get me through this next background before I can start something new?

March 6, 2019

A quick hello

welsh springer spaniel with hooked rug. — Tynan here with a quick hello. She’s busy trying to finish the hooked monster, i.e., the **“Big Boucherouite,”** and prepping for her turn to host the monthly neighborhood **Bunco** party tomorrow. And, oh, yeah, my sister’s here from Colorado. But then again you always like it better when I host the blog, and we like to give the customers what they want.

Weather’s beautiful here in Albuquerque this week, even hitting the 70s. Condolences to those still victim to winter’s frigid temperatures. May spring come quickly to you. And if you’re in the ABQ area, remember that the Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Spring Show is this weekend! (Not that I get to go…)

Later!

Tynan