Category: experimentation

February 20, 2018

I got a cutter just like the big girls!

My new Fraser wool cutter. — I love how I can clamp the Fraser cutter – Brad – to almost any table I’m working near. So much better than the way those little rubber cups under the Bliss dehydrate out here in the Southwest and then slip all over my granite counter tops. Just like my pencil sharpener.

It finally happened. After hooking for maybe 14 years, I finally got me a cutter! No more cutting wool by hand with the old scissors unless I wish to (for some dumb reason). Check him out; my husband named him Brad after the insurance commercial. You know, the one where the girl goes on about her long relationship with her car Brad. Until she totaled him. We will NOT be totaling Brad in this house!

He’s an old Harry M. Fraser 500-1 that had been donated to the guild. And he works much better than the old and very sad Bliss I’d tried. Brad was accompanied by a #4 cutter head. What am I going to do with a #4 cutter head – me who spends most of my time cutting up old sheets and t-shirts to hook with? That’s like hooking with crazy thin sock yarn or something. But, but…

Wool for rug cut with Fraser cutter. — My penguin addition to Mary S’s tesselation rug. You can barely see those #4 strips, they’re so narrow! I love how his feet came out. Okay, like his white front, they’re hooked from yarn too. The little button eye could be an issue if the rug’s going down on the floor. That’ll be Mary’s problem. 🙂

Remember how the Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) is doing our friendship rug project? Well, after finishing the Mystery Rug last week (currently at the framer’s), I could finally work on the friendship rug that’s been sitting in my house for over a month. Mary S drew a tessellation – very cool. Mary S, along with many of the gals in AWAG, often hooks with #4s. Laura does not. But, when all you pretty much have is a #4 cutter head… So, I threw on the big girl panties and cut #4 strips. And then, to the blue light of the television’s Olympic coverage – mostly figure skating, I hooked my part of Mary’s rug. On the linen it came on, not monks’ cloth. Okay, I used a little cream rug yarn for texture, but I THINK IT CAME OUT SO COOL! I am not so bad at this hooking thing after all.

Sewing hooked rug — Sewing the binding onto the “Big Boucherite.” Took three sewing sessions. Thank God for all the freaking figure skating.

So, now I’m hooking with the big girls – wispy, little strips of wool. Is this my new medium? Hell, no! Sure, I’ll definitely use the cutter. In fact, I ordered a #6 head because I’m in the midst of a rug that I started using Mary R’s Townsend cutter. Then I found a #8 that was with the junky Bliss cutter. So, I’ll have a nice little stable of three heads to use WHEN I’M NOT CUTTING BY HAND/HOOKING/UP-CYCLING T-SHIRTS, BEDSHEETS, AND OTHER UNLOVED TEXTILES. (The plastic bag mystery rug was a good experiment, but not one going into the permanent repertoire.) In fact, just last night I finished sewing the rug binding onto my new project. (Remember, I’m one of those who was taught to do that first, makes it easier to finish later, and NO WHIPPING!) It’s BIG, the biggest I’ve tackled thus far, but I can’t wait. It’ll be the “Big Boucherouite,” done up mainly in bedsheets because of how much I loved that in the “First Boucherouite.”

Hooked rug and dog. — While it’s not on the frame yet, here’s the “BIG Boucherouite” with Tynan posing to show the size. It’s about 55″x49″. It’ll take a bit of time and not be particularly portable. Cue the “Baby Boucherouite”!

Nonetheless, like I said, I’ll definitely use the cutter. It’s kind of funny, though. Last week, there was a post on one of the hooking Facebook sites. Someone made mention of how disappointed she was in her old Fraser, that she could only cut two strips at a time. Very slow going, and what cutter did others use and recommend? Life’s relative, I guess. Here I was – same evening – pleased as punch that I was getting three (!) nice and even #4 strips cut at once. So much easier and quicker than using my scissors. But, like I said, it’s all relative. I’m sure that if I was hooking exclusively in wool, I’d be salivating over a Bolivar or the absurdly efficient Sizzix.

What about you? How do you cut your wool?

February 13, 2018

Hanging and hooking with friends, a retreat

Ram hooked rug at retreat. — **Melinda** finished her ram – hurray! It’s based on a pic her **photographer-husband Gary** took when they were on vacation last year. She started it last spring when **Cheryl Bollenbach** was here for a **workshop**.

Thank goodness that the illness I wrote about last week abated enough for me to attend our guild’s three-day retreat Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I’d have hated to miss it; all the hooking and chatting and snacking with friends, that is. We try to hold a retreat three or four times each year now, and visitors are welcome should you be in the area. You don’t even have to be a hooker!

Luckily, we have a venue available to us at no cost. Yes, absolutely free. It is, ironically, a police substation in the Sandia foothills here in Albuquerque. Yes, the hookers have taken over the cops’ joint. Actually, it’s a rather inactive substation these days. Rarely any folks in uniform in residence. But it’s a fabulous room – plenty of tables and space, big windows letting in lots of natural light. This winter the heat’s even worked!

Enjoy some pics of Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) members at play with their rugs.

Bird rug hooking at retreat — Can you believe that **Nan**‘s been hooking for less than two years??? She designed this; it’ll be a chair pad.

Rug hooking retreat — At the same time Nan’s hooking her mom-in-law’s dog. He’ll be a pillow soon.

Working on rug at hooking retreat — **Mary S.** was ~~doing penance~~ whipping the edges of this original rug for her granddaughter. This is not her first rug for a granddaughter by any means. Check out those eyes!

Hooking at retreat — **Liz** has been using each retreat to get a lot of work done on a rug of her and her husband fishing. This time it was all about the water.

Working at ooking retreat — **Nancy Pierce** was hard at work on a piece that she’ll have ready for sale at next month’s **Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival** in Albuquerque. Find her rugs and other pieces at her **website** and in this **prior post.**

Hooking retreat. — Linda’s got the Celtic thing going on in this rug. Check out the matching ring!

At the hooking retreat. — Nancy made this little bag to carry her scissors and things. Like very much!

Hooked rug retreat. — And I think that I finally finished hooking the **mystery rug**. I say “I think” because I need to look at it some more to determine if it needs editing. Then there’s the framing. But I’m glad to be moving back to real fibers this week.

If you’re in the area, AWAG’s next retreat will be May 9-11.

Hope you can make it!

April 9, 2017

The gospel of rug hooking successfully shared

EVFAC is located in Espanola, New Mexico, about a half-hour north of Santa Fe on the way to Taos.

My two-part class at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) finished up yesterday, and yes, peeps, we have welcomed at least one new acolyte to the fold. Woohoo! Felicity, who happens to also hail from Albuquerque, was already a fiberista first class: she knits, sews, weaves, dyes, and I don’t know what else. Except for rug hooking. She’s added that to her repertoire now. I suspect she’ll do some cool stuff with it all.

After an incredible drive up north that reminded me of why I moved to New Mexico – big, blue sky; purple mountains majesty; snow-covered peaks even in April… – I was unpacking and found that my other student had texted that she couldn’t make the class. (Fortunately, she lives near me too, so, hopefully, we can do a quick wrap-up here in ABQ.) When Felicity wasn’t there by 10:20, we got worried and called her. “Sorry! Be there soon!” She’d gotten caught in some traffic. Whoo, I thought wiping the sweat away, I’d been worried I’d turned two people off the craft.

Rug hooking student, accepts the gospel of rug hooking. — Felicity has become a student of the gospel of rug hooking. Woohoo!

Imagine my concern then when Felicity informed me that she hadn’t finished hooking her t-shirt mat, In fact, she’d not worked on it at all! Damn, what the hell had I done or said last week? But wait! I had it all wrong. She pulls out her monks’ cloth and tells me that she started a new rug! (I’d given them enough to do just that but figured it would happen after the first one.) She has all kinds of wool yarn sitting

Felicity said she’d send me pics when she finishes her project. But I really can’t wait to see what she does with rug hooking, how she integrates it into her other artistic endeavors.

around her house and decided she wanted to try hooking that! So, there she was trying different directions and textures. I though that it was very inspired of her to go all rogue like that. Sure, she couldn’t go through the finishing process, but I had a few small rugs on me that needed to be finished up; we used them as demos. Felicity’s clearly a quick study, so she’ll get hers done up, no prob. Even better, she was able to score a Puritan frame for just $70. It had been sitting around the store for months and was in great condition.

Purtaon rug hooking frame — Pic of a Puritan frame. (Sorry, no longer available from iloverughooking.com).

Because there’d been some issues getting the class online for sign-up, I was lucky to get two students, the minimum needed for a class to run. The good thing is that where our tiny class was located required folks to walk by us and naturally stop to check out what we were up to. Several women mentioned being interested. “Would they be running the class again?” It’s up to them to ~~bug~~ request that EVFAC do just that. I’m up for it. And since I joined the Center as a member (which amongst other things lets you sell in the shop and outside sales they sponsor plus provides discounts for classes and items for sale), I’ll be stopping by any time I’m up in that area. And there’s a wicked sounding, one-day photography class with my name on it.

Photo of yarn. — EVFAC is filled with all things fiber. You certainly can’t get out without buying something. (Read: good stuff and reasonable prices.) Classrooms galore. During our class yesterday, there were workshops going on in felting and quilting. A new weaver was trying to warp a loom, and spinners were hanging around the couches…spinning. What else?

EVFAC’s an hour and a half ride for me, but worth it. Do you have a fiber “facility” that’s not all that near to your home, but that inspires you to drive? Extol its virtues here.

And to those celebrating this week, Happy Easter and Passover! Tom, Tynan, and I will be taking some time off. It’s a good time to put away the social media for a bit and enjoy what we have.

October 24, 2016

Where to find the fiber in Albuquerque this week

Looking for fiber in Albuquerque this week? And I’m not talking oat bran and pinto beans!

Look for the Adobe Wool Arts Guild's sign when you're at the Biopark. — Look for the Adobe Wool Arts Guild’s sign when you’re at the Biopark. Here are some demo particulars.

If you’re in the mood for hooking, try the Biopark’s Botanic Garden tomorrow between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. As I’ve mentioned before, the Adobe Wool Arts Guild demonstrates our craft/art (that distinction is a discussion for another day) on the first Tuesday of every month. As of last month, we’ve been doing it on the fourth Tuesday as well, same time. Why? you ask. Because WE LOVE HOOKING! And sharing it, of course. Stop by if you’re in the area tomorrow or even next week.

The ladies are ready to answer all your rug hooking questions when you visit Heritage Farm at the Biopark. — The ladies are ready to answer all your rug hooking and fiber questions when you visit Heritage Farm at the Biopark.

Maybe you’re already really into rug hooking and you’d like to try your hand at another fiber art. Knitting? Machine knitting? Spinning and dying your own yarn for your knitting project? Doll-making? Weaving? Quilting? No matter, we have pretty much all fiber activities covered come Saturday. The Yarn Store at Nob Hill in conjunction with Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council is holding an all-guild demo day (scroll down the page some) from 10:00 – 4:00 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (114 Carlisle NE). All ages are invited attend and encouraged to try something new. See the poster below for more info.

Will we see at one of these fabulous fiber events?

demo-day-poster

April 27, 2016

What’s old is new again

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's to "wick up" and reduce the need for daily manual watering. — 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 bed sheets. — 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 bottom of the bed sheet rug. — 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.