Category: giving back

April 22, 2020

Share those hearts! And other news.

Heart hooked rug for hearts for heroes — Show me your hearts; here’s mine. I attached it to my spring door decoration. It was hooked with wool, silk, and silk sari yarns. #heartsforheroes

We’re still looking for those hearts. Tag them #heartsforheroes. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, click here now. Relatedly, Maggie Bathory at the Aspen Rug Company has a contest HEARTS FOR HOOKERS going on over at her place. Combine our two projects; do good and maybe win some wool!

In other news, I’m still not working particularly efficiently as I’d hoped to back when this all started. If you wish, you can read about that here. The situation wasn’t helped when my kid had health issues that ultimately pushed her into the hospital up in Colorado where she lives…3½ hours away. That was nerve-wracking as Tom and I couldn’t just run up to be with her. Nope, in the end she had to do it all by her lonesome. There have been some hiccups, but her health is safe and she’s back at work…on the frontlines…at a grocery store. (Another plug for #heartsforheroes.)

But I have gotten some things done. Two rugs left the Etsy shop for their forever homes. Yea! Virtual shopping can be as good if not better than going to the store. I know, three pairs of shoes have made it to my house from DSW via the post office. Then there are those two Kohl’s deliveries. Pro Chem and Maritime Family Fiber…

Hooked wall hanging — “Sacred Life” now lives in Louisiana with Susan. She and Carolyn are hoping to make a trip to New Mexico late in the year. Pray they get a chance. Till then, this will have to do.

Intrigue: There’s been an ongoing rug “sale” story; really it’s all about a would-be scammer who wanted to take me for about $1000. And get a rug in the deal! That deserves it’s own post. Watch for it in the future.

hooked rug — “Tea for Me” headed up to its Oregon forever home this week! Perfect for a cool spring morning.

Then I sold a pattern of “Big Boucherouite” after someone saw him in Rug Hooking Magazine. Damn, I think that little nugget of information was lost in the coronacootie hubbub. Yep, take a gander in the current – March/April/May – issue. My article starts on page 40. I’m so tickled! Anywho, later this week, I’ll be making that pattern available in linen and monk’s cloth in the Etsy shop. Or just contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com if you’re interested in one. Or in any other rug that I’ve hooked, for that matter. Most can be easily drawn.

Rug Hooking Magazine article — You know, I’ve had short stories printed and even rugs in the ATHA Magazine, but what a gas to have my own article and artwork in Rug Hooking Magazine!

Drawing a hooked rug pattern — This was part of the process when I drew the “Big Boucherouite” pattern for Leslie. Thank goodness for a large area on tile, and even more, doors to keep the dogs at bay.

Ribbon rug journal easter entry — Ribbon Rug Journal entry, April 12: “Easter, 2020” or “Easter, Corona Style.” Hopefully, the Easter Bunny didn’t catch the coronacootie when he delivered the eggs and candy.

Like I said in an earlier post, the Ribbon Rug Journal takes up more of my hooking time than I anticipated. I guess that’s not such a problem this year though. Sadly, so many vending and other in-person events are cancelled that I have time to spend on a big project like this one. Just the other day I finished the first roll of burlap ribbon. The new roll is a tad more difficult to work with as its weave is much looser. Danger, Will Robinson! It’s also wider which is a mixed blessing. There’s more space to hook, but showing any kind of detail is a no-go.

Other than that, there’s lots of cooking and eating and drinking going on in the Salamy house. We’re still really well stocked up. The boys keep us walking most days, thank goodness. It’s safer that way, otherwise the Wild Child (aka Bowyn) gets himself into much too much mischief. He took out a skein of rug yarn within five minutes of it being in the house. Snaked his little paw right through the doggie gate to snag it! I have managed to give them both haircuts, not that I’ll be accomplished enough to hang out a groomer’s shingle when this whole pandemic crisis is over. But I can now wield a pair of clippers and cut toenails. I call that a victory.

dogs on hooked rug — A FIRST! Tynan allowed Bowyn to share his “What’s on the frame” duty this week. (It all fell apart after I snapped the pic.) I’ll hook the last bit of this cheery, recycled bed sheet rug tonight. Then it joins a finishing queue along with a punched pillow.

I’m still interested in what you’re hooking up or even cooking up this Covid-19 “vacation.” Tell us about it below. Better yet, show us on the High on Hooking Facebook page. And get those hearts up on your front windows and doors. Share your love and gratitude with the heroes showing up at your house with yarn and shoes and food and…

April 9, 2020

#Heartsforheroes

Hooked rug heart — This is NOT the heart that will go on my front door, but it is a taste of what we want to do. I hooked this one last night as part of the **Ribbon Rug Journal**. I called it “Hear Alert” then, but it’s really “#HEARTSFORHEROES.”

#heartsforheroes

So the country’s come to a standstill. Or so it seems as many of us sit at home making and walking our dogs and bingeing WestWorld and otherwise avoid contracting Covid-19. But we know that’s not true. There are still all kinds of folks out in the big, germy world. I don’t mean your fellow shoppers in Costco or Walmart. No, I’m talking the people who work in Costco and Walmart. Then there are the people driving the trucks bringing the groceries and the toilet paper to Costco and Walmart. And all the other stores and warehouses that are still open.

How about the people working in the post office, people bringing your Amazon packages? And the folks that deliver the news to our doors and televisions. There are the veterinarians and zoo keepers keeping our animals healthy. All those restaurant people making and delivering food to others who never learned how to boil water or to those of us just sick of our own cooking.

And then there are the people actually putting their lives on the line: first responders, nurses and doctors, cops, and firemen. Maybe you’re sewing masks for them in your house right now. Good for you! And thank you. They’re all busy and probably can’t stop to tell you themselves.

I know there are plenty of others out there working while you and I stay home trying to flatten the curve; I just can’t think of all the job categories. There’s not enough time, and it’s not important. What is important is to let them know how much we appreciate them all. In that vein, I’d like to propose a method for doing just that. Actually, friend and fellow hooker Cass from Tennessee suggested it. She’d seen something similar online and thought that the rug hooking community should embrace it.

What if we started a challenge of hooked hearts…design and size, etc., of your choice? They would hang on our doors or some visible place as an outward show of love and appreciation to all of the support personnel…medical, grocers, janitors, truck drivers, police and fire, postal, etc. …I’m envisioning something to represent love and thanks to these folks… Could we start here and post and spread? It seems that if the virus can spread worldwide, this could as well.
— Cass

Well, what do you think? Do you have a spare piece of monk’s cloth or linen? A pattern you’ll never do? Turn it over. Anyone can draw a heart and color it in with wool or t-shirt or whatever your leftover noodles are. It doesn’t have to be huge. Do you prefer punching? Do that, then hang it where folks will see it. Even if they don’t get the full significance, we all recognize the feelings and emotions behind a heart. Not a hooker? Feel free to branch out. Sew a heart, crochet a heart, mold a heart. It really doesn’t matter what they’re made of, just that we get them out there.

Rug Hooked heart celebrating #heartsforheroes — Another hooked heart! This one, a lavender sachet pillow, was done by **Lauren Fuqua of Rugs and Pugs**. I won it in one of her many give-aways. Maybe you already have a handmade heart? Put it up today!

The timing for this is absolutely perfect! Those of you who are Jewish just began your celebration of Passover which remembers the Hebrew Exodus after the tenth and most awful plague inflicted upon the ancient Egyptians. As a Christian, today I mark Holy Thursday, the start of the Easter season. Above all else, Holy Thursday is about humble service to others. Christ washed the apostles’ feet. Cass and I have daughters risking their own health to work as cashiers in the grocery stores where we all continue to shop.

By the way, your heart shouldn’t be limited to your front door or window. Nope, you’re going to post them on social media for everyone to find. And you’re gonna hashtag them: #heartsforheroes. Beth Miller of Parris House Wool Works has gotten us rug hookers used to hashtagging #greatinternationalhookin when we display the rugs we’re hooking during these pandemic days. We can do the same for our hearts.

Please hook a heart and help us to thank the heroes: Amy, Tina, Elisabeth, David, and all the others. And enjoy and appreciate what will be very different Easter and Passover holidays this year.

Please share.

November 6, 2018

Fall fiber frenzy

Like I mentioned last week, I’m kind of slammed for the next couple of weeks in my own personal Fall fiber frenzy. This Saturday is the High Desert Studio Tour on the east side of Albuquerque. I’ll be at Stop #3 on the map below (if you click, you’ll get a better one) where Dagmar Beinenz-Byrd runs her ZiaWoolz business. Each year she generously offers me space for the event. This year Catherine Wies, another multi-talented Adobe Wool Arts Guild member, will have her wares there too: all kinds of versions of her “Everywoman Tote Bag.” I may have to buy another one to put Dag’s hand-dyed yarn and project bags in. Yeah, I’ll spend more than I’ll ever make. But the goods are all worth it. Plus we have a lot of fun. Stop by!

Meanwhile, I’m busy hooking away for Saturday and next weekend too up in Santa Fe at the Fall Fiber Fiesta. Then there are the meetings: guild (I told you I’m president now, right?); next year’s Fiber Fiesta here in ABQ; the Fiber Arts Council’s Education Committee; the food pantry I deliver to, and Susan’s Legacy. All this with a cold that won’t quit. I swear that between us, Tom and I can incubate it till next spring…

I hate meetings, but they’re a necessary evil for worthy organizations and causes. And if you have any interest in Fiesta or the Fiber Arts Council, click on those links above. Regarding Susan’s Legacy, if you’d like to help women trying to help themselves out of mental health and addiction disorders, see our website. Disclaimer: I’m a Board member, and such troubles have run in my family.

High Desert Studio Tour - part of Fall fiber frenzy — Info on the annual High Desert Studio Tour this Saturday in Albuquerque. More info on the website, **www.highdesertliving.net**. Remember, three of us will be at Stop #3. Follow the purple balloons!

Dog and hooked rugs - Fall fiber frenzy — Tynan ~~whores for a treat~~ brings you this week’s “What’s on the frame?” As you can see, there are actually four little rugs on there right now. I’m low on mug rugs which make excellent and unique gifts for the holidays. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Check out our **Etsy shop**. There may be one or two there right this minute. If not, give a yell and tell me what you need.

Hope to see you this weekend in Albuquerque or next in Santa Fe. Remember: Mention the blog post and get 10% off any rug. It’s part of spreading the gospel of rug hooking and buying handmade this holiday season!

November 21, 2017

Be grateful and share what you have

The Santa Fe Fall Fiber Fiesta put on by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center was a BIG SUCCESS. I can’t be happier or more grateful for the chance to sell my rugs there and to hang with other talented fiber chicks for a weekend. Okay, and to buy a few things from them. Hey, Christmas is right around the corner now. You can even hear Santa’s sleigh bells just under the gobbles of the turkey.

Which brings me to my holiday wish for you:

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Let’s remember to be grateful for the food and other things we have right now and to share them with those less fortunate. We’re all in this thing we call life together.

Be grateful and share this Thanksgiving. — Tynan poses for his Thanksgiving pic with Tom the Turkey and the pumpkin rug which is STILL looking for a forever home. HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING! We’ll talk more next week.

December 8, 2016

Becoming a real part of my New Mexican community

Photo of Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center in community of Espanola. This week’s been all about really pushing farther into my new “world,” the New Mexican community I’ve become a part of in the past year and a half since we moved to Albuquerque. Specifically, I was very fortunate to be invited to join two fine organizations: the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center and Susan’s Legacy. I said YES to both because, hey, if you don’t try something new, you’re never going to grow. Or meet new people!

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) is a unique resource for fiber artists and those who find beauty in the fiber arts. Visitors to the adobe storefront in the historic district of Española, New Mexico enter a world of looms, colorful yarns, beautiful handmade textiles, books, and supplies.

I stole that right off their website. EVFAC’s mission is to cultivate and support multi-generational participation in local, traditional and contemporary Fiber Arts. (Yep, lifted that too.) One way they do this is to provide a full educational program in many fiber arts, not just the weaving that started the whole shabang. A couple of weeks ago, they contacted me and asked if I was interested in teaching a class. Apparently, someone gave the educational coordinator my info. She liked what she saw on the website and emailed me. I was stunned because a few weeks ago, I headed up to Santa Fe with my compadre Melinda to check out EVFAC’s Fall Fiber Fiesta. Neither of us remembers me even talking about High on Hooking. We were more interested in admiring the artists’ work and, of course, buying things to bring home.

Regardless, I’m in the midst of creating my proposal. We’ll be saving the environment and using t-shirts and other donated fabrics to create our rugs. More on it all later. Because EVFAC is about 90 miles north of home, we’ll probably wait till spring when the snow stops flying up that way to run the class.

Photo of Susan's Legacy (community non-profit) logo. Amazingly enough, my involvement with Susan’s Legacy (SL) also came about because of hooking. (It does seem to have become the center of my New Mexican universe…) Anywho – every two years when Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta is held, a local charity is picked to receive funding from “doo-da” sales. “Doo-das” are small gifts made by the various guilds. Guests donate $5 to the featured charity, then get to pick a doo-da. Apparently, it’s a very popular part of Fiesta.The Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) – my guild – will be hooking mug rugs as our doo-dahs.

Kathryn Weil, who happens to be a quilter, is the executive director of SL. Her presentation to the guild reps struck home with me. The organization is small, but mighty. We chose it as our charity for Fiesta 2017 (May 19-21).

Susan’s Legacy is a small, non-profit agency that provides intensive recovery support for women with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders. The goal for clients is to move from surviving to thriving as self-sufficient, contributing community members. Clients must be committed to recovery and actively engage in the services provided by SL to support the goals of becoming mentally stable and substance free. …Susan’s Legacy addresses these needs by providing case management, individual mental health and addiction counseling, and psycho-educational groups. Susan’s Legacy provides services to clients free of charge. Because clients don’t pay for these services, Susan’s Legacy is dependent upon grants, donations, and fundraising to continue its work with co-occurring women.

(That was “borrowed” from the Fiber Arts Council’s December Newsletter edited by Cathy Kelly, a fellow AWAG member.

Mental illness and addiction runs in my family, so I’ve had some experience with SL’s charge. In addition, many of my food pantry clients faced these same challenges. (For those who are new to High on Hooking, one of my past lives involved running a couple of pantries.) Little did I know when I contacted SL to volunteer in some capacity – like helping with paperwork or grant-

Photo of a heart-decorated mug and accompanying hand-hooked, heart-shaped mug rug. — Hoping to sell the newest mug and its rug, but who knows? Maybe it’ll become a doo-da for Susan’s Legacy next May.

writing – that Kathryn would propose something else. This week I became a Board member. I was so impressed with the women I met at the meeting; I only hope that I can offer as half as much as they do.

Of course, Tom’s wondering how I’ll keep everything straight and have enough time. I figure that God always provides… Well, almost. 🙂 I’ve got my eye out for a part time job too. We’ll see what happens.

How have fiber arts

widened your world?