October’s here, the pumpkin time of year! This little guy was hooked using wool strips and yarn and recycled t-shirts. The background is primarily cotton batik.
October started at a run right out of the gate. Not sure how that can be in these days of Covid, but I suppose it shows that we’re all adapting to our new reality. And, hey, it’s not all bad. Because of Zoom, many of us are seeing each other on a pretty regular basis, which would NOT have been the case if we had to travel any distance to get together.
So, exactly what’s up in October?
IN THE STUDIO WITH JUDI MILLER – wEDNESDAY, 2020; 1-2 PM EASTERN (11-NOON MOUNTAIN
Wednesday, October 7:
IN THE STUDIO WITH JUDI MILLER
Canadian artist Judi Miller joins moderator Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studios to discuss artist residencies. Maybe you’ve considered one? There’s still time to purchase a ticket today to get the scoop. Info can be found here. Starts at 1:00 PM Eastern.
Wednesday, October 14: ALT FIBERS HOOK-IN
This is a chance to just sit and hook together – okay, on Zoom – for an evening. If you’ve been wondering about hooking with something other than wool, this is the place to come and discuss. Grab a beverage and a project and join us. More info can be found here. Starts at 5:00 PM Eastern. And, yes, wool’s invited as well.
Wednesday, October 21: ADOBE WOOL ARTS GUILD MEETING
If you’re a fiber artist in New Mexico and interested in joining AWAG, the only rug hooking guild in the state, please give a yell to attend. We’re not officially meeting in person yet, but Zoom has let folks meet and talk to one another. Please contact moi at Laura@highonhooking.com for more info. (That’s because I’m the guild president.) Starts at 1:00 PM Mountain time.
Monday-Friday, October 26-30: IN THE STUDIO’S FIRST WORKSHOP WEEK
Who says we can’t have classes during Covid? Not only can we, but people from all over Canada and the US and even beyond can participate!
Teachers include: Karen Miller, Susan Feller, Meryl Cook, Beth Miller, and moi. Workshops by Susan and myself are full, but, if you hurry, you might grab a place in the others. (There are waiting lists.) BTW, not only are there classes, but bonus evening sessions include a hook-in and a panel discussion. More info here.
With all these October events, I don’t want to hear that you’re bored or you have nothing to do. You are cordially invited to pretty much…everything! Until we get a Coronacootie vaccine in place and working, this is how we’ll be getting together. But I suspect we’ll keep Zooming at least part of the time because, you know, it works! Hope to see you online!
Aren’t they playing nice? Tynan and Bowyn both bring you “What’s on the frame” today. It’s a Boucherouite-inspired rug hooked with t-shirts. I started it on vacation last week. Right now it’s got kind of an October vibe going with those Halloweenish colors.
It’s a new season. Finally! Fall officially started Tuesday when the autumnal equinox happened. For those of us who can’t wait to give 2020 the boot, it couldn’t have come sooner.
A fall picture of Tynan running in the Bosquein a fall past. Sadly, he’s a little slower these days, but he enjoys his sniffing time there.
Fall is like the New Year to me; it’s a time of new beginnings. Sadly this year, that also necessitates endings. Right now I’m thinking about Friday’s death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I like to think that she’ll have even more influence up there in heaven than what she had here on earth which is and was FREAKING AWESOME. Women, teach your daughters well. I was reading an article today about how much more house- and child-work women have to do at home during this time of the Coronacootie. It’s often been at the expense of their jobs and careers. If, like me, you’re not out in the world-at-large working, perhaps you can offer a helping hand to a working mom you know. She shouldn’t have to lose her career footing just because she can multitask better than a man, just because kids are have to be on her mind more than her partner’s.
Angel Ruth, pray for us!
So, new season, new scenery. Tom and I are finally getting out of Dodge! Our 2020 vacation plans have dwindled throughout the spring and summer from a driving trip to Oregon (we were calling it the pinot noir tour, alas) to a wedding in Rhode Island (no to planes and too many motels on the road) to northern Colorado (couldn’t find a place to rent) to farther south in New Mexico (too expensive to rent a house and the town was filled with Texans escaping germs and heat) to…thankfully…kind of in the middle of nowhere northern New Mexico. (But there is internet access, speed unknown.)
So, we’ll be off soon to visit mountains other than our own Sandias here in Albuquerque. Somewhere cooler! The plan is to veg: read, hike a little, walk, hook, read, write, read.
Some of my reading materials for vacation. Kerry’s novel Heat Stroke is on my tablet.
I’m in the midst of sewing rug tape onto a new rug that will entertain me up there. It’s Boucherouite-esque. All recycled t-shirt. Colorful – much like the new season – but not taxing to hook. Like you want on vacation.
Below Tynan brings you part of the rug currently on the frame, though the hooking will be done tonight. You can only see a portion of it now because it’s a commission due next month. It’s hooked almost completely in wool strips and yarn. I know, I know, that doesn’t happen too often in this house. And that will continue as I found out that my wool dust allergy is worse, now extending to some loose, bulky yarns. Bummer, but I won’t give them up completely. Love them too much.
A reminder! My Alt Fibers Hook-In is taking place Wednesday, October 14, at 7:00 PM Eastern. For those in the Mountain time zone like me, that’s 5:00, cocktail time. Perfect! You can learn more about the event in the link above, but it’s a time for:
sharing experiences hooking with materials other than wool;
experimenting;
Tynan presents “Whats on the frame” today.
drinking cocktails;
chatting as if we were in a room together (the cocktails will help with that);
and whatever other topics and questions we come up with.
Please know that this is a hook-in, NOT a class. And wool, you’re welcome to come. I know that you play nice with other fibers in my rugs. Email me at Laura@highonhooking.com if you’re interested. (Know that may take awhile for me to get back to you.)
I pray to God that you manage(d) to get away from your everyday view for at least a little while. It’s good to get out. I’m hoping to avoid the news as much as possible and forget…what I’ll have to come home to. At least my mind and my soul will be rested.
“Melinda’s Rug” shown as a bench cover. It was hooked using recycled t-shirts.
I decided to talk sunflowers , mostly because I’m pretty sick of all the negativity surrounding us today. And yet…I bet there are folks out there that can find something disapproving about one of my favorite flowers. Too bad! Because, as I will remind you all, I AM THE BOSS OF MY RUGS. AND MY BLOG.
Now that that’s off my chest, I can go on. Sunflowers are starting to bloom here in New Mexico. The garden varieties and the ones that I find on my walks in the Bosque, the woods running along the currently almost non-existent Rio Grande River here in Albuquerque. Sorry! I’ll try to get back to being positive.
This is the first sunflower that greeted the kid and me as we crossed over the Texas border into New Mexico five years ago last week.
I recently finished “Melinda’s Rug,” and many of you have seen it on my social media accounts. It’s pretty in pastels. Just the colors that Melinda loves, particularly the turquoises. (An aside: It’s a housewarming present for the house she and Gary build over two years ago. I’m a tad tardy.)
But it’s not the first “sunflower” rug that I’ve hooked. In fact, I like to make at least one per year. And I always do one, a mug rug, for the silent auction at Mountainair’s Sunflowers Festival. Which will not be taking place this August. Thank you, Coronacootie. 🙁
I decided to take a look back and see the progression of this series of mine.
BTW: I’m not a botanist. So don’t hold me to a strict definition of sunflowers.
I’m pretty sure this is the first sunflower rug I hooked. It says 2013, but I think it’s older, that that’s when I took a photo to get ready to sell it. Some lady told me that I should’ve put elastic around the edge so it could be used as a toilet top cover. That was after she told me how she used to hook. In the 70s. I really wanted to tell her a few things…
After blue I decided to try red for a background. Sure, they were simplistic. but they sold! Again, recycled t-shirts.Okay, this one looks more like the sun itself. But experimentation is good. Especially in a little 6×6 mat. Also t-shirt.
Mug rugs make for excellent palates to explore different colors and textures! This one is one of my favorites. I like the fall colors. It includes wool strips, silk sari yarn, and wool yarn.
It’s another mostly wool sunflower rug. With a little silk sari yarn hooked in too. Silk sari yarn is perhaps my most favorite thing to hook. I seem to recall that there was a little velvet involved in this one too.
I went back to recycled t-shirts for this table runner/bench cover. Tynan liked it. I really loved the green background! So did customers. 🙂
I liked the green t-shirts so much that I went for it again the next year.
Last fall, inspired by a t-shirt of mine that I’d been hoarding for years, I hooked another mug rug experiment. Loved it so much, after one other little guy with similar colors, I hooked “Melinda’s Rug.”
So, I hoped you enjoyed the “Sunflower Tour” as much as me. But maybe you’re a tulip person. Or you prefer zinnias. I’ve done those flowers too, but not like the sunflowers. They’re special. To me, at least. But if you’ve got examples of other flowers, please share them on our Facebook page. We love seeing beautiful things, no matter what they may be.
Till next week, please stay healthy. And positive. I know it’s hard these days. It can be depressing. But the country and world have gone through worse. Most of all, remember to be kind to the other folks out there. We’re all in it together.
Linda Towle was the founder of the Adobe Wools Arts Guild, New Mexico’s only rug hooking guild. We miss you, Linda!
This is perhaps the anthem of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild of New Mexicoof which I am the current president. You will hear it whenever any one of us is working a rug and asks the others for advice. That means you and anyone within hearing distance will hear these words:
at guild meetings and retreats;
at Albuquerque’s Botanic Garden in the BioPark where we demonstrate twice a month (in non-Covid 19 months, that is);
whenever and wherever any of us gather together to hook; and
whenever any of us teach – formally or informally.
The guidance can be in regard to most anything involved in rug making.
What color(s) would look best ?
Monk’s cloth, linen, or rug warp?
Wool strips or alternative fibers?
Which frame is best?
How high should my loops be?
Should I use quillies*?
Did I draw this right?
What do you think about _______?
If you’re a rug hooker, you know that the list is endless. Although our rugs are generally solo works of art, we often seek input from others, often those more experienced than ourselves.
We are a small and close-knit group. We are also not shy about expressing ourselves or our opinions. This means that when a hooker asks how he or she should finish their rug, they will often receive 10 or 15 differing opinions. Strident opinions. Discussion will ensue. The poor hooker might be overwhelmed. (We made someone cry once; it wasn’t our finest moment.) But, in the end, it all comes down to the same thing every time: “You are the boss of your rug.”
Being the boss of your rug – or your painting or your quilt or poem or whatever type of art you might make – means that you ultimately choose a design, colors, techniques, and so on. You make the piece with your own hands. And when you’re done with it, it is yours. Hopefully, you share it with the rest of us.
And we are proud of that person’s efforts.
Individually, I might think the rug needs improvement. Maybe blue would’ve worked better than black. Perhaps some of the loops fell out. Hell, maybe I hate the whole design. But it is NOT my rug. It is someone else’s rug, and I respect everything that he or she put into that rug. Or that short story or that piece of pottery.
We are proud that the person cared enough to make a rug. We are proud that he or she put themselves and their ego out there. That they felt safe enough to express themselves artistically in front of us. That they were able to say no to even the most vociferous of us and create their own rug.
Maybe you’re wondering why I bring this up.
March 1: “Costco shopping trip pre-coronavirus. This was extreme hooking even for me. The TP roll was hooked with actual toilet paper. Not the easiest to work with but better than anticipated. Maybe if I spun it… Also wool yarn and strips.
In March, I wrote about my yearlong #RibbonRugJournal project. Basically, every day I hook an entry on a 3-inch or so length of a burlap ribbon roll. The image – more like a sketch – has to do with something from my day. It’s not a Picasso by any means. Burlap ribbon, I’ve found, sucks to hook on. Strings often break. It’s also a small space, not good for a lot of design definition, but I’ve made it over five months so I’ll keep going.
Little did I know in January what kind of year 2020 would be. Holy crap, Batman! Hence, in March the Coronacootie started showing up in my journal. And then in the last few weeks, #blacklivesmatter has dominated the news. As it should. And as we all know, that movement’s collision with politics has been cataclysmic for the country. Naturally, this has also made it into the #RibbonRugJournal.
What do I do with the journal? Every evening after I hook an entry, I take a picture and load it onto High on Hooking’s Instagram. This keeps me honest, plus some folks are following it. (Love you guys!) All of my Instagram posts are automatically loaded onto High on Hooking’s Facebook page. From there I share it on my personal Facebook page.
#ribbonrugjournal June 2: “ELBIB Abuse.” Did he hold that book, respecting it as the sacred item it is? Or did he heft it up as Exhibit A, “proof” of his love of God and his fellow men? I mean after peaceful protesters and clergy were driven from the church with tear gas. For his photo op. The Bible and the world turned upside down.
Tuesday, June 2, I posted a simple image. It was indeed politically motivated. I am not a fan of Mr. Trump and was fairly incensed to see him silently hold a Bible aloft in front of a Church he does not attend after his minions forcibly removed from the church area peaceful protesters and the clergy of that church. You can see that I also made textual comments which you can read.
Later in the evening, I saw that folks had commented on my social media. I’m good with that. But one woman had posted:
Is this the right place for politics? I come here for a break from reality for a bit.
I was taken aback. High on Hooking is my company; it’s Facebook page is my page. While I leave overtly political posts and memes and such for my personal page, this was just an element of another hooked rug project. And I’d posted other occasional political entries before. I explained much of this to the writer. A bit of a dust-up ensued as others came to the defense of my self-expression. I thought that was the end till I turned on my phone Wednesday morning to another comment:
No politics please!
Note the exclamation point. Although I didn’t agree with the first woman, I could understand where she was coming from. But this chick was telling me to not post political content on my own f-ing page! Really! Guess she doesn’t like her rug hooking or her art making her uncomfortable. Or she can’t handle people having a difference of opinion.
My response:
______, this is my page. I don’t compartmentalize my life, especially not my art. Rug hooking allows me to process all of life, not just the easy and good things. Please read responses below.
Lady, and anyone else who didn’t like my #RibbonRugJournal Tuesday night, feel free to pass over my “political” posts or to stop following me if it bothered you that much. You have no right to tell me or to even intimate that I shouldn’t integrate my opinions into my art that I show on my social media. I am the boss of my rugs and my pages!
