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Damn, you found me…spreading the gospel…of hooking

CHeryl Bollenbach's workshop where she shared the gospel of hooking.
Me presenting my piece at the end of our workshop with Cheryl Bollenbach. Those with sharp eyes and a Rug Hooking Magazine subscription will recognize the pattern I used. Thank you for sharing this with the hooking world, Brigitte Webb! I hope to do it justice.

 

It’s been almost a month, and I’m a day or two late, but I had to come back sometime. Not going to apologize for loving time off from the blog, but logging into WordPress for the first time in weeks, I realize how much updating I have to do on the entire freakin’ site. Along with some other electronic “toilette.” Sigh. Work is never done.

Note, I may not have been blogging, but I have been hooking. That is rarely a chore. Oh, maybe it is for those of you who whip-stitch. Yeah, I hardly ever do that crap.

What have I been doing? Funny you should ask.

 

  • May started with a bang. The Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) invited Cheryl Bollenbach back to conduct a three-day workshop. As usual we learned a lot and bought even more…wool. My project was unusual, though only for me. It’s very…traditional. I’m working with wool strips – no t-shirts! I’m trying out linen for the first time. And see in the picture – no rug binding sewn on before hooking commenced. Don’t get too excited. There will be no whip-stitching. I’ll have it framed when I’m done. A girl can only go so traditional. Grimace
AWAG's booth at Fiesta 2017 where we share the gospel of rug hooking.
A view of our guild booth at Fiber Arts Fiesta.
  • Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta went down May 19-21. Of course, there was A LOT of work to be done before that. AWAG ran a successful booth. We had many visitors and several ladies who signed up for more information. In fact, I just gave a lesson this week to one of them. Ah, to spread the gospel of hooking. Below is a montage of pics taken by Melinda’s husband Gary of Gary Lamott Photography. Enjoy! And thank you again, Gary!!!
  • https://garylamott.smugmug.com/Fiber-Arts-517/n-phKqGb/#
  • Albuquerque's Rail Yards Market where we share the gospel of hooking.
    Our “shop” at the Rail Yards is open. Here we share the gospel of hooking with folks who have never seen the art form. Others tell me tales of parents and grandparents who hooked. Come on down! Great fruits and veggies, plus arts, music, and yummy food.

    High on Hooking started our selling season at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards. Despite it being Memorial Day weekend (holidays are notorious for slow sales) and thanks to a woman visiting from Las Cruces who loves textiles, we had a good day. Come visit; we’re there every other weekend till mid-October.

 

  • Sadly, those of us from AWAG who do demos at the Biopark’s Botanical Garden gave our last spiel till August. We had over a hundred kids in talking about what we do and trying their little hands at hooking. The park kicks us out for two months to use the Heritage farmhouse for summer camp programs. I guess it’s a good enough reason. In the meantime, in addition to our guild meetings, we’re meeting at members’ homes because we refuse to give up that whole social thing.

 

  • Finally had the chance to do all the planting and potting that I’d been putting off till after Fiesta. Now I’m just waiting for my first crop of basil. I make A LOT of pesto to freeze for winter, but there’s nothing that says summer’s arrived like the aroma of basil.

    Summertime and the living is easy. If you have a floatie. And a big rubber duckie.

 

  • And the pool’s up! I’ve even had a chance to chill in it on my floatie. Which pretty much takes up most of the pool when you add in my bulk-ritude. It is only 10 feet in diameter. But it works, especially for the hot flashes.

 

Then there were visits from family members back east. And this and that. You know, the usual life “stuff.” You remember John Lennon saying how life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. (Actually, any number of people may have said that. You can read all about that here.) Actually, I’m already planning another week off from the blog in a few weeks when Tom and I and the dog motor up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for some R&R (read: hiking and hanging on the patio with a beverage or three and a book or five).

 

What are your plans this summer? Do they involve hooking or other kinds of fun? Some form of escape? Travel? Getting together with friends? Share what you’re up to and make me jealous!

 

Sharing the gospel of hooking with a winning rug.
Congratulations, Melinda Lamott on receiving the Peoples’ Choice Award for rug hooking at Fiesta 2017!
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Where’s High on Hooking today?

Woman demonstrating rug hooking.
Mary Ramsey, AWAG president, indoctrinating, I mean, sharing rug hooking, specifically her “Chicken Cha,” with visitors to Heritage Farm in Albuquerque’s Botanic Garden.

 

Where’s High on Hooking? Like Waldo we could be almost anywhere. Though yesterday we were with other members of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) at Albuquerque’s BioPark for our twice monthly demo gig. After last week’s news, though, we really could be almost anywhere.in the coming months.

 

 

Poster advertising Albuquerque's Recycled Art Fair 2017.

 

Like Lauren at Rugs and Pugs, last week was spent suffering through all kinds of nasty sinus issues and such. And we’re still on the mend! But life looked a hell of a lot better when one day’s email brought news of High on Hooking being juried into Albuquerque’s 8th Annual Recycled Art Fair. That’s the last weekend of April and conveniently located only a couple of miles down the road from my house at the Open Space Visitor Center. Besides vendors, there will be food, live music, and all kinds of good stuff.

Another email finally green-lighted me into this year’s Rail Yard’s Market downtown. Woohoo! I loved doing the market last year: tasty food, music, fabulous people-watching, and the chance to spread the gospel of rug hooking to new believers.

The first two Saturdays in April, we’ll be north of Santa Fe, up in Española at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center teaching a beginners’ class using up-cycled t-shirts. Should be a fun time.

There are other irons in the fire. AWAG’s got Cheryl Bollenbach motoring down from Colorado to teach another class in early May. Fiber Arts Fiesta comes up a couple of weeks later. Lots of work going on with that! (It being my first Fiesta ever – having moved here only a year and a half ago – I feel like I’m about to be hit by a beautiful and handmade freight train. A freight train nonetheless.) Oh, we’ve got company coming twice! in May before Fiesta starts.

Life’s busy and that’s a really good thing. I mean, who wants to be bored? Not me. I can play “Where’s High on Hooking” all year long.

Keeping busy: This is a problem that you’re glad to have.
–American actor Michael Winslow

Dog on hooked rug.
Tynan presents this week’s “Current Rug.” Actually, there are three on the frame, all mug rugs as we get ready for the 2017 selling season. No, he’s not particularly interested in the mats; Tom was in the kitchen making “food” sounds. That was soooo much more compelling.

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Seize the day!

“Seize the day.” I decided that would be my rallying cry today after I listened to Ellis Paul’s song.

She comes to my bed like a whisper
Slips in the sheet like a ghost
Says in my ear “Hey mister,
You need to take this girl to the coast.

I need to kick my feet up in the ocean
Feel the taste of the salt sea spray
Baby let’s live in the moment
For it feels like life is taking the moment away”

Seize the day, Seize the day, Seize the day…

–Ellis Paul

The song goes on from there. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video of him singing it. Sorry.

Frankly, it’s not been a great month. That it’s only January makes it all worse! My grandmother died early this morning. She was 95-ish, and it was expected. Hell, I’m 52; how great is it that I even had a grandparent still alive? One that would swim in Long Island Sound all the way through November into her 70s? Bike and drive into her 80s? Loved her husband to pieces and her cats and dogs as well? I need to be like that.

There are other family issues, other losses. Someone’s lost a job. Two friends have recently lost their dogs. Tynan had a dental emergency last week; suddenly nine (yes, nine!) teeth

Tynan the dog in bed. He cannot seize the day.
Someone was under the weather the morning after his extractions.

had to go. Not sure why as he’d had a cleaning less than two years back. But at least he’s still among us, back to his old self, albeit without so much chewing.

Then there’s just the general tenor of the whole country lately, and this week specifically. We’re so divided in our…dissatisfaction. What about a collective attitude adjustment where we focus on the positive for a change? Maybe do something with it.

 

So, I’m seizing the day, my day. It’ll be a quiet one, and that’s okay. There’s writing this blog post, applying to this years Railyards Market, cleaning out some clutter and getting some laundry done. And I’ll continue hooking my rug, one of two that needs to be pretty much done come March 1. (That’s the cut-off date for entries in this year’s ALBUQUERQUE FIBER FIESTA if you’re interested in sharing some of your work.)

Seizing the day for me doesn’t have to be a big, bombastic event. All it means is that I’ll do what I set out to do, that I won’t bitch about other “stuff,” you know that crap you pretty much can’t do anything about anyway. It means that Tom and I will take Tynan for a little walk later during which we’ll notice the blue sky (oddly enough, it’s been raining the past few days here) and the birds overhead. We’ll revel in the 50-degree temperature, look at the snow on the nearby Sandia Mountains, and remind ourselves of how smart we were to move to New Mexico.

Are you seizing the day

or will you let all the negativity get you down?

Handmade dolls at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center.
If you can’t lighten up when you see these little dolls, you’re never going to! (Artist unknown; pic taken at Española Valley Fiber Arts Center.)

 

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Current state of affairs…always hooking…

Damn, I wrote that headline and realized that it looked vaguely political, something I try to avoid on social media especially these days. At least the freaking election is finally over, and we can only wait to see what January will bring. In the meantime, the holidays are rushing at us like there’s no tomorrow. A portend? (Sorry. I said I wouldn’t say anything political. I won’t.) And there is hooking, always hooking.

The bag is burlap, about 6 inches by 6 inches. It's hooked with wool yarn, ribbon, and stretch velvet. Very cute.
The bag is burlap, about 6 inches by 6 inches. It’s hooked with wool yarn, ribbon, and stretch velvet. And a little pearl. Very cute, if I do say so myself.

So, what am I working on these days (always hooking)?  In hopes that I’ll get a call from the waiting list at the Rail Yards for the holiday market next month, I’m still creating rug mugs. I’ve also come up with a new item; it’ll be a great stocking stuffer, gift card holder, hostess gift, or little girl’s purse. Here’s a pic of the prototype. Like it?

I plan on filling them with candy canes for Christmas time and maybe some faux flowers or something next spring. The bags are from Hobby Lobby, too inexpensive for me to bother making. The hooking’s a bit tricky since there’s no frame involved, just your hand to stick in and hold it all. (I don’t know how Rachelle LeBlanc hooks without a frame ALL THE TIME and then gets those beautiful results.)

Albuquerque’s Fiber Fiesta is also keeping me busy and not just because I’m a guild rep to the Fiber Arts Council. I think I know what I want to create for next May’s show, and I’m doing some research, though I’m not ready to share just yet. But I better get a move on as it has to be pretty much finished by the March 1 entry deadline. For those who are interested, the Call-For-Entries is open and waiting. Consider joining us.

In between projects, I’m still working on my “fall” tree of life rug, the one I started last month. It’s coming along despite being thrown to the side on a regular basis. Always hooking….

It's about a yard across, t-shirt and bedsheet.
It’s about a yard across, t-shirt and bedsheet.

As an aside, how many of you saw this rug on page 56 of the newest ATHA magazine?

"Kenya FLora and Fauna" hooked and designed by Sylvia Huntington.
“Kenya Flora and Fauna” hooked and designed by Sylvia Huntington.

I was flipping through it the evening my copy came, when I caught sight of “Kenya Flora and Fauna.” That’s really familiar,” I said then looked a little closer. “Ha, I do know this rug!” Nancy Huntington submitted the pic; it’s a large mat that her mother-in-law Sylvia hooked after an adventure in Africa. Nan brought the rug to one of the demonstrations our guild does at the Albuquerque BioPark a couple of months ago. Kids loved it! Here are a couple of close-ups I snapped at the BioPark. (Nancy generously shared the photo above.) Fabulous rug!

Mr. Snake and a giraffe.
Mr. Snake and a giraffe.
A closer view of Sylvia's rug.
A closer view of Sylvia’s rug.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your current state of affairs? On your frame, that is.

PS – Before I let you go, for anyone in the general New Mexican area, if you’re in the mood for a field trip this coming weekend (Friday-Sunday), make sure you look into the Santa Fe Fiber Festival brought to us by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. My partner in crime, fellow native New Englander and new New Mexican, Melinda, and I are heading up there Saturday. Hope to see you!

 

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