Up close and personal with “Autumn’s Coming.” The pumpkin is hooked using wool strips and yarn and recycled t-shirts. The background is primarily cotton batik. See it in the Etsy shop.
Between my workshop last month and social media chatter, it appears that many are interested in hooking fibers other than (or at least as well as) wool. Again, there’s nothing wrong with wool; in fact, the current rug on my frame is hooked with wool strips and yarn. I will say that the latter allows for easier breathing given my wool dust allergy.
All this being so and seeing how everyone is missing HOOKING TOGETHER, I’m offering an Alt Fibers Hook-In on Wednesday, October 14, at 7:00 PM Eastern, which makes it 5:00 Mountain time, my time. Evening should be a little more relaxing, though, unfortunately, the event must be BYOB.
What you’ll need to bring to the Alt Fibers Hook-In:
A hook;
A hooking project;
Your “fun” fibers – and wool can come too;
Your beverage and snacks of choice; and
Enthusiasm, questions, tales (tall or not).
This is not a class, but a time for give and take with one another. A time to share what might have worked for you. A time to ask if anyone has experience with ______. A time to have some fun.
DETAILS
Hook-In will run WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 7:00-9:00 PM Eastern.
Tynan invites you to the Alt Hook-In. He also presents this week’s “What’s on the Frame?” It’s a commission being done in wool strips and wool yarn. He apologizes for his summer absence from the blog. (As he calls me dirty names.)
Hook-in will be held online through Zoom. Upon registration and payment, the Zoom link and password will be sent via email.
There is a COST of $10 to help defray my Zoom account costs.
Maybe you forgot to sign up? Or you’re stuck at home, bored, having to quarantine? Actually, I hope you’re just looking to try something new with your hooking. The workshop runs this Wednesday, August 19, at 1 PM Eastern (that’s 11:00 AM Mountain, my time!) on Zoom. We’ve got a couple of openings still, so if you know how to pull a loop, you might want to join us. More info here.
“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.
High on Hooking is offering our first online workshop, Hooking With and Beyond the Wool. Thank you, Coronacootie. If you’re at all interested in experimenting with fibers that stand alone or that can mix it up with wool, this is the class for you.
HOOKING WITH AND BEYOND THE WOOL
Hook your own mixed-fiber rug after taking the HOOKING WITH AND BEYOND THE WOOL workshop. (“Bohemian Snake” Rug; 6.5″x18″; Ultrasuede strips, silk strips, sari yarn, recycled t-shirt strips, wool yarn, velour strips.)
Get ready to experiment with new and different fibers in your rug hooking. Working on a “sampler” pattern, we’ll explore how different types of fibers hook up and how they “play” with wool and each other.
Early rug hooking was a make-do affair using feed bags, old clothes, and other “used” fabrics. Those pioneering hookers were practical to a fault and threw nothing away; they couldn’t afford to. Today that’s less of a problem for most rug hookers using both virgin and recycled wools. But why limit ourselves to just wool strips?
Hooking with materials other than wool allows us:
The chance to create new and different effects in our rug hooking;
To work with what we may already have in our homes;
To go back to the thrift store to source some of our fiber (now that quality wool’s often scarce there); and
To potentially do some good for the environment.
This class is designed for a student proficient at rug hooking basics, particularly the mechanics of pulling loops through a backing.
Because this is an online workshop, students will supply their own materials. You may draw up your own sampler pattern or enlarge one electronically supplied by teacher.
DETAILS
Class will run WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1:00 PM EDT.
This class will be held online through Zoom. Upon registration and payment, the Zoom link and password will be sent via email (after August 1).
Class will be limited to 10 people.
The class is ONE SESSION, approximately 2.5 HOURS in length.
The COST of this class is $30 US.
Student will supply:
Hooks;
Backing, preferably linen or monk’s cloth rather than rug warp;
A frame;
A variety of “alternative fibers,” list to be supplied upon registration; and
Addendum: If you are interested in the workshop, but can’t make the date/time, contact me and we can set up a private class. Really, I’m stuck at home. I have the time.
Laura Salamy is the hooker behind High on Hooking.
I’ve never been a “traditional” hooker, preferring to color outside of hooking’s more “typical lines.” Instead of limiting myself to wool, I prefer to use most any material I can get my hands on. Often that means cutting strips from old t-shirts and bed sheets. Up-cycling throw-aways to art is a priority for me. Our landfills are filling up. Or they’re already full. While certain projects benefit from virgin wools or other fibers, I like to do my little part to slow that process and make something lovely at the same time.
Example of hooked rug and materials used to make it
WINE AND ART NIGHT – RUG HOOKING INTRODUCTION
Thursday, July 9, 2020, at 8 PM – 9:30 PM EDT
Karen Miller and Laura Salamy are teaming up for a fun night of showing you how to do your own hooked fibre art! Karen will demonstrate how to pull loops with yarn, and Laura will be talking about how to use all sorts of things that you probably already have lying around your house! We want to show you how little you need to get started, how wonderful the technique of rug hooking is for relaxation and for expressing yourself, and that it is the perfect art form to fit into your life when you are busy with work and/or kids!
Grab a glass of wine (or another favourite beverage), and get comfy on your couch at home for this online session. There is no need to have the materials on hand- we will go through all of that with you and you can just watch our demonstration. If you do wish to have materials on hand to try it as we go, though, just send us an email and we will give you a list. But don’t worry- there isn’t much that you need to make art in this way!
This class is a safe place for everyone and all are welcome! No experience is necessary- in fact this session is for those who have never tried hooked fibre art before, but are interested in learning OR those who have tried it before but didn’t love it and really want to love it! You don’t even have to have made any type of art before- this really is for everyone!
Bring your questions- we love questions and will answer them all!
Interested in joining us?
The session will be held Thursday, July 9, at 8pm EASTERN. It will be held over Zoom. If you would like to join us you can reserve a spot through Facebookand we will send you the Zoom link and password. Or you can email me (Karen Miller) at marzipanroad@bell.net or email Laura Salamy at laura@highonhooking.com, and we will send you the Zoom link and password straight to your inbox.
Looking forward to seeing you there and feel free to share this with anyone who is interested in learning new things!
