Category: social media

June 12, 2020

WILL RUG HOOKING SURVIVE?

The other day I read an email sent to reps on the Education Committee of the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council regarding the potential of online education and the purposes of today’s guilds. This is something my own guild regularly discusses.

I ask because the answers might drive our educational goals in different directions. And perhaps show us a source of inspiration to promote the continuation of the arts we all love.
-Kathy Jackson

Earlier in the week and given current events, Beth Miller of Parris House Wool Works started a discussion on her business Facebook page. I urge you to go to her page and read the comments.

Why do we see so few BIPOC and LGBTQ people in rug hooking? Other textile arts are starting to increase in diversity, but I don’t think we are seeing that in rug hooking. Why is that?
For that matter, why are we seeing so few people under 40, or even under 50, hooking rugs? Or men?
What would it take to attract more people to rug hooking?
This is not rhetorical or academic. This is existential.
If rug hooking does not become inclusive, starting with young people, people of color, LGBTQ people, no one will be talking about rug hooking at all in a short fifty years.
-Beth Miller

I just turned 56 and am the youngest person, I believe, in my guild. This is not an anomaly among ATHA guilds. We’re aging. All you had to do was look around at last year’s Biennial in Denver to see that.

On the subject of ATHA guilds, I was amazed to read in Beth’s comments that some guilds aren’t even accepting members any more. WTF?

I also have it on pretty good authority that the circulation of Rug Hooking Magazine has been declining for the last number of years.

So what are we to do if we want to ensure that this tradition sticks around for another 200 years?

Personally, I’m really impressed by the buzz that is punch needle rug hooking these last few years.Those mostly young mostly ladies are all over Instagram, the current social media of choice, especially for artists. They’ve got online and in-shop classes going. They’ve got rock star celebrities like Arounna Khounnoraj of BOOKHOU and Rose Pearlman. No, I don’t necessarily care for all of their designs; in fact, I find many of them simplistic, but perhaps that’s what it takes to get the “youngsters” to sign up and learn the skill. All art and artists evolve with time, and they’re just starting.

Traditional rug hookers are on Instagram too, but, frankly, it’s not the same. We sometimes lack…the panache. Our projects can seem almost…fuddy duddy, I’m sorry to say. Not that there’s anything wrong with primitive rugs or traditional patterns, but, let’s be honest, is a finely shaded rose – and especially all the “rules” that go with that finely shaded rose – going to draw the attention of a typical 28 or 38-year old who’s got a full time job and maybe a baby taking up her time? What we have to do is show EVERYTHING that rug hooking can be, that is has the potential to be a rose and a 3-D sculpture à la Liz Alpert Fay or Rachelle LeBlanc.

In reading the responses to Beth’s questions and thoughts above, a few things stand out.

DIVERSITY
I don’t have to tell you that this is a HUGE topic today. And I mean this very day in June, 2020, not something theoretical. And society is hopefully starting to examine how a lack of diversity and acceptance pervades almost everything making up our society. I don’t feel qualified at the moment to pontificate on how we can draw other groups into our very white, older woman rug hooking demographic. And BTW, I am not apologizing for being a white, middle-aged rug hooker. But any group can grow staid after a hundred years or so. Change is good. Fresh ideas and perspectives are to be welcomed. Again, it’s about evolution.

TIME
A number of folks mentioned how the “young” are busy with: school; jobs and career-building; families and all they entail; and so on. Yes, this is undeniable. I started hooking when my kid was around seven years old. I was working part time as an environmental manager in a manufacturing plant. I was busy too. But I also knew that I wanted to create. Something. Rug hooking was something I could do in the evening when I watched television after the kid was in bed. And I wasn’t on a schedule. If a rug took a year, it took a year. Canadian hooker Karen Miller spoke about this just yesterday on Instagram and Facebook. She’s got a couple of kids, a fiber art business, and writes books! If something appeals enough to an individual, they will make the time for it. Ask Amy Oxford; she sells a lot of punch needles to people like me who are teaching beginners. Again, how do we make rug hooking appealing enough to gain more of our own beginners?

EXPENSE
This is a big one. And it certainly appears that rug hooking is an expensive sport what with the hand-dyed wool, the linen, the cutters, the patterns, the workshops and teachers. I’m sure I missed something. Here’s the thing, though, that’s just bullshit. The Canadian and New England ladies back in the 1800s didn’t have all those things, did they?

I learned how to hook in a community education class maybe 15 years ago. I did have to pay for that and a kit. The experience cost maybe $100. But I knew virtually nothing about hooking. Nor did I know anyone to teach me.

When my class ended, the teacher didn’t offer any additional lessons or mention a guild or anything. She did suggest a quilter’s hoop for finishing the project. Beyond that I was on my own. Thank goodness for the Internet, used books from Amazon, and Rug Hooking Magazine. With those resources I learned that:

I could get monk’s cloth for a lot cheaper than linen. (And no one talk to me about hating monk’s cloth and how it “stretches.” I learned on it and have always loved it. Pull in the opposite direction and it’s good as new.)
About rug yarn and punching, which I learned on my own. (Caveat: a few years later I took a class with Amy.);
How to draw a pattern;
How to finish a rug; and
Any number of tips which all you ladies have generously shared over the years especially as rug hooking groups proliferated on Facebook.

For years I used the student hook that came with my initial kit. My husband repaired that quilter’s hoop a few times when I over-tightened it. Once it was apparent I was in rug hooking for the long haul, he bought me a Puritan frame for Christmas. I still use it. I didn’t get a cutter until a couple of years ago; it was a guild hand-me-down that I purchased for less than $100.

Having no real rug hooking shop anywhere near me, I initially used wool yarn I found in a local shop. It was pretty thin. Sorry, I’m not good at yarn nomenclature. It took a really long time to hook up the two mats I made with that stuff. Later I bought old wool suit jackets from the thrift store. When I realized that it often wasn’t good wool, I came up with the idea of hooking with recycled t-shirts. They were plentiful, cheap, and came in lots of colors. Silk bouses and scarves and then bedsheets followed. If you can make a strip out of it, you can hook it. And don’t forget the yarn. To this day, so called “alternative fibers” make up the bulk of my work. And I get them at Savers or as gifts from folks looking to unload stuff.

I will admit that when I finally found a guild that sprouted up near me, I had a hard time. Or shall I say they had a hard time with me and my t-shirt rugs. I didn’t feel particularly welcome, though I’m sure some of the problem was my own sense of not fitting in and even inadequacy. I don’t know what it is about Albuquerque, but when I moved and joined the Adobe Wool Arts Guild, I knew I was home. (See last week’s post.) They might not have wanted to hook with bed sheets, but they thought my rugs were pretty cool. I felt welcome.

During non-Covid years I teach a class to beginners called “Hook a Rug, Save the Environment.” It’s pretty much always filled with ladies who have never hooked and, therefore, have no pre-concieved ideas about beautiful wool or rug hooking rules. BTW, I am not a certified McGown teacher. I have nothing against them; hey, we have four or five in our guild! There’s room for all of us. My career in environmental management was all about rules and regulations. Rug hooking is where I can let it all out, do whatever I want. It’s art and it’s personal. There are no wrong answers. I am the boss of my rug, as we say in our guild.

The punch hookers have grabbed onto that idea and run with it. They use whatever yarn they want. No one cares if it’s acrylic or wool. They keep their pieces small to fit within a hoop or whatever they use to hold the piece; no cumbersome moving of the rug on a frame. Many of them see the back of the rug as the front! (The loops are on the back.) Or, better, they switch it all up and have flat and loops on the front! Sure, I think that loops on the back is a waste of yarn, but who cares? They are the bosses of their rugs. They’re having a great time, and their rugs are new and different.

So, how do we as the “old guard” re-excite our sisterhood (and our brothers) enough so that we can share this marvelous art with the “youngsters”? It’s gonna take technology, I fear. Damn, I’m still not all that excited by Zoom. When “they” let us, we need to get out into our communities and do a lot of demonstrations. And leave the expensive equipment at home. I’m not saying we should all start using bent nails instead of hooks, but maybe have some hoops and burlap or monk’s cloth on hand to let a kid try pulling some Lion brand bulky acrylic yarn. Most get it pretty quickly.

I’ll close my rant with something that the editor of Rug Hooking Magazine wrote in the March/April/May,1993 issue:

I hope the new people we introduce to rug hooking will find in it a totally fascinating art. Let us be welcome to newcomers. Let us teach beginners patiently. …Let us encourage and inspire.

We need new people in rug hooking. …I hope we find many of them. Please welcome them with all your talented, warm and wonderful hearts…
-Mary Ellen Cooper

March 31, 2020

So, we have a little time on our hands…

Old Japanese drawing of Amabie — The Japanese Amabie is a mythical creature with a message to defeat the coronavirus: “Good harvest will continue for six years from the current year; if disease spreads, show a picture of me to those who fall ill and they will be cured.” Coronavirus, take that! Read more about the Amabie here.

Like you, it appears that I have a little time on my hands. So much has changed EVERYWHERE ALL OVER THE WORLD since my last post. It boggles the mind. Or, like my daughter put it, “I really can’t process this.”

Luckily, the governor here in New Mexico was on the stick and started closing things down pretty early, before we had but a few cases of COVID-19. And we have a less dense population than larger metropolitan areas in the country, especially on the coasts. Even more fortuitously, Tom and I saw the writing on the wall and started ~~hoarding toilet paper~~ laying in supplies before the stores were mobbed. Best of all, I managed to get my hair cut the day before we pretty much closed down town. Score! (If you saw how I mangled my toenails a couple of days earlier, you’d appreciate this better.)

The reality is that our home is a pretty comfy place to be confined to. Not that we’re truly confined. We regularly walk in the bosque, the woods running along the Rio Grande near here. Trips to Walmart and Sprouts and even Costco aren’t forbidden, though I fear they’ll become more and more dicey as Albuquerque creeps closer to our peak viral load come the end of April. We have a freezer full of meat and frozen veggies, plenty of wine and olive oil (the latter being the original reason for our Costco membership; the former being an awesome benefit), a treadmill and bike, LOTS of dog food, books galore, and subscriptions to both Prime and Netflix. Best of all, both Tom and I are starting out healthy. That can’t be understated. Oh, and we even still like each other more than two weeks into social distancing from all other people.

Hooked version of the Amabie — Since the Amabie wants all artists to draw a picture of it, I provided a hooked version. It’s the March 19 entry to my **Ribbon Rug Journal**.

But I do miss my friends and the activities that keep me running around like rug hooking demos in the BioPark, guild meetings, time working with Susan’s Legacy, teaching, visiting and lunches out… This week’s excursions out of the house: 1) Walmart for longer term provisions and 2) the blood bank. If you can donate, call your local blood center or hospital; donations are desperately needed everywhere!

Truthfully, I’m glad to have this gift of time. Even though I don’t work-work any more, I have responsibilities that keep me engaged in the community at large. Frankly sometimes they feel overwhelming. Probably because I don’t work-work, parent full time, and do all that other stuff at the same time. My efficiency and tolerance are out of practice. A couple of weeks ago, when this all started, I thought, yes!, I can do all the things I’ve been putting off. I can spring clean and re-organize the cupboards and pantry. I can clear out the piles. Have I? Not at all. Although, in an initial burst of energy and enthusiasm, I did clean the master closet (containing clothes and

Hooked rug wall hanging — I did manage to finish punching “Desert Sun.” The frame is a recycled basket plate holder. Find it on our **Etsy shop**.

hooking supplies) and adjoining laundry room. That’s it. Turns out I haven’t even hooked as much as I normally would. Though most of my hooking gets done in the evening, I typically day-hook a couple of times a week with guild-mates and friends. Yeah, one afternoon of day-hooking all lock-down. I didn’t think my efficiency could be any lower, but without due dates and such…free fall.

Vending and teaching events are all cancelled. Who knows when we’ll be able to reschedule? Venues like the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center, already in a precarious financial situation, may even fail. If you love NMFAC, old EVFAC, like me, donate to it. You probably have your own favorite organizations; support them before you lose them.

Things look kind of bleak, but they have in the past too. Live in the moment and do the things you’ve been putting off. Call a relative stuck at home alone. Talk to an old friend. I did that yesterday for over an hour. Where else did I have to be? It felt great catching up. Make things, anything: a rug, a shawl, a short story, a cake, a garden. We all know that when we’re creative, our mental health improves.

Dog on hooked rug — Tynan gives you this weeks “Whats on the frame.” We’re hooking with old bed sheets again. Show us what’s on your frame. Or your easel or your hoop or your page. (Meanwhile he’s trying to impress on little brother Bowyn that it’s a major sin to even look at a toilet paper roll with lust in his heart.)

To conclude, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to show us what you are making these days. Maybe you’ll provide a little inspiration to someone who needs it. I want to see a bunch of photos on the High on Hooking Facebook page. Or email them to Laura@highonhooking.com; I’ll share them. And let us know how you and yours are doing. Spouses, partners, kids, grand-kids, and pets. Love the pets! Use the gift of time to stay home, stay busy, and stay healthy!

March 11, 2020

About the Ribbon Rug Journal

For all those who’ve been watching my Instagram account and wondering, I’m finally getting around to talking Ribbon Rug Journal. What’s the old adage? That you can make anything a habit if you do it for 21 days? I’ve managed to keep up with it for over two months – that’s 70 days! – so chances are good that I’ll make it farther. And by creating a whole blog post about the damn thing, I’ve got further accountability (read that as digging myself further into a hole). I think. Maybe.

For those of you who are wondering what the hell I’m talking about, a picture is worth a thousand words. And the first pic shown above is the entire Ribbon Rug Journal thus far. See, I’ve had a few rolls of burlap ribbon hanging around the house for a years. I wanted to do something “hooking” with them, maybe make a Christmas banner or something despite the fact that I’m loathe to hook Christmas anything.

Ribbon Rug Journal entry — **Ribbon Rug Journal January 16: “BB-8, the Droid.” That was the day we went to see the new Star Wars movie. Wool yarn.**

One day in December I was showering (that’s important; the shower is where I do all my best thinking) and could see through the glass shower door into the closet where I keep a bunch of my fiber stuff. Including sed burlap ribbon rolls up on a high shelf. Suddenly it comes to me: hook a little something every day into the burlap ribbon, you know, kind of Jack Kerouac-esque. But I wouldn’t write or type my “journal,” I’d hook it.

Ribbon Rug Journal, January 1: "Fireworks!" — **Ribbon Rug Journal, January 1: “Fireworks!” Mixed fibers, including blingy, wired ribbon.**

You come up with a GREAT idea and you run with it. You don’t really think about:

What every day of a whole year means (when even posting to a blog once a week has become too demanding);
What if you have to travel?;
Your days are often already much too filled with other stuff;
Burlap ribbon might not be the best backing to hook on;
You might actually get sick of the project;
You’ve already got how many other projects going?;
And so on; you get the drift.

And yet, “she” persisted. I’m not actually sick of the project, so that’s good. Very good, in fact. Some folks suggested I limit it to a month rather than a year, or maybe hook monthly entries, but I decided to stick with the original idea. I don’t know why. I don’t even know why I felt a need to add an extra project to my life!

I am abiding by a few rules:

Each space measures approximately 2.5″x3″.
Other than perhaps purchasing more burlap ribbon, I have to use whatever I have on hand to hook each day. It is permissible to steal materials from anyone who might be with me when I’m hooking the ribbon rug journal.
Ideally, each entry should have something to do with my day. But if I’m desperate, you might see a “quilt square” of worms. You try coming up with something every single freaking day.
I am allowed to incorporate other fiber techniques if I choose (and feel up to it).
I must keep scrupulous documentation of each day’s entry (beyond what I put on Instagram. I keep a notebook.

Inspiration photo for Ribbon Rug Journal — **This is an inspiration photo for a journal entry.**

There are evenings that I suddenly remember I have to hook the day’s entry (the horror!), but so far so good. However, I have learned a few things.

It can take a LOT longer to hook each day’s journal entry than I anticipated. (I am soooo behind on many other “real” projects.) First I have to come up with something that interests me and that can physically be hooked into the damn ribbon. Each space is about 2″x3″ so details must be limited. I generally draw it in with the Sharpie.
My ideas don’t always pan out once they’re hooked. Like that quail the other night. He didn’t even get an eye! Maybe if I used the trick whereby you look at your work from a distance… But no, without my title and explanation, you’d have had no idea it was even a bird.
Nonetheless, I’ve taken to looking at my entries as sketches. And sketches aren’t made to be erased. They’re for learning. So, I’ve rarely pulled an entry out. (Who wants to start over after an hour when an actual rug is waiting to be hooked???)
Drinking and hooking in tiny spaces can be…unfortunate. Back in January Tom and I had a great bottle of wine on our anniversary. There was shrimp cocktail. There might have even been wine before the wine. But after the festivities…there was the Ribbon Rug Journal.
Every night there is the Ribbon Rug Journal. If I blow it off one evening, it will just multiply to two Ribbon Rug Journal entries. That would be more unfortunate than sub-par inebriated hooking. It’s better to suck it up and complete the exercise daily. No being lazy.
Burlap does indeed suck to work with. I’ve even got a regular hashtag #burlapsuckstoworkwith. In the case of the ribbon, it’s the threads perpendicular and attached to the edges that break. Then you get holes. I’ve had to wrap yarn and strips and whatever I’m hooking with around the edge just to keep the whole day from falling out.
Yarn works best! Yarn thinner than rug yarn, though I can get the latter and a #6 strip through the backing if I stay away
Ribbon Rug Journal March 7: “Springs here!” This entry was based on the photo I took earlier in the day when I was out and about on errands.

from the ribbon’s edge. Which I don’t always do because of the day’s design. Also, being fond of alternative fibers in my regular hooking, I continue to use them here: ribbon, teabag paper, kitchen string, plastic bags, etc. I look forward to whatever else I might try.
People are really getting into the Ribbon Rug Journal. I’ve even had requests. @Vickisuestone of Instagram asked for a ladybug last week. I could do that, and I did. Melinda and I were carpooling and stuck in traffic last month. She suggested the night’s entry be a car in traffic. I hooked my little red car. No room for the traffic. But I’m so happy people are responding favorably to what has the potential to become my personal hell.

Ribbon Rug Journal March 27 — Ribbon Rug Journal February 27: “Don’t Panic.” Yep, its the dreaded coronavirus of the day but rendered cute and cuddly in wool strips. (By the way, that’s a felted Ash Wednesday right before the virus. Just a little irony?)

So, that’s the deal with the Ribbon Rug Journal. If you haven’t seen it, you can find each installment on my Instagram account, as I mentioned, and on my Facebook pages, my own and High on Hooking’s. If you have any ideas for me, I’m happy to hear them. It would help if you sent wine too. (Alcohol kills germs, right?)

Ribbon Rug Journal March 24: “Margaritaville.” Concerned about the coronavirus? Relax and have a margarita. Tom makes a fabulous one. Wool strips and yarns, novelty yarn, and plastic bag strips (which, unfortunately, makes it hard to see the salt on the rim of the glass). This and handwork may be the best way to get through these times…

April 9, 2019

Change is…GOOD!

Tynan on hooked rug. — Tynan presents this week’s “What’s on the frame.” This would be a teaser for **Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta** (May 30 and 31, June 1). The **Adobe Wool Arts Guild** will have a special exhibit, “9 on 9,” comprised of friendship rugs. Tynan has managed to sit on at least two of them thus far.

Change requires a new way of looking at old things. Looking at anything differently is good; it gets you out of your old head and makes you see with new eyes. Less “same old, same old.” And so High on Hooking has to do some changing. Nothing that drastic, just something to shake us up a little, get the juices flowing again.

Over the last year Instagram has proven to be a real mover and a shaker. Even more than Pinterest these days, I love to see the beautiful items that everyone’s making and showing on Instagram. And so few words are needed. The photographs alone drive traffic to an artist’s website and Etsy shop. Because of this development and because, frankly, I’m tired of coming up with scintillating topics week after week, I plan on reducing the number of blog posts here at High on Hooking. Don’t worry, I promised Tynan that he could still post now and again. And you know you can find him on our Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Thought you might like this close-up of the friendship rug’s background. Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know how to hook wool strips. Guild member Cathy Kelly dyed it for me. (Okay, I was there doing some poking and prodding and dropping in some dye…)
Relatedly, it’s time to simplify some and pare down…the website itself. Again, change is good, and I’d like a new look. Also, I prefer to sell via my Etsy shop or directly. Directly as in, if you see something you like here on the website, just shoot me an email or a call. (No middlemen making money that way. 🙂 ) So, as I find time in the next couple of months (not an easy feat), the site will be changing. Because I’m doing it myself, we could also get lost in the Internet ether now and again. In that case, find me on the Facebook or Instagram pages. And know that the gallery page is currently hopelessly out of date!
If you follow my Instagram feed, maybe you noticed the new rug I’m working on. In between finishing “Big Boucherouite” and a couple of others. Maybe you looked closely and realized that it’s not actually hooked; rather it’s punched. Yep, I’m adding to the repertoire. But punching for me didn’t come out of nowhere. I used to do quite a bit of it, even spent four days with Amy Oxford one summer at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts before she moved into her own digs. And, like wool strips which I really don’t care to punch, you can punch t-shirt strips. I’ve done it. Haven’t tried bedsheets. Will have to think that one out. Not!
Why Amy Oxford’s had a run on her punch needles, besides Instagram that is. Because everyone loves how cool it looks from the back! BTW, this is being punched with wool yarns.

I think that’s enough change for one day, don’t you?

How are you mixing things up this spring? What change are you making?

February 27, 2019

Notes from the “Big Boucherouite”

“Big Boucherouite” here. Yes, you read that right. I AM the large rug that she’s currerntly hooking. Constantly. At least it feels that way. I hardly ever get alone time. Anyway, as she’s still working on me day and night, I decided to provide a few notes regarding where she’s at in this project.

Tynan the dog on the Big Boucherouite. — See what I mean about the dog? Oh, and that idea of strategic photography?

She’s been watching a LOT of television during the day. I tried to tell her to get some books on tape, but she goes on and on about having to get through a NOVA back-up, that she’s got to free-up space on the DVR. Fine. Her husband, of course, insists on watching them with her, though I’ve noticed that he tends to use them to catch up on his sleep.
NOVA sounds nice and erudite, sure, but that wasn’t on till midnight last night. No, that would be…Ice Castles. Yes, the Robby Benson movie from 1978, when she was 13. Apparently, she even read the book back then. It was on some TV station for lost movies. Some movies should remain lost…
She does take some breaks. It seems to be rather necessary. Hooking so much woven fabric is taking a toll on the joints. As is sitting under me. I’m rather heavy at this point. I tell her to do some yoga. Does she listen to me? Sometimes.
She’s still going on and on about not having enough orange sheets to fill my background, that she had to breakdown and use t-shirts. Who gives a damn? That they’re used textiles being recycled to a higher purpose – me! – it’s fine. That’s the Boucherouite spirit.
Her dog keeps sitting on me determined to earn a snack. Someone needs to tell him that she’s barely taking any photographs of me. I deserve a BIG REVEAL and not until I’m properly hooked and hemmed.
Lastly, regarding actually finishing me in order to enter me into Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta by the March 1 deadline, let’s hear it for the idea of STRATEGIC PHOTOGRAPHY. And you all make sure that your submissions are in by sometime Friday too.

Look for my debut on Instagram and Facebook in the near future, and I’ll see you May 30 and 31 and June 1 at Fiber Fiesta!

The Big Boucherouite