Category: summer

June 22, 2021

The work of summer

Summer arrived just this week along with the kind of “work” that seems tailor made for her. Ah, but what is the work of summer?

By rights – thinking back to when we were kids having escaped school for two months – there should be less work in summer. For High on Hooking, that will indeed be the case in some respect. Unfortunately, Ghost Ranch (see this post) postponed our workshop there till the spring. Boo to you, Covid! I was really looking forward to it, but there is a silver lining. It’s been SIZZLING here in New Mexico for a few weeks. Last week we hit 108 degrees here on the West Side of Albuquerque! Hiking will be better in the spring. I’ll post more information as we get closer to the workshop. In the meantime, think of how fabulous it will be to do fiber art in Georgia O’Keeffe‘s special milieu, her querencia.

querencia

The place where one’s strength is drawn from; where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.

There have been a few places in my life when I’ve felt what the Spanish call querencia. In fact, it’s why I wanted to move to the Southwest. It’s definitely something I understand about O’Keeffe.

Given the change of plans, I find that I have more time on my hands to do my own work. Frankly, this calls for some serious rejoicing as this year I’ve been working A LOT on things that I’ve HAD TO DO. I haven’t even put many new items into the Etsy shop! Sure, I chose to teach and to make the New Mexico cushion for the USA50 project. The latter took longer than anticipated, working with all wool yarn. Beautiful, but itchy wool yarn after a while. Friend Ruth has the piece at the moment as she’s converting it from the hooking to the actual cushion. Pics in the next post; I promise. It’s beautiful, and even better, it has a good story.

To me the work of summer is “lighter” than that that I think to do come October and as winter starts to blow in. Fortunately, that coincides well with the “happy rug series” (#happyrugseries) I informally started earlier in the year to combat the “heaviness” of Covid and the entire year of 2020. Sadly, between gun violence and the continued stupidity of US politics, 2021 hasn’t been much happier. BUT, given our vaccination rates here in New Mexico, life is looking much more “normal” than it did a year ago. WOOHOO!

Current projects…

Hooked rug, work of summer — ABUNDANCE, part of the #happyrugseries.

Still finishing up ABUNDANCE, the latest and largest so far in the #happyrugseries. I’ve hit a little snag, as she’s hooked with all kinds of fibers that aren’t the easiest to put a needle and thread into. Worse, there are holes built into her, so a lot of perimeter work to do. Worst, Bowyn was going crazy for rabbit scents on a walk last night so I let him run in the park. Unfortunately, my right ring finger got caught in the leash as he took off. Ouch! I won’t be wearing any rings on that finger for awhile. Fortunately, if I take the little brace off, I can still hook.

Friday, as soon as I finished hooking the NM cushion, I drew up a small, geomtric-ish pattern so that I’d have something to work on that evening while Tom ran a summertime, “Arnold” action movie for us to watch on the TV. Given all the environmental issues we’re facing these days – drought, climate change, wildfires, plastic in the ocean – I decided to hook the piece with old plastic bags. Having already hooked a larger such piece, I’d kept the most colorful bags I had. Despite the heavy environmental theme, I’m hoping the piece will still make me – and others – smile. And just maybe curb our use of plastic bags some.

I’m also getting ready to tackle some new-to-me techniques, that is, NOT rug hooking! I’ll let you know how that goes, but right now I aim to explore a bit on my own. Then there’s an article or two that need writing. While the work might be lighter in summer, there’s no lack of it!

July also brings a road trip back East. Various folks were supposed to come visit here last fall, but…you guessed it…stupid Covid. So, having not seen family in a couple of years, it’s time. Bring on the seafood! This time around, Bowyn will man the Instagram account. Tynan, 13, will stay home and keep the hearth fires warm.

Hooked rug and Bowyn a Welsh Springer spaniel — Tynan let Bowyn handle WHAT’S ON THE FRAME today. (Nonetheless, he demanded a treat as a finder’s fee.) No name yet, but it’s being hooked with plastic bags that WILL NEVER SEE THE OCEAN!

What’s your work this summer? Perhaps it’s to concentrate on family and friends, the return to life with others? YES! Enjoy.

June 1, 2021

June is already a WHIRLWIND!

Orange whirlwind — Whirlwind pic courtesy of Author: PixelAnarchy / pixabay.com.

WHIRLWIND: a small rotating windstorm of limited extent. At least according to the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary.

Welcome the whirlwind that is June. So much is going on! But it will be of a limited extent for the most part. In July, we’ll pack up the CR-V and head back east for a couple of weeks. Till then, though…

Unfortunately, Cathy Kelly and I won’t be heading to our first show to vend as expected this coming weekend. When Covid numbers weren’t quite as low as they are now, the Spring & Fiber Festival at El Rancho de las Golondrinas near Santa Fe was canceled for 2021. Bummer, I know. But we subsequently applied for the Harvest Festival in October (during the big Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque); hopefully, that will pan out. The weather will be cooler then too!

CREATE DIY
Thursday, June 11, will find me back on Zoom to lead a Introduction to Rug Hooking – Not so Traditional. This workshop is part of CREATE DIY, an online textile festival from Quiltfest. Would-be students have until June 3 to register! More info can be found by following either of the links above.

Adobe Wool Arts Guild members holding hooked rugs. — Ah, the good. olde days when AWAG could hold our retreats and workshops 3 or 4 times per year. In this pic you’ll find, Liz, myself, Melinda, and Mary R. with our works in progress a few years back.

ADOBE WOOL ARTS GUILD
AWAG, New Mexico’s only rug hooking guild, will hold its first meeting since March of last year this month on June 16! One of our members has graciously offered her lovely backyard (complete with shade and breezes). If you’re a hooker or puncher in the Albuquerque area who’s been looking for company, please contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com. As the President of the group, I can get you in. Really. Plus, we’re a fun group.

GHOST RANCH
June 27-July 2, I’ll be up at Ghost Ranch north of Santa Fe to teach Hook a Rug, Save the Planet. I especially can’t wait because it appears that cell and Internet coverage are lacking up that way. Bummer…NOT! This promises to be a real get-away! We’ll be hooking and punching during this multi day workshop. And, no worries, there will be plenty of time to explore the ranch. My hiking shoes and camera are ready! There are several art-type classes running in June; find them here. (BTW, if you even think about heading to Ghost Ranch, I have one word: SUNSCREEN.)

Clearly, I’ve got a lot of workshop prepping to do! Meanwhile, for those who follow In the Studio and our Workshop Weeks, very soon we’ll be opening up registration for all workshops running during October’s Workshop Week 3. (Make sure you pen – not pencil – October 24-30 into your calendars!) We have more classes this time around -10! – and four new teachers. And, no, not every class is about rug hooking. Keep an eye out for more information! If you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about, email me. We’ll chat. You’re definitely missing something good.

Backside of a hooked rug. — “Abundance” (aka the “automatic hooked rug“) freshly steamed. Yes, she’s upside down. She’s the latest in my HAPPY RUG series. “Whimsy,” there on the wall, was one of the first happy rugs. 2021 can’t get enough HAPPY

The boys and I would love to show you “What’s on the frame” this first week of June, but it’s a surprise till it’s pretty much finished. Saturday, though, I steamed “Abundance,” and am hoping to get to finishing her off today. Or at least starting to. She’s pretty big, and she’s got three holes! Summertime and the sewing will NOT be easy. My arthritic hands ache just thinking about it. But she’s well worth it.

SUMMERTIME AND COVID’S ON THE WANE. What are you planning this June that you couldn’t do last June? Tell us in the comments. And stay safe!

May 11, 2021

On to Ghost Ranch!

Meet up at Ghost Ranch in June!

You know that old saying “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away”? Well, indeed He does. Just ten or so days ago, I wrote about how excited I was to be finally attending an in-person fiber festival up at El Rancho de las Golondrinas near Santa Fe. Then, last week, Cathy and I got word that, due to state or county Covid guidelines, they had to cancel it. Not sure why, as that county is opened as much as anything can be here in NM. And I’d gone to a couple of farmers’ markets that were pretty crowded down here in Albuquerque where we aren’t quite as open. I was so anticipating the festival and chatting folks up about hooking and all things fiber…

But there is some good news. Because, I’m fully vaccinated, I taught a lovely 80-year old to punch last Friday. In person! She’s quite the pistol too. I hope to have pics when the yarn I ordered for her comes in, and I can get over to her house again. And I have a student coming this Friday as well! I’m looking forward to spreading the fiber gospel some more. In person! Thank goodness for the vaccines!

Then there’s even better news. I’d alluded earlier to the fact that I was planning to teach at a “special” venue. It’s finally up online so I can spill it. June 27 – July 2, I’ll be teaching at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú north of here in New Mexico. Having only driven by and never stopped, I can’t wait to spend the better part of a week there. We’ll be working on both hooking and punching, stressing all the while the use of recycled and reclaimed materials in our work. Think old t-shirts, bed sheets, plastic bags, and so on. The workshop is titled HOOK A RUG SAVE THE PLANET! (Click on the link for more info.) There will be plenty of downtime to hike and explore the Ranch and surrounding area.

For those not familiar with Ghost Ranch,

The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe and the incomparable hospitality of first director, Jim Hall—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. People from all over the world come to work together in creation care, to paint, write poetry, to hike, ride horseback, to research globally renowned archaeological and fossil quarries or simply to rest and renew their spirits.
-Ghost Ranch website

Photograph by ghostranch.org.

Georgia O’Keeffe is indelibly and colorfully linked to the Ranch though she only owned seven acres of it. More info on that HERE. The actual owners gifted it to the Presbyterian Church who created the Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center. The Center “fosters well-being and spiritual health through this historic, inspiring southwest landscape.” They do that by offering various activities on the land like hiking, camping, and horseback riding as well retreats and workshops. And that, my friends, is where my class comes in. The Ranch values good stewardship of the earth. An art workshop stressing re-use of materials to make something beautiful and maybe even useful falls right in their wheelhouse. And I couldn’t be any happier. I’m thinking of what it can mean for my own art and then just to have that time away from “home” stuff. Time to talk fiber, time to hike and sketch.

Chile pepper hooked rug — “The Ripening” is all New Mexico. (Old t-shirts; 9.5″x9.5″)

If you’re thinking about traveling this summer, maybe a peaceful, fiber retreat in northern New Mexico, a place filled with our special light and color, is the place for you. Chile peppers always available!

August 5, 2020

Sunflowers – hopefully they’re a neutral subject

SUNFLOWERS

Hooked Sunflower Rug used as a bench cover — “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.

New Mexican Sunflower — 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.

Round sunflower hooked rug — 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…

Sunflower hooked rug — After blue I decided to try red for a background. Sure, they were simplistic. but they sold! Again, recycled t-shirts.

Sunflower hooked ruggggg — 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.

Dog on sunflower hooked rug — 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. 🙂

Sunflower hooked rugs — I liked the green t-shirts so much that I went for it again the next year.

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.

BTW: If you have any interest in High on Hooking’s inaugural Zoom workshop Hooking With and beyond the Wool on August 19, it’s almost full. See details here.

April 27, 2020

Time to buy the patterns!

"Big Boucherouite' rug hooking pattern, one of our patterns — This is “Big Boucherouite” all drawn out on linen for Leslie. I can’t wait to see how she makes him come to life.

As I mentioned last week, High on Hooking has started something new: We’re offering patterns to all the rug hookers out there. Truthfully, though, we sold our first pattern last year. It was requested, not on rug backing, but on paper. Someone loved our “WOOF” rug but wanted a couple of personal changes made to it. Happy to do it.

Currently, the pattern for “Big Boucherouite” – in linen or in monk’s cloth – is listed up on the Etsy shop. I recently sent one off to Leslie. If you’re interested, I will draw it upon order to your specifications. It’s too big for paper, though. Feel free to contact me through Etsy or via Laura@highonhooking.com. In fact, most any of my rugs can be made into patterns.

This week we’re finishing up a punched pillow and hemming the recycled bed sheet rug. My hands and wrists are unexcited by both of those activities. And then there’s paperwork covering the dining room table (except where the dust is). On the plus side, we’ve started a new rug. Nothing makes me happier than that. And I see a hike in our near future. Early in the day, though, as summer’s suddenly broken here in the New Mexican high desert. Going into the 90s this week. Time to get Bowyn his pool!

Dog on hooked rug — Clearly, Bowyn’s got a ways to go before he can take over for Tynan’s “What’s on the frame.” What is this pattern? But Tynan was distracted and ran off when Tom made noises in the kitchen. What’s a dog to do?

WHAT WILL YOU DO THIS WEEK TO MAKE LIFE A LITTLE LIGHTER?