18th Annual Santa Fe Spring Festival: Featuring Lavender and Fiber Art!
Celebrate Spring with our Spring Festival: Featuring Herb & Lavender, and the opening of our 2023 season! Learn about New Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through an array of fun activities and demonstrations. Experience traditional New Mexican ranch activities like sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, plus a fiber arts marketplace featuring local artisans and craftsmen, horno bread baking, crafts for children, and more!
-https://golondrinas.org/
We here at High on Hooking hope that you can make it up to El Rancho de las Golondrinas (just sounth of Santa Fe) to celebrate the start of summer here on New Mexico’s high desert. I’ll be sharing a booth with Barbara Knupper, weaver and jewelry maker extraordinaire. You can find her art at the Artful Artisan.
We invite you to peruse our wares and enjoy the atmosphere of the Spring Festival on the ranch! Bring the whole family!
PS – To those, like me, who might be from New England, Las Golondrinas is kind of like a more primitive Sturbridge Village, southwest style:
El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Museum, dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of 18th and 19th century New Mexico, opened in 1972. Original colonial buildings on the site date from the early 1700s. In addition, historic buildings from other parts of northern New Mexico have been reconstructed at Las Golondrinas. Villagers clothed in the styles of the times show how life was lived on the frontier in early New Mexico. Special festivals and weekend events offer visitors an in-depth look into the celebrations, music, dance and many other aspects of life in the Spanish, Mexican and Territorial periods of the Southwest.
-https://golondrinas.org/
I’ve always maintained that September 1 is just as much a new year as January 1. You have a holiday and then you give yourself permission to start over. Maybe it’s a school year, your health, a job, or just a way of looking at life. In my case this September of 2022, it’s health and working on a new perspective. (And don’t get me wrong, I think renewal goes on all through the year, it’s just more celebrated in January and September.)
It’s no secret that I have autoimmune issues. Fibromyalgia was just added to the mix. I shouldn’t have been surprised; it explains so much. But so often when you’re busy, you work with the data that you have. When you’re in your late 50s, you don’t go looking for more things to go wrong with the chasse. Actually, I’m in pretty good shape, I think. Nonetheless, I could be doing better, especially regarding stress and sleep. I need more of one and less of the other. Bet you can guess which is which. LOL
I decided, therefore, that I’m taking a bit of a sabbatical from many of my local responsibilities for two whole months! I’d like to say that I’m making the months all about Laura all the time, but that’s not the case. It would also be très boring. Even to me! No, in less than a week my parents are making their second trip in six years to New Mexico from Connecticut. They’ll be here for 16 days. We’ll be doing some touristy things and even heading up to Colorado for a few days. They’ve never been there. After they leave, I’ll be teaching hooking and punching at the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival in Santa Fe. That takes us into October when Tom and I and a dog or two will take to the open road for Seattle. The kid’s now been there for three months; it’s time for a visit. And while I once spent a weekend in that area years and years ago, I never got a chance to really see it. This is an opportunity, too, to add a few missing states to my repertoire. I’ve never been to Utah (other than Four Corners), Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon.
By the time we get back, it’ll be Workshop Week 5 and even Halloween. Then the holidays and… You see why I need a break?
But I’ll be around online, certainly, and in touch with folks. Being away always lets me refresh, see things in a new way, and be inspired. All of which usually allows for some new and exciting artwork. At least to and for me. Perhaps for others as well.
PLACES WHERE YOU DEFINITELY CAN FIND ME THIS FALL INTO WINTER
Mountain and Valley Wool Festival (MAVWA): September 29 – October 2 The festival is Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, but the workshops happen the Thursday and Friday before. I’m teaching Thursday. Find info HERE. BTW, if you’re thinking of coming for MAVWA, know that it’s the start of Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. Think 500 hot air balloons in the air at one time. Pictures and words can’t do it justice.
In the Studio Online Workshop Week 5: October 23 – 30
While I’m not teaching this time around, I am the general administrator, so if you need a catalog or have questions, please give a yell. We have eight great teachers and workshops scheduled. If you’re just realizing you forgot to register, now’s the time. Some classes have filled, but teachers have waiting lists, and some have already scheduled second sessions. More info HERE.
High Desert Studio Tour – December 3 After missing two or three years, the High Desert Studio Tour is back! As in the past, I’ll be camped out at the home of ZiaWoolz. Dagmar generously invites myself and a few other artists to hang our shingles out with hers for the day. If you’re looking for some gorgeous, hand-dyed yarn, check out her Etsy shop, or better yet, visit us in December.
The boys bring you a HAPPY NEW YEAR WHAT’S ON THE FRAME this week. THE REZ is hooked on monk’s cloth with old t-shirts, wool strips, and wool yarn. So far…
View our CALENDARpage to see more dates to be added as we go further into the fall.
The boys and I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR, a cooler fall, and success with all your efforts at renewal!
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 Abiquiúnorth 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.
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.
“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!
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.
I liked this eight-point star superimposed on the blue sky and angles of the building. It’s found in Germany’s Black Forest.
I bet a whole bunch of you spend a fair amount of time looking around, see things, and wonder, “That looks cool; can I make a rug out of it?” I do. Even Tom has started asking me if I can use a particular design that he spies in nature, in the store, in the clouds…
My vacation is long gone now that summer is churning forward and August is just around the corner. Sigh… Sure, it’s freaking hot here in New Mexico, but I love the vibe of summer. So, I thought that I’d try go back to Germany in June – it was chilly – and share some of the “artistic elements” that I discovered there.
Okay, less an artistic element than a piece of art itself. I really liked these metal yard birds. Also in the Black Forest .These roof shingles were on many of the houses of Breisach, Germany, a little town on the Rhine. As old as the town looked, it was almost completely rebuild after WW2. Besides the scalloped shape, I like the variation in color.
Just check out the lines and the reflections of these homes in Strasbourg, France.
If only my own flower pots has this kind of artistry! Found this at Heidelberg Castle in Germany.
I loved the individual artistic elements incorporated into this sign, I think for a cafe. It was in Rüdesheim, Germany. The sun, the grapes, and the tea- or coffee pot caught up in the leafy grapevine.
Never mind the steepness of the hill that these grapevines have been planted upon (though workers do have to tie up to a bar at the top and repel down to tend to the vines). Note the rows and rows of straight lines. The ones that go off at a bit of an angle are owned by a different farmer.Kitchens – even in castles – are full of artistic elements. Here we have circular plates, cylindrical cups and vessels, and the horizontals of the shelving. Saw this in Marskburg Castle near Koblenz, Germany.
Spoons on a rack provide us with more circles and lines. They look like pewter lollipops!
Marksburg Castle had some interesting slate roof tiles.
And incredible woodwork!
Both Tom and I looked at this and the other wall panels and thought RUG!Dog? Sheep? You be the judge.Maybe snakes are more your thing… Seen in Koblenz.This window in the Cathedral in Cologne was made of colorful, glass squares. Being that I love to hook geometrics, I was quite taken by it. Wish the pic was clearer, but the camera on my phone bit it soon after this.
What have you recently seen during your travels that might make it into a rug?
Celebrate Spring with our Spring Festival: Featuring Herb & Lavender, and the opening of our 2023 season! Learn about New Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through an array of fun activities and demonstrations. Experience traditional New Mexican ranch activities like sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, plus a fiber arts marketplace featuring local artisans and craftsmen, horno bread baking, crafts for children, and more!
Then there’s 
