I finally remembered to 1) bring my phone to a guild event and 2) take some pics to share. I’m patting myself on the back as it’s taken me four tries to do this. (It must be menopause; there have been far too many ditzy doings lately.)

As I’ve mentioned before, the first Tuesday of the month brings guild members to Albuquerque’s BioPark, the Botanic Garden, specifically, to recruit new individuals to our cult to the craft/art (a distinction for another time) of rug hooking. This was my second time participating. Not that it was without surprises.

Because I needed to pick up an official demonstrator badge from the office of education (who’d done a background check on all my previous lives), I arrived a few minutes early. Checking the guild’s folder, I ascertained that I was the first to arrive. I thought I’d be a good doobie and grab the attendance/feedback form and signage indicating to the public that TODAY YOU HAVE THE WONDERFUL CHANCE TO LEARN ALL ABOUT RUG HOOKING!. No problem there. Being all official-like, I headed back to the car to drive down the EMPLOYEE ONLY road to the reproduction farmhouse where they’ve parked us. Yes, I am that important now.

Again, no issues. No one stopped me or even gave me the opportunity to flash my badge. Secretly I was a little letdown by that. Anyway, no one was in the house when I got there. I found an actual worker with a key to open the back room then retrieved chairs and the hooking paraphernalia we keep there. You know, copies of Rug Hooking Magazine,  a hoop with some backing for people brave enough to try their hand at hooking, some wool, and a cutter. Oh, and another sign to post on the porch just in case folks missed the first one when they arrived at the park.

I sat down and waited for the others to show. I hooked some. I said hello to a few brave souls who really were just looking for the restroom. Had a discussion with a woman who thought hooking might be a perfect way to relieve some of the repetitive motion problems she’s having crocheting all the time. We would’ve chatted longer, but her daughter got antsy. I might add that her toddler granddaughter was perfectly fine. Maybe the daughter needs to learn a craft, if only to slow down and appreciate a lovely fall day at the park. But I digress. Anyway, they toddled off leaving me alone once more, fearful that the busload of kids I saw on my way in might descend on me en masse. I imagined fingers in cutters and pre-teen sneakers on the table runner I was just finishing up. And then…

 

The cavalry arrived. Okay, maybe not the cavalry, but Nancy and Linda, two fellow guild members. Hurray! I wouldn’t have to spend the four hours talking to myself or hiding from adolescent hoards. (Yeah, no field trip groups ever showed.) Linda actually showed up with a wannabe, a woman who’d seen our demo in the BioPark’s calendar. Very cool. She hung with us most of the day, asked a lot of questions, tried out my hook, read the magazines, and is thinking seriously about buying a kit to give it all a try. Clearly, our work in the BioPark was done. For this month.

Tell us about your experiences demonstrating hooking. Maybe it was at a special event or during an arts/craft fair where you were vending. How many stories have you heard from folks reminiscing about grandparents or mothers who hooked? Do you let them try their hand at it? How about the people who “remember” doing the same thing as a kid when they were really latch-hooking? My personal favorite was the woman who told me she used to hook, yet clearly had no knowledge of it. She went on to suggest that I elasticize a round rug and call it a toilet seat cover. Thanks lady! Got a tale like that? Tell us in the comments below..