Sadly, the Tuscon hook-in, 2016, has now come and gone. But what a great event the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers (OPRH) put on! The location, their hospitality, the silent auction… All guaranteed a fun time to be had by all.
Tucson. It’s a damned good thing that when we were scoping out southwest cities to move to, we visited during the worst weather time of year possible – July. We spent a week there way back in, maybe, 2000. The kid was pretty young. After spending most mornings doing some geographical and touristy investigations, we’d hang around the pool drinking Tom’s homemade margaritas (if you come visit us
here in NM, he’ll make you one or five), the temperature climbing to at least 115. Occasionally, monsoon storms rained down just to inject a little humidity into the mix. Winter in Tucson is a different animal. We ate lunch outside at the hook-in. I got a sunburn and my freckles came out! It wasn’t quite like Jamaica in January; days started in the 40s. But they warmed up right quick.
Location. La Paloma Country Club was a lovely venue for the event. Round tables for six to eight ensured conversation between all of us ladies and our gentleman, Russ. Vendor tables were centrally located for maximum exposure to wool, yarn, hooks, and other paraphernalia. As usual, coffee, tea, and pastries were provided during the morning. For lunch, we made our way down a sumptuous salad buffet that more than satisfied even those of us who were gluten free and/or vegan. A+ for the food.
Show-and-tell. Tables lining one wall provided a perfect place to set out our mats for ogling. I’ve included some here for your pleasure. Later in the afternoon, our OPRH hosts had some of us stand up and talk about what we were working on. Yours truly, being the only one working, not with wool, but with old t-shirts, was one of the presenters. Folks were fascinated by the colors I can use and how heavy the cotton rugs tend to be. (I tend to pack them pretty tightly.)
Silent auction. Little did I know this would be my favorite part of the whole day. The guild had put out a nice spread of items. Bids started at a dollar. I identified a number of things I wouldn’t have minded taking home. Then I saw them: not one, but two Anderson “Puncher” frames! Since trying one out at a punching workshop with Amy Oxford years ago, I’d had it on my mind. In fact, I was supposed to get one for my 50th birthday a year and a half ago; but by the time I finally got around to ordering one, I found that Mr. Anderson was no longer taking orders. That’s made me very sad. Not anymore! After an intense bidding war with “Claudia,” I scored the larger one. We packed that puppy into the car, and it’s now happily ensconced next to my fireplace.
Friends. Four of us from the Adobe Wool Arts guild attended the hook-in. Three of us road-tripped and stayed together. Of course, we all sat together Saturday. Nonetheless, I met
and chatted with plenty of new friends. And plenty of northeastern transplants. It was fun talking Connecticut (where I’m originally from), Massachusetts (where I lived the last 23 years), Rhode Island (where I went to school and then worked for many of those 23 years), and Maine, well, just because there are so many hookers there.
If you’re out this way next year at this time, I urge you to visit Tucson and the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers. They’re a class act and they host a great hook-in.
Share your hook-in news. I know Eliot, Maine, is coming up. I was supposed to attend last year, but illness and snow thwarted me. There are events in Milford and North Attleboro, MA, coming up too. If only I was still living in Franklin…
(But then there’d be snow…)
