The Story of My Rug Hook

This was originally published on my old blog in December of 2008.  I re-read the post today and wanted to share it again.

An unexpected gift from beyond.

When my late grandmother was moving out of her house and into a seniors' apartment complex several years ago, one of the pieces of furniture I was given was a large handmade yellow and green cabinet with storage compartments.

My grandmother did a lot of cross stitch and other embroidery work, and the cabinet was full of spools and bobbins and skeins of floss and thread. My youngest sister had the cabinet first, but since she had no place (or real use) for it, it was given to me. (Both my sister and I were taught to cross stitch by Grammy, so it was logical.)

Well, I stopped stitching a few years ago, mainly because I love to do miniature samplers for dollhouses but my need for glasses is getting in the way. So I put most of the embroidery materials in one section of the cabinet and began storing my scrapbooking materials in the then-empty drawers. I love having everything within easy reach, and the door in the middle was perfect for storing my Sizzix die-cutter.

About a year and a half ago, I sold my Sizzix because I wasn't using it a whole lot at the time, and I hadn't been in that middle cupboard since. A few minutes ago, however, I decided to tuck my lavender reed oil diffuser in there because Hubby has a headache. I knew the smell would bother him, and I could rest assured that it wouldn't spill in there.

When I opened up the door, my jaw just about hit the floor.

Hanging in a slot on the inside of the door was a rug hook. Or, to be more exact, my grandmother's well-used authentic vintage bent-shaft-and-handle, tapered, rug hook. I was stunned.

I took it out and held it in my hand and stared at it as if it had come from outer space. (I didn't even register what now looks to me to be a well-used proddy tool beside it.)

I don't remember ever having seen either tool before. I didn't even know my grandmother had been a rughooker.

From my limited knowledge of the history of the art (and it is limited), I'm pretty sure that rughooking was more of a North American thing than a European one, and my grandmother (and her handiwork heritage) came from Denmark. Whether or not she picked it up here, I don't know, but Dad never mentioned it, and I don't remember ever having seen hooked rugs in her house. Tons of needlepoint pictures, yes, but not a single hooked piece.

Grandmothers come in all different kinds, and ours wasn't the stereotypical warm, fuzzy, touchy-feely kind of relationship. Some people have that skill set, and some don't, and I certainly don't fault my grandmother for that. (She could play the piano, and I can't, so we're even. *grin*) But because she was my only grandmother (I never knew my maternal grandmother as she died before I was born), the warm, fuzzy, touchy-feely side of me always kind of felt something was missing.

If you read this blog at all, you know that I'm pretty much a sensitive, sentimental person, and that the value I place in a material thing is not what it would cost to buy, but in its history.

I can't fully put into words how I felt when my hand closed around the handle of that hook. But I can tell you that, for just a moment, I felt like a little girl holding her grandmother's hand.

Murphy's Law of Rughooking

So I tried to coax the fibres in the monkscloth back into shape, and it just wasn't going to work.  The more I hooked, the more distorted it looked, and while a five-year-old won't be staring at it too critically, she might still have it when she's twenty-five.  A landscape or an abstract rug would have been more forgiving, but when you're hooking a geometric, every millimetre counts.

The decision was made with a sigh.  The best course of action was to cut my losses and make it smaller (about 10" x 15") so that the messed-up monkscloth wouldn't ruin the whole rug.  So I kept hooking away, pleased with my decision, and happy that it would still be large enough for Emily's little feet first thing in the morning (and a wall-hanging later in life).  I was almost finished, when ...

Just one more little glitch.



Back to the Kool-Aid aisle I go ...

The Fruity Pebbles Rug

I'm sitting here waiting for "the guys" to come do some minor renovations to the kitchen and I'm about to pick up my rug hook again.  It never fails -- I go literally weeks without hooking a single loop, and then once I pick up the hook, I can't put it down!

On Friday, at around 4 PM, I finished transferring the pattern I was going to use for my Kool-Aid wool to the backing, and I thought I would just hook a loop or two to see how the colours would look together.  Well, by the time I got out of my chair, it was nearly 1 AM!  I even forgot to eat supper!

Here's the "loop or two" I hooked.So I thought I'd better take an "in-progress" photo before I picked up the hook again today!

As I was hooking away on it Friday night, my five-year-old niece called me on speakerphone as she and her family were heading to a Halifax Mooseheads hockey game.  Emily asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was hooking a rug.  She was very curious about that, and once she understood that I was making a "small carpet," she asked why I was making one instead of just buying one.  Rather than attempt to explain Zen and the Art of of Rughooking, I simply told her that it was because it made me happy.  "Oh!"  Emily exclaimed.  "So you're a happy hooker!"

As my sister and brother-in-law broke down into choking gales of laughter in the background, Emily immediately started composing a song about "Auntie Karen the Happy Hooker."  I would have given anything to be there!  I'm sure I would have had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.

So after we'd said our "love yous" and "goodbyes," I decided that this rug, with its bright, happy colours would be for Emily.  And the longer I hooked away at it, the more I realized it even looked like (and smelled like?) Emily's favourite cereal, Fruity Pebbles.

I'm loving the way the colours are coming together, and I'm loving the soft feel of the wool.  This is the first time I've hooked with TWC wool and the first time with any wool I've dyed myself.  But it's also the first time I've used monkscloth as a backing, and I have to say that I'm not loving that part quite so much.

First of all, the threads move around much more easily than they do in linen.  On the "pro" side, it's easier on the hands to pull the loops through, but on the "con" side, the loops fall out much more easily.  But by far, the worst, most frustrating part is that the gripper strips on my Puritan frame are wreaking havoc on the weave and distorting the pattern to pieces.

I've tried pulling it back into shape, but it's not easy.  I think I'll save the monkscloth for scroll frames and hoops in the future, because I'm not quite sure if I'm even going to be able to fix this.  Linen may be more expensive, but it's definitely my backing of choice from here on in.

Happy hooking! :)

Tap, tap, tap ...

Hey!  (blowing off the dust)  Is this thing on?

It has been fourteen years plus forever, it seems, since I've written anything here.  Oh, sure -- I told you about adopting Nero -- but that wasn't exactly a wordy post like you're used to.  Forgive me, Gentle Reader.  It's been a period of ups-and-downs and growing pains.  Nothing too catastrophic -- don't worry -- but just enough to keep me relentlessly preoccupied.  Forty is the new eighteen, I guess, and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up! :)

You know when you meet someone who inspires you, and just by talking to them for a little while, you can tell the creative parts of your brains are humming along at the same frequency?  I met such a lady a little while ago and just blogged about her on The View From the Market.  Go read it. It's okay -- I'll wait here.

I've been doing a little bit of rughooking lately, but I'm really being drawn to the dye pots for the first time.  I have started accumulating tools (pots, spoons, Cushing's acid dyes...) but I've been a bit timid.  So this week I decided to start off with a kinder, gentler dye project.  I used Kool-Aid!

Aren't the colours just gorgeous?  I'm completely in love with the Tropical Punch red, and the Orange makes me crave Creamsicles.  I've designed a geometric rug to use these on, but haven't gotten it transferred to backing yet.

In other news, I've applied for a job that I'm really, really hoping I get.  I haven't heard anything yet, but my fingers are still crossed.  The job would mean steady income at a decent rate, and would allow me to do the Masters of Science in Space Studies.  It would also go a long way to helping me replace my aging car.  I love Betsy the '98 Malibu, but at her last safety inspection, they said she only had about a year left in her, and it's just a matter of time before the rust takes over completely.

In other news, I began gearing up for NaNoWriMo on October 1st.  Although this is my fourth year giving it a shot, I'm determined that this is the year I make it to 50,000 words.  And in a legitimate way.  I mean, I could have my characters act in a production of Romeo and Juliet and then just paste the Bard's words in as dialogue, but hey.  Where's the challenge in that?

So I'm writing an outline.  A detailed outline of what I should expect to accomplish each day.  I'm normally more of a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type, but that hasn't gotten me to the finish line of NaNoWriMo yet.  So it's time for a change.  And when November 1st gets here, and the starter's gun sounds, I'll be ready!

And now, a confession: After seven months of "sobriety," I've fallen off the wagon and am drinking Diet Pepsi again.  Well, actually it was more of a swan dive.  But how I missed it!  I feel awake for the first time in months.

Not sure if I told you or not, but the non-credit creative writing course I was going to be teaching at the university was cancelled, along with all of the other non-credit courses for the fall semester.  It was a red tape thing, with there being problems in securing classroom space.  We're all hoping that things can fall into place in time for the winter semester.  I was really looking forward to teaching, but here's hoping for a second chance.

Anyway, I should go hang out with the pets for a while.  With Nero's arrival, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Piper are feeling a little bit displaced, so I'm making an effort to give extra snuggles and ear skritches.  Talk soon!

Look, Ma! I'm famous!

Guess who is Uptown Saint John's Craftsperson of the Week? :)

Things have been pretty busy the last week or so.  My husband's brother's family (did you follow that?) from Wainwright, Alberta was visiting.  Since these are some of my favourite people, and since they're normally so far away, I tried to spend as much time with them as I could.  Add in the usual errands, appointments, et cetera, and somehow this blog didn't get updated!

I've begun hooking on a new rug and it's coming along nicely.  When I was hooking on it at the lake, my niece fifteen-year-old niece Anna (from Alberta) was quite intrigued by the process, so I couldn't resist showing her just how easy it is.  If we'd had more time (this was two days before she left), I would have picked up a hook for her and sent her home with a project, but alas -- next time.  I've been itching to do another cross-Canada train trip, so maybe it can wait until then.

August 1st meant the beginning of a new six-month session of Ten-Minute Rughookers, and after straying from hooking for a while, I've recommitted!  (Well, okay -- "become re-obsessed" might be the more appropriate wording of it.)  Anyway, so far I've hooked at lease ten minutes every day since August 1st, and I intend to keep right on hooking.

On Saturday, I moved my few things out of the space at the City Market.  My month there had come to an end.  But what a month it was!  I learned so much up there -- about myself, about work habits, about being part of uptown life again.  I'm still processing all it means, but it was such an amazing experience and it's not an exaggeration to say it has changed my life.

Talk soon (and I mean it).

The Half-Way Point

I can't believe I've been in my little space for two weeks now, with only two weeks left.  And yet, in some ways, it feels as if I've always been here.  I'm getting to know the merchants and my internal rhythm has now matched the rhythm of the Market.

Every morning, at about 9 AM, I walk in through the Charlotte Street gates, and the Market unfolds before me.  I chat with the people I bump into, walk down the north aisle, chat with the folks at the soaperie, and then climb the stairs up to my little haven.

Each day, through the window beyond my table, I see the same elderly couple choose their vegetables for the day, and the same police officer getting his coffee.  I nod and grin at the green grocer on the other side of the Market, and when my stomach growls, I go up to the bakery and get a giant multi-grain roll.  Then I settle in and get to work.

The response to my blog, The View From the Market, has been fantastic.  It's now featured on the main web page for the Saint John City Market itself, and many of the local movers-and-shakers have shared the link with their Twitter followers.   I'm pretty pleased with it; it's turning out to be exactly what I had in mind -- an informal combination of news and tidbits, that I'm really enjoying writing.  In many ways, my using the blog to introduce people to the Market is paralleling the way the Market is introducing itself to me.  I really can't say enough about how much I am enjoying my time here.  It's exactly what I needed.

My biggest accomplishment since climbing the stairs for the first time is that I've finally finished the edges on all of my hooked projects.  When I learned to hook two years ago, I just kept hooking, without binding any of the edges.  For some reason, I found the prospect of finishing the edges to be daunting, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  And then last fall, I told myself that I couldn't hook another thing until I had actually finished the other projects completely.

Well, you know what happened.  I stopped hooking.

A month or so ago, my friend Rosa and I sat down and figured out how to do it, and in the past two weeks here in my little studio, I have been binding edges like a madwoman.  I just finished putting the last whipstitch in the Bloom rug and couldn't wait to take a picture.  (And yes, those are my red sneakers in there for scale. *grin*)

Okay, now wish me luck, because I'm about to tackle something brand-new: needle-felting.  I fished a kit out of the bargain bin at WalMart about a year ago, and I've been bringing it with me, working up the courage to give it a shot.

Hopefully no fingers will be harmed in the making of this project. :)

A-Marketing We Will Go ...

One of the greatest things about living in "Canada's original city" (incorporated in 1785) is that one is surrounded by heritage and tradition.  For about thirteen years, I was involved with the tourism sector in Saint John, either giving tours of historic churches, being a visitor information counsellor, or -- my favourite -- working as a walking tour guide, introducing visitors to the area to my hometown.

I've lived in Saint John most of my life, having moved away just enough to realize that this is Home, and one of my favourite places here is the City Market.  Built in 1876, the Market is always a hub-bub of activity, and one never fails to meet a friend strolling through the aisles.  I can remember visiting the Market when I was a toddler, and getting my mother some mayflowers for Mother's Day.  In high school, I would often stop to get some ice cream on my way to the bus stop.  The City Market is a constant in a Saint Johner's life.

So it was only natural that when Chris, a lifelong friend who is visiting from New England and preparing to move back, suggested that we get together to chat, we decided to meet at Java Moose in the Market yesterday morning.

A little aside -- One of the things that I've learned about myself is that I don't do any work at home.  If I need to get schoolwork done, I go to the university.  I figure I could triple my output if I had a designated space in which to work and concentrate.  So I've been casually looking for a cheap "studio space" in which to create -- writing, designing, painting, hooking -- and not nap.

So, back to yesterday morning...  Because I'd hitched a ride uptown with Hubby, I got to Java Moose quite early.  As I waited for Chris, sipping my Wild Raspberry Iced Tea, my gaze drifted up to one of the ice sheds now used as offices in the Market.  It was vacant.

You know in the movies, when there is a glowy light and sounds of choirs accompanying a major epiphany?  Yeah -- exactly like that!

My brain started swirling. How could I find out about it?  Okay -- breathe -- go to the Deputy Market Clerk.  How could I afford to rent it?  I'm unemployed and still looking for a job.  Okay -- Figure out something I could provide that the Market could use.  I was so completely absorbed in this thought process that Chris greeted me with, "What are you up to?"

Over the course of the conversation with Chris, I figured out something I could offer in exchange for the use of the space.  Normally a huge procrastinator in cases where I might not be able to achieve something on which my heart is set, I sent an email to the Deputy Market Clerk the moment I got home.  I told her I had an incredible win-win idea and would like to meet with her.  Then I spent the next three hours getting my proposal together.



This morning was the traditional Canada Day flea market in the uptown, so Hubby and I were there bright and early, as we are each year.  After taking in the wares on King Street and in King's Square, we wandered into the City Market and I took him down the side aisle to show him what I'd been bubbling over about last night.  "It's up there," I whispered, gesturing above the soaperie.  "That little room."

Hubby looked at it, and looked at the little staircase leading up to it, and nodded.  As we walked up towards the east end of the market, I looked up at the Deputy Market Clerk's office.  "She's there," I whispered.  "Up in her office."

"Then you should go talk to her," Hubby replied.

I hesitated, suddenly timid.  I've never been one to step outside my own shadow when it comes to something like this.  But after a gentle nudge from Hubby, I took a deep breath, scooted up the stairs and stuck my head in the office.  "Hi!" I said.  "I'm Karen -- I emailed you yesterday."

To attempt to wrap up a long story, I pitched my idea for the City Market (which I can't share with you yet, because it's still in the early, confidential stages), and asked about the little space.  The Bad News: it's been leased.  The Stupendously-Awesome News: the new people have leased it for August 1st, so I can use it for the entire month of July!

The Deputy Market Clerk and I went down to look at it together.  Gazing out the windows, I just kept grinning.  I can't believe I actually have it -- a space to work, in one of the most personally-inspiring places in the city.  I'm almost beside myself with excitement!  Each morning, after checking the job bank listings online, I'll pack my bag with my supplies for the day, be it writing or drawing or hooking or whatever, and I'll either go with Hubby or hop the bus.  I'll spend the whole day being creative!

It's going to be an awesome July, Gentle Reader.  I can feel it all the way down to my toes!

Happy Canada Day! :)

The Carnegie Rughookers: For the Shear Delight

I actually made it to my rughooking guild today.  I think it was the first regular Friday gathering I'd made it to all year!  But I picked a good time to show up, as it was the last day before the summer break.  It was also the last day of our guild's rug show at the Saint John Arts Centre.

The ladies never cease to amaze me with what they can do with a hook and some strips of wool.  So much colour and expression and individuality.  I took pictures of each piece so that my eyes could savour them long after the show had concluded.

I didn't have anything in the rug show because I am (only just now, more than two years later!) finishing the edges on my first piece.  I have three hooked projects that need the edges finished (the covered bridge was framed, so it's all done), so I made myself swear that I wouldn't hook anything else until my UFOs (unfinished objects) were taken care of.  This naturally meant that I stopped hooking for months, but I finally bit the bullet and, with my pal Rosa practically holding my hand, began finishing my first project.

I'll post pictures when I have my three UFOs finished, but for now, enjoy the "shear" wonderfulness of the rug show: The Carnegie Rughookers -- For the Shear Delight.

Penny for your thoughts

Last Saturday when I headed out to River Gallery to get some rug hooking supplies, I finally asked Sande about making penny rugs.

After a quick demo of the locking blanket stitch she uses, Sande warned me, "It's addictive!"

Well, I let it sit in a box in my office for a week, and forgot how to do the stitch she showed me, but this morning I picked it up to see if I could figure it out.  (I have a nasty cold, so I'm not doing much else today but sitting.)

Addictive?  No kidding!  I finished it!

To give you some idea of size, the small circles are 1" across and the larger circles are 2" in diameter.  The whole thing is about the size of a dinner plate, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Best thing about it?  When it's done, it's done!  No having to whip the edges, et cetera!  (Would you believe I haven't finished the edges on a single hooked project yet?  They're all just sitting there, waiting...)

Still working on the new design for the blog, but you'll definitely notice the difference when it's done!

Toonies in a little purple box.

Remember that papier mache box I gessoed a while back?

Well, it sat on my desk for the longest time while I decided what to do with it.  Finally I decided it would be the home of my Toonie Project.

A little explanation is necessary for the non-Canadian readers:  First of all, the Canadian one-dollar coin features a picture of a native bird called a loon.  Over time, the coin was given the nickname of "loonie."  Well, when the two-dollar coin came out, there was much speculation on what sort of name it would be given (it features a polar bear, in case you're curious).  Eventually it became known as a "toonie", which is short for "two loonies."  (Yeah, I know -- it sounds like we're all "loonie" up here.)

Anyway, around the dawn of 2010 I decided that I wanted to make a rule for myself this year.  I would not spend my toonies.  Instead, I would put them in a sealed container that I could not just randomly dip into, and then when I thought I'd amassed a nice little amount, I would take the toonies and go buy rughooking supplies with them.

So I was sitting at my desk looking at the little papier mache box with its rough white surface just begging to be decorated and all at once I knew its destiny.  I asked Hubby to cut a coin slot in the lid (because he had a sharp knife handy and I didn't), and then I covered it in purple Lumiere paint.  (I love the unexpected coppery sheen when the light hits it just right.)  I was pleased with how it was coming along, but after I'd glued it shut, I decided it needed a little something more.  So I put some aqua Lumiere on a dictionary page and then took a folk heart paper punch and made some cute little shapes.  A few coats of Diamond Glaze, and TA DA!  A Toonie Project Box!

Yikes!  I'm at the university and it's nearly time to pack up and go to class.  Catch you later! :)

Finished Hooking Mug Rug

It still needs to be pressed, blocked and have the edges/back done, but I finished hooking the mug rug this afternoon, right before heading out to work.

The plaids around the outside edge and inside the heart are recycled wool shirts and the golden colour and the darker blue are hand-dyed wool (by someone other than me).  I had originally planned to hook the outer plaid all the way in to the yellow, but it was really thready and driving me bonkers.  It's a shame, because I really liked the way it looked hooked up, but I'll save the rest of it for something else.

I have a few things in mind regarding my next large hooking project, but first I want to try a little experiment using a punch needle.  I haven't tried doing very much punch-needle work, but I'd like to get better at it so I can make some miniature rugs.

Today's Creativity.

Poor Hubby spent today digging out the driveway and walkway.  After I retrieved my car from work, I spent the day listening to the Muses!

After a quick trip to Michaels (where I bought a punch that I'll have to return because the spacing was wrong for the project I had in mind), I came home with some oil coloured pencils and a small papier mache box.

I spent about an hour doodling and colouring a 1.5" wooden cube I had (left) with the oil coloured pencils.  I really like the smoothness of the way the colour goes on, and the intensity of the colour.  Best of all, it doesn't bleed on wood, like the markers I'd been trying did.  One drawback: I didn't like the fact that the leads kept breaking every time I breathed.

Then I picked up my rug hook and did my ten minutes for today (centre).  As much as I like the idea of recycling old wool shirts to use for hooking, this project is a little painful.  There are little threads hanging everywhere and the wool strips keep turning themselves inside-out.  I'm thinking that maybe I should have tried to full the wool a bit more, because although the shirts had been washed, boiling the heck out of them might have improved things.  I like my wool strips to be nice and thick, and these strips -- although I love the colours! -- are making it a lot easier to stick to doing just ten minutes.

After that, I slathered some gesso onto the little paper mache box (right).  Please don't ask me what I'm going to do with it, because at this point I don't really know.  But at a whopping $1.50, it's almost as inexpensive an experiment as the dollar store canvases I love to play with.

In other news, as part of my Christmas gift from my uncle, I've ordered a set of three 5"x7" prints from Jessica Doyle.  I first fell in love with her art -- and, in particular, her whimsical fish -- a little more than a year ago, and so I decided that Annabelle, Milton and Emily need to come live with me! :)

And, last but not least, my Physics/Astronomy course starts the day after tomorrow, and I am PUMPED!

Talk soon!

Creative Every Day and Ten-Minute Rughooking

I've decided that I need to put more time (and focus!)  into my creative efforts, so I've joined the Creative Every Day 2010 Challenge (see badge in the right sidebar) and I'm back on the Ten-Minute Rughooker Challenge wagon.

The weather outside can best be described as "intense" and "treacherous."  In other words, perfect weather to stay in and play with wool!  I decided I wanted to do a small, simple project, so I opted to make a small mug rug and use up some of the "reclaimed" wool I had from recycling some old plaid shirts.  The design is fairly simple -- I just traced a CD and then drew a heart in the middle.  So far, it's coming along nicely!  (The yellow is some hand-dyed wool I had left over from another project.)

So far I'm not working tomorrow, but since I live the closest, if someone can't make it because of the weather, I'll go in.  Not quite sure how I'll get there, since Betsy (my car) is stuck in a snowbank at work, but we'll manage.  (Hubby and I tried to free her, but even though my Canadian car-pushing muscles gave it their all, it was a no-go.)

Maybe I'll dig out some polymer clay to play with.  Or maybe I'll just go curl up with a good book! :)

Rug Progress

Hi!

Just posted a progress picture over on My Created Life. C'mon over if you'd like to see how it's shaping up!

I wish I'd spent more time hooking this week, but c'est la vie.

Rug Progress

I spent the best parts of this weekend hooking my little heart out, and I'm so excited to see it develop. Have a peek for yourself. (Click it to see it larger)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Taking a break from hooking to pop in and say hello. Hope your Valentine's Day was a good one! Hubby and I went out to lunch at Mexicali Rosa's. The plan after that was to come home for a bit, and then go to a movie, but this low-lying headache I've had for days on end now wanted a nap.

The rug is coming along nicely. I'm really pleased. It's exciting to see something in your head and then be able to "make it real". Since I can't really draw (these flowers are about all I can do!), it's not an experience I've had before, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. There's a rug show on March 18, and the hookers are encouraging me to have this finished in time to enter. We shall see. I'll show you a progress picture tomorrow.

Getting a little sleepy, so I think I'll toddle off now. Piper is giving me the "it's time to go to bed" look, so it looks like I have her approval.

New rughooking project!

The night before last, I had severe "rugger's block". I'd decided that my promise to myself to not start any new hooking projects until I'd finished the other two simply meant I wasn't hooking at all. In fact, I think it had been since last August, and since I was going to an all-day rughooking retreat, I needed a new project.

On Tuesday night, I sat there staring at a blank piece of linen that I'd prepared. All I needed was a pattern, but I couldn't really come up with anything. Nothing "felt" right. Finally I gave up and went to bed, telling myself that, if need be, I'd just draw some circles on it or something when I got to the retreat.

Well, yesterday morning I woke to the sad news that a university professor for whom I'd been a student assistant had passed away. I'd known that she'd had a brain tumour, so it wasn't unexpected, but knowing the candle is growing shorter doesn't lessen the shock when it finally goes out. Dr. Hilary Thompson was one of the brightest, sunniest people I have ever known, and her positive attitude was infectious. As I sat there digesting the news yesterday morning, I knew right away what I was going to hook: a tribute piece to Hilary.

I drew the pattern when I got to the retreat, and it just seemed to come together. Hilary was very involved with children's literature and theatre, and her office was a riot of joyous colour. Accordingly, this rug will be very colourful indeed!

Taking the opportunity to use my grandmother's hook, I settled in and began. I'm always shocked at how fast time goes when hooking, and it seems to go doubly fast when I'm surrounded by other women working away on their projects.

There were so many beautiful rugs there! So much colour and detail and skill. Just amazing stuff. My rugs look so lumpy and bumpy next to theirs, but that's okay. In some ways, I like how rustic and unskilled mine are in appearance.

So, now I'm sitting here, itching to pick up my hook and keep going. I love this art form so much! Any hope for a snow day tomorrow? *grin*

An unexpected gift from beyond.

When my late grandmother was moving out of her house and into a seniors' apartment complex several years ago, one of the pieces of furniture I was given was a large handmade yellow and green cabinet with storage compartments.
My grandmother did a lot of cross stitch and other embroidery work, and the cabinet was full of spools and bobbins and skeins of floss and thread. My youngest sister had the cabinet first, but since she had no place (or real use) for it, it was given to me. (Both my sister and I were taught to cross stitch by Grammy, so it was logical.)

Well, I stopped stitching a few years ago, mainly because I love to do miniature samplers for dollhouses but my need for glasses is getting in the way. So I put most of the embroidery materials in one section of the cabinet and began storing my scrapbooking materials in the then-empty drawers. I love having everything within easy reach, and the door in the middle was perfect for storing my Sizzix die-cutter.

About a year and a half ago, I sold my Sizzix because I wasn't using it a whole lot at the time, and I hadn't been in that middle cupboard since. A few minutes ago, however, I decided to tuck my lavender reed oil diffuser in there because Hubby has a headache. I knew the smell would bother him, and I could rest assured that it wouldn't spill in there.

When I opened up the door, my jaw just about hit the floor.

Hanging in a slot on the inside of the door was a rug hook. Or, to be more exact, my grandmother's well-used authentic vintage bent-shaft-and-handle, tapered, rug hook. I was stunned.

I took it out and held it in my hand and stared at it as if it had come from outer space. (I didn't even register what now looks to me to be a well-used proddy tool beside it.)

I don't remember ever having seen either tool before. I didn't even know my grandmother had been a rughooker.

From my limited knowledge of the history of the art (and it is limited), I'm pretty sure that rughooking was more of a North American thing than a European one, and my grandmother (and her handiwork heritage) came from Denmark. Whether or not she picked it up here, I don't know, but Dad never mentioned it, and I don't remember ever having seen hooked rugs in her house. Tons of needlepoint pictures, yes, but not a single hooked piece.

Grandmothers come in all different kinds, and ours wasn't the stereotypical warm, fuzzy, touchy-feely kind of relationship. Some people have that skill set, and some don't, and I certainly don't fault my grandmother for that. (She could play the piano, and I can't, so we're even. *grin*) But because she was my only grandmother (I never knew my maternal grandmother as she died before I was born), the warm, fuzzy, touchy-feely side of me always kind of felt something was missing.

If you read this blog at all, you know that I'm pretty much a sensitive, sentimental person, and that the value I place in a material thing is not what it would cost to buy, but in its history.

I can't fully put into words how I felt when my hand closed around the handle of that hook. But I can tell you that, for just a moment, I felt like a little girl holding her grandmother's hand.

Hester's Hat: Rughooking Frame Cover

Hi, Gentle Reader!

Just thought I'd say hello and let you know that I'm making some progress on my rughooking frame cover. I've posted some pictures on My Created Life.

It's been a busy weekend. The shopping for all sixteen nieces and nephews is all finished, though, and my cold is on its way out of town. For that, and Simon and Garfunkel, I am thankful! *grin*

Talk soon.

Checking in ...

Just a quick hello. I'm pooped!

I worked yesterday and today, attending the "beginning of the year" meetings. It's not something I've done before, and I found it to be pretty interesting. Usually everything is well underway by the time I'm walking down the halls, surrounded by 1100 teenagers. This was the first time I really got to see the nuts and bolts of education, and I was fascinated.

The other bonus, of course, was getting to see my friends again. We all lose touch over the summer, for whatever reason, and it's always nice to see everyone again.

Spent some time cutting up wool tonight. I still have some material from those recycled shirts back in June, so I've been stripping them. I'll finish them up tomorrow, then start the construction of Hester's Hat.

Right now, though, I have a dog curled up beside me in bed, snoring softly, and I'm just going to enjoy being content.