A Great Hooking Afternoon

I'm sorry I haven't been very active on this blog, I've been spending my blogging time on the blog I set up when I acquired a great new farm dog - well, when I started the blog and got my new acquisition to the farm, I wasn't so sure he was a great dog. I thought writing about my experiences with him would help me make decisions about him. Come on over and see how I've been spending my time when you're through here, the dog blog is http://gibbydogblog.blogspot.com

Luckily, I had a little rug hooking afternoon today. My cousin came to visit for the afternoon. She has expressed interest in learning to hook several times, ever since I went with her sister-in-law to an Amy Oxford workshop in northern Michigan. She wants to set a time with her sister so they can both come to hook, but I decided to strike while the iron was hot even though she was here alone: I started by showing her some hooks, several different kinds, and some loops that were already pulled on a practice pattern. I wanted her to see the difference between traditional hooking and the punching from the Amy Oxford workshop. Then I pulled out a couple of books, one of them by Cynthia Norwood, and then on to the Youtube videos I discovered yesterday. I think my two favorites make a great combination, one by Deanne Fitzpatrick and the other by Gene Shepherd. I wanted Jane to know that decisions about how to hook would be up to her, after she learns the basics. Deanne hooks so amazingly fast that the backing threads sing and Gene hooks slowly, precisely, and very accurately. Deanne says it's okay to pull loops down a little when you pull on the next one, Gene says the opposite and shows how to avoid pulling down earlier loops.

I probably overwhelmed Jane with books - I pulled out Cynthia Norwood's book and the Leslie Linsley book, then one of Deanne's books, then a second one, and that led to talking about Deanne's background and her family from Newfoundland, and that, of course, led me to talking about the history of Newfoundland and Labrador and Dr. Grenfell - and I pulled out the Silk Stocking Mats book. Then I followed up with two books by Gene Shepherd and a couple chapters of Gene's proddy dvd.

I hope Jane still wants to hook! I had a wonderful time, and I didn't even pull a loop - I love hooking!