Category:

Sunday's Beginning Class

7/29/2014

I slept in as long as I dared and then after zapping fruit flies all morning, I taught a beginner class on Sunday afternoon. What lovely gals. The four students were all enthusiastic. Three were newbies and one was looking for some tweaking tips. When she started her loops were all different heights and when she left they were as smooth as glass across the top.

There is a great rush that comes from showing beginners this craft we love so much. I always wonder which ones will stick to it and which ones will get the TShirt and move on. Sometimes you can tell by how bubbly they are, how their breathing quickens and pulse races. Or maybe that's just me....

It was hot upstairs, in the teaching part of the studio, so we sat in the downstairs back room in air conditioned comfort. I got them all started and then talked to them the entire time, walking around the table to make sure all was going well. We start with straight lines and I teach them how to skip spaces in lines and rows and how to pull loops the same height, talking about rhythms and the technique of uniform loops.

Next we move on to hooking circles. The holes no longer line up as they do in straight rows, but you learn quickly about staying inside the lines to keep the size and shape of the object and how the loops should look as you work around the curve. It is amazing how quickly it all becomes second nature and all the students made lovely circles. Then they started working on their actual projects and it's fun to see them evolve. All in all, teaching is always a satisfying afternoon.

Then I went home to swat more flies and nap. It was a very full weekend!

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Another exceptional beginner class...

9/17/2013

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“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.” - Horace

Another small beginning class with big heart! The Sunday before last, five women started on a new adventure and joined the rug hooking fold. One student, Liz, came all the way from Thunder Bay, rented a cottage in Mahone Bay and explored the area while working on her new design I created specifically to coordinate with a placemat she made. One of the highlights of her trip was a jaunt to Frenchy's. I looked up the address and she programmed the GPS for later in the week.   We had such fun chatting after the class the hours melted away and I missed the grocery store so we went out for dinner at Mateus Bistro for a fabulous meal.  More conversation and the evening disappeared and we were the last diners to leave the restaurant. Liz was here without a frame so I loaned her my personal one so she was able to continue with her hooking. One afternoon she dropped by the shop to take advantage of our great lighting as it was a bit dull at the cottage for hooking.

One of the newbies is Donna McKinnon, someone from my past days at Reinforced Plastics where I worked for 12 years in the accounting office. Don't know what my title was, back then it wasn't so important to have a label, but basically I helped get the financials out each month, helped train the other departments with the new computer modules, did the costing for the orders and was responsible for over seeing the payroll. I put in a lot of late nights and weekends as the hours in the day didn't match the many jobs that needed to be done, sort of like now and I still don't get paid over time!

The plant made reinforced plastic piping and the toxins from the materials made me quite ill and I eventually got environmental sickness and had to leave. Although my boss was gruff I enjoyed working for him, at least most of the time. There were moments that would make good stories. Overall it gave me the tools to be able to do the financial side of my business. The experts say that being a creative, right brained person, I'm not supposed to be good with numbers but I am, and I do my own bookwork to prepare for year end.  I won't say I do it on time, my procrastination skills outweigh my bookkeeping prowess so it's piled in a box until April and then I scramble to do all the entries and loose my mind. They'll be sweating, crying and cussing again because I let it get behind this year but I swear 2014 will be different.  Shane enters all the sales side of things and starting the new year I plan to train him on the expenses side so they are entered monthly and no more loosing my patience and sanity tax time.   At this stage in my life it should be all about making life easier and having less aggro, freeing up time to do the jobs that bring pleasure like designing or hooking.

Donna on the right....a work mate from way back, retired now and hooking a rug for her daughter.

A sweet design I whipped up for Liz to compliment the placemat she made. Can't wait to see the finished picture. She has a good eye for colour and details so I know it will look great.

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Sunday Beginning Class

9/6/2013

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Beginning Rug Hooking Class

September 8th - Sunday Afternoon 1-4 pm
Introduction - Beginner

The class concentrates on technique. It is so important to learn proper loop
formation, the foundation of all your projects to come. Simple tips can
make the difference between higgly piggly loops and straight, uniform
ones. Holding your hook properly dictates the neatness of your work as
well as saving your wrist from repetitive stress.
In this class we concentrate on loop height and position.
We practice straight and curvy lines and circles.
Once you master these simple techniques you are ready to fly!

During the class you can use our equipment such as scissors, hoops, frames and hooks. You will need a project. There is a large selection of kits to choose
from or you can select a pattern from our racks .
We will colour plan the project and cut the wool.

After I demonstrate each technique there will be a practice
period and once you are comfortable, then you will begin
hooking your project.  I hover over you for
the new few hours to make sure you stay on track.
While you work, I talk to you about
all aspects of rug hooking and recount funny, hooking related stories.

Let's get you started! Bring a sense of humour
because we love to laugh!   Coffee and Tea will be served.

You will receive a handout to take away.

Teaching Fee $30.00

Release your inner hooker!

CONTACT US TODAY TO BOOK YOUR SPOT!
1-902-624-0370 or Toll Free 1-855-624-0370

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Sunday's beginners on the road to rugs...

8/21/2013

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Sunday was beautiful. We managed to sleep in a bit and have a lazy breakfast on the back deck. The sun was shining and the boats were tacking back and forth in front of our house. What a marvelous day to be on the water or sitting in an Adirondack chair, sipping iced tea and watching the action.   It certainly is a wonderful life!

I had a beginner class scheduled for 1:00 and arrived at 12:30 to meet a couple of gals who needed to pick out patterns and wool. I usually insist the students be organized for the day of the class so we can concentrate on technique and practice, but you can't always follow your own rules. We were a little late getting started but no one seemed to mind. I'm quick so we put colours together for different projects, not every bit of wool is needed to work on the piece for class, but enough to get them started. Once again I hit the jackpot with talented first timers, although two had a bit of experience, just wanted some tweaking. There is something magical about a group of women, friends or strangers, that sit together and share a common passion.

Anne with an e, chose a colour palette similar to the lovely summer dress she was wearing and also bought an aqua hook as well. Easy colour planning there! I lamented how I'd been cheated with a simple Ann for a middle name and she said, well add the e! I never thought of it but it makes perfect sense! Why the heck not! So from now on I am Christine Anne Little.   Gosh darn it feels right! Ever since I read Anne of Green Gables at twelve, I longed for the more interesting moniker, felt sort of ordinary without that e. Amazing how one little vowel can make a difference! Most Ann's of note have the e. I think my mother considered the length of my birth name, Christine Ann Veinotte, knowing that at some point she would have to teach me to print all those letters and figured one less couldn't hurt!

The day was too warm to use the teaching studio upstairs so we sat in air conditioned comfort in the shop, gathered around my great grandmother's Mahone Bay Drop Leaf pine table, (defined by the finish of hand painted feathering), sipping coffee and spinning yarns as I hovered over them making sure they were forming good habits right out of the start gate.

Two of the students chose my new pattern Starfish Tango and liked the same colours so that was easy and there was talk of adding mystery fibers and possibly beads as highlights along the arms.   Barb, chose my new See Seahorse design and we colour planned it funky with brights. Lori worked on a mermaid's mop of hair and Lenore brought her own kit of a fanciful sheep.

The class went an hour longer than planned but they were all so delightful I didn't notice. It also gave them a chance to hook a bit longer so they would have more for show and tell when they arrived home.

There is something extremely rewarding about teaching, especially with an enthusiastic group who take instruction well. It is interesting to watch their projects evolve, see them breathe life into a design with every loop they pull.

I'm terrible with names and I couldn't read the name tag of the woman on the left although I think it was Sharon. I can't wait to see what she does with her star fish. On the right, a very photogenic Anne with and e.

Lenore and Barb hard at work. Lenore had done a small bit of hooking in the past but Barb was a complete novice.

What ewe hookin Lori? She's working on colour placement for her mermaid hair. Working with several shades and textures of yellow she is making sure each lock stands out.

2 Comments

Beginner class on Sunday afternoon

6/25/2013

9 Comments

From shoplifting to uplifting...like Nova Scotia weather, just wait five minutes for an improvement. What a great beginner class this past Sunday! There were only two students but good things come in small packages and these two women were stellar. The weather was warm so we set up downstairs with the heat pump on dehumidify to kick out cool air.

Angela came toting all her mother's paraphernalia. She's been in a nursing home for five years and has lost her desire to create so the proper thing for a daughter to do is pick up where her mother left off and she fit right into her mothers shoes, her loops mirroring her mother's beautifully. I could see pride in her eyes as she told of her mother being the entire rug hooking package, designing her own pieces and dyeing the wool. Angela tried fooling around with hooking before but got frustrated and set it aside but now seemed to take to it like a fish to water. She's originally from Winnipeg and refers to herself as a CBC - "Come By Choice" to Nova Scotia.

I knew Susan would be an enthusiastic student just from the way she expressed herself in previous conversations. She'd been wanting to hook for awhile and decided the time was right to start. She'd been preparing the hooking nursery for a bit and had gathered a number of supplies.  Someone had given her some lovely hooks, one was the Hartman (or Irish Hook) which she is using for this project.   She purchased our "Loons" pattern and decided to hook with yarn. She came with a lot of colours and I dyed the Loon's head in a dark green. Most of the wool she'll be using will come from MacAuslands Woolen Mill from PEI mixed in with a bit of Briggs & Little Woolen Mill from New Brunswick. She was delightful to teach and I'm sure we will see her at one of our hook-ins.....Tantallon isn't that far away!

Angela is planning on finishing a sweet pattern her mother had been working on of a cat sitting on a fence all cut in a #4. It is evident that Angela will have no problems merging their work to complete the piece.

Angela had a very interesting wrap for holding wool strips that's a must have guys. She thinks you can buy strips with snaps from fabric stores and I plan to check it out because I'd like to have them made for the shop. What do you think Pam???? This wrap is perfect for rug hookers on the go, heading out to hook-ins and visiting friends with projects in tow and of course at home just to keep the wool organized.

The pink masking tape was a gift from Susan. When she phoned before the class to ask a few questions she wanted to know what were the ways to protect the edges of the pattern from fraying while you hook. I said the usual way was a machine zig zag stitch but there are those who use masking tape for a quick and easy approach.   Susan went to a hardware store and bought a bunch of rolls that came in multiple colours, pink representing Cancer awareness so she thought I might like a roll for the shop in case anyone should need any. Sweet!

Susan practicing straight lines and a circle with yarn. She breezed both techniques and will have no problems tackling the rug.

Angela, finished her straight line and the circle with a natural talent...this acorn didn't fall far from the tree!

Angela, happy to pick up where her mom left off.

Susan Doyle, a very contented hooker!

This clever wrap for wool bits can be made with a ready made quilted place mat. The inside holds the snapped strips that secure the wool. It doesn't have a closure but it could have a little Velcro tab to keep it rolled or maybe a tie although it rolls beautifully without it. This clever idea will fit nicely in a hooking bag and keep all the strips clumped together by colour. It's so easy to pull out one piece at a time when hooking! To get even more creative this could be a small hooked mat with a lining inside for the snaps to attach.

Outside of the wrap. This one had a delightful crewel/Jacobean quilted fabric. There is an edge sewn around the outside. The inside is a plain while flannel.

Just wanted to share that today is my 22nd wedding anniversary to the best guy ever. We rushed our little ceremony because he was on his way to Marblehead for a sailing race so we had one day of a honeymoon and then he was off. We joke that he spent his honeymoon with seven sweaty guys on board a 40 ft boat for the Mablehead-Halifax race. Romantic!

We planned to have the reception after his return but then my mother died so it never felt right and then there was never time. We always talk...or I talk and he listens...about having a big affair in the backyard with tents, music and all the fluff. I'd love to have the fluff and a pretty dress! Hubby said we could renew vows and that was sweet but a little too hokey for me as there isn't much in the way of romantic bones holding up my frame! Maybe next year...at least that's what I always say as the date rolls around......

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Beginning Class last Sunday....

5/22/2013

2 Comments

Hard at work. All of these women were instant pros !

This past Sunday was another beginning class at the studio.   A delightful group of four women, one of whom had hooked a rug before, two had been casually dabbling and one almost complete novice except for a childhood experience with her grandmother.

The newbie was my son's girlfriend Ashley who caught on quickly and I learned later that she had hooked at her grandmother's knee. Shane drew up four coasters, each with a fancy anchor and she hooked these in red and the background with a luscious dark navy plaid. It doesn't get more nautical than that. As far as boyfriends go, a rug hooker couldn't ask for a better match. A personal dyer at her disposal and a beau with a key to the wool palace.

Emily, one of the women brought in a number of items her grandmother had handcrafted and all of her hoops and hooks. I see our grannies liked to collect hooks just like we do today. There must have been a dozen of various shapes and sizes. Emily's enthusiasm was thrilling a mirror image of my own beginnings. This wasn't her first piece as she had purchased a kit a while ago and struggled with the terrible quality wools that shredded in her hand even before it hit the backing. She deserved a medal for her effort and quite frankly I was amazed she even wanted to continue.   She said she had no idea that hooking could be so easy when using top quality wools that don't shred or fall apart and now she looks ahead with smooth sailing.   She designed a sweet little mosaic piece for the class and used her grandmother's tools. In her stash of hoops was a neat gadget stamped "Made In England" for attaching a hoop to a table. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture as it was a very interesting design that would hold a hoop to the table. Crafted out of wood, it had a barrel shape that cork screwed to the table with a vertical piece that had a slit for the hoop to rest in with a tightening screw to hold the hoop in place.

The day went quickly and all four students had a natural knack for hooking so I just hovered around telling stories and giving tips for making the work go faster and easier. All in all it was a lovely day with new friends made and four more hookers joining the fiber arts fold.

Linnell changing from the hoop she started on to the gripper frame to see what suits best. She is hooking Mary Doig's Three Churches from a kit.

Emily holding her grandmother's bag to show it's size. This would have also made a fantastic purse, all it needs is a shoulder strap.

Emily's grandmother's little purselike bag that held all her hooks and scissors. It was well made with a zipper top. So sweet, it should be a future workshop! Very nice floral design and leaves.

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Feb 17th - Beginner Class

2/17/2013

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These five women were a pleasure to introduce to rug hooking. A sea of smiles and a feeling that everyone had a great time.

Another successful Sunday beginner/technique class. Not an amateur among them, pulling loops like pros. The dogs were a big hit and I had to keep my eye on Fiz so she didn't get helped into someone's purse and smuggled out of the shop.  Herlegs were in the air for most of the afternoon getting belly rubs. All the women today truly loved dogs so you know they're good people...that's how I set the bar on the who's who of people you want to know!

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be unkind so I think I might have a much deserved day off, catch up on personal emails and get a bit more hooking done. The Valentine's Day window display needs to be dismantled and spring is right around the corner so I'd better get those tulips done before the real ones are popping out of the ground!

I've stocked up on cream and coffee this time so bring it on!

Kristy on the bottom left designed her own pattern; a detailed floral. She's quite artistic so I expect to see an interesting body of work from her. She stayed behind after class so I could cut some of her wool and chat. She built her own house with help from her parents! Now she wants to fill it with hooked rugs. Go girl!

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Sunday Beginner Class

1/21/2013

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I taught a fun beginning class on Sunday. There were supposed to be five students but two were no shows due to illness so it was down to three and good things come in small packages. Two of the women were friends of one of our Main Street Hooker group, Glenna. She is a recent hooking convert that inspired a couple of her friends to take a class so she came along for the ride and hooked for the afternoon. Barbara lives down the road from our Ginny so there might be an opportunity for a little car pooling there because I am sure she will join our evening hooking group.

I have a well honed gut instinct; I can meet someone and like them instantly or experience a feeling of caution. It’s served me well and truthfully, so far I’m been on the money. Today, green lights were flashing. I clicked with these women, they were filled with such a fun spirit, people I would like to know better; the genuine article. I expect all three will join our Wednesday evening hook-in and fit in nicely with the crowd and I look forward to seeing their progress and getting to know them better.

The weather was incredible today. At one point it was +10 and the snow is almost a faded memory in my backyard. Mud in January doesn’t seem right but I’ll take it! This is the kind of winter I look forward too and would like to see more of. But of course it won’t last and I’ll be grumbling again as the world turns white yet again and the temperatures dip. I know I’m a broken record but like any typical Nova Scotian, we all complain about the weather, but wait 10 minutes and it will change.

Then the day was crowned by an invite to Mary’s for dinner. Mary is a great cook, the kind I would like to be, taking time to put on a spread each night instead of Save Easy chicken and grab items to fit my hectic lifestyle. She made a pot roast to die for, meat so tender it melted in my mouth. Roasted Vegetables from the Lunenburg market, cooked beets and a yum, yum Hot Slaw. (I need the recipe Mary!) Then for desert an Upside-down Pineapple Cake, something I haven’t had since childhood. A nice bit of pampering after a day of teaching. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Left, Joan hooking a Celtic Knot, right front is Lana hooking Geo Tulip and Barbara right back hooking Highland Thistle.

Glenna working on her latest piece. A delightful sheep wearing rubber boots plashing in a puddle called Dances With Wool.

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Sunday's Beginning Class

Another exceptional beginner class...

Sunday Beginning Class

Beginning Rug Hooking Class

Sunday's beginners on the road to rugs...

Beginner class on Sunday afternoon

Beginning Class last Sunday....

Feb 17th - Beginner Class

Sunday Beginner Class

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Beginning Rug Hooking Class

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