I suppose it's an offshoot of rug hooking to be inundated with worms. Sort of like getting colds if you work in the hospital, it's an occupational hazard. Handling so much wool it's bound to happen. There's nothing you can do to prevent them, no matter how diligent you are they will come. All you can do is accept they are now a part of rug hooking and move on.
So what do you do with all these worms? I've often wrapped them up and sent them to the women in San Miguel who hook rugs to support their families. Every couple of years we ship a parcel with brightly coloured wool and our leftover scraps. I sometimes give worms to children after their mother buys them a small piece of burlap and a hook so they can fool around.
There's no prevention for worms and once they start accumulating you just have to live with it or like dandelions you can fight back by consuming them...no I don't mean eat the worms, consume them in a rug. Charlene Scott has provided two lovely demonstrations as to what you can do with a basket full of worms. Hit & Miss isn't just straight lines anymore! Hook them wiggly, like Cape Breton highways. Don't fuss too much about colours placement, just don't use two of the same wools together.
Once wool is cut into strips it's difficult to colour plan for future projects so I make a rule that I only strip what I can use in 1/2 hour of hooking. That gets me out of my chair for a stretch so I don't seize up so it works double duty. That way you don't end up with hoards of worms at the end of each rug that begin as small mounds and then grow into mountains, then fill bags or boxes and lay wasting in a closet.
So what do you do with all these worms? I've often wrapped them up and sent them to the women in San Miguel who hook rugs to support their families. Every couple of years we ship a parcel with brightly coloured wool and our leftover scraps. I sometimes give worms to children after their mother buys them a small piece of burlap and a hook so they can fool around.
There's no prevention for worms and once they start accumulating you just have to live with it or like dandelions you can fight back by consuming them...no I don't mean eat the worms, consume them in a rug. Charlene Scott has provided two lovely demonstrations as to what you can do with a basket full of worms. Hit & Miss isn't just straight lines anymore! Hook them wiggly, like Cape Breton highways. Don't fuss too much about colours placement, just don't use two of the same wools together.
Once wool is cut into strips it's difficult to colour plan for future projects so I make a rule that I only strip what I can use in 1/2 hour of hooking. That gets me out of my chair for a stretch so I don't seize up so it works double duty. That way you don't end up with hoards of worms at the end of each rug that begin as small mounds and then grow into mountains, then fill bags or boxes and lay wasting in a closet.
Geometric patterns are a great place to use up worms. This is a Mary Doig Design called Geometric Jewels. http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/mary-doig.html
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