Archive -- January 2006

Peconic Ruggers Hook In, February 4, 2006
January 29th, 2006 / News, Suppliers and Teachers, Peconic Ruggers / No comments
The Peconic Ruggers will host a hook in at the Grange, Sound Avenue, Riverhead, on Saturday, February 6 from 10 AM until 3 PM. Beverages and sweets will be served. Brown bag your lunch. Bring along some finished rugs to show off as well as your current project to work on. Barbara McNamara of Thimblefolk in Branford, Connecticut will be there selling her beautiful hand-dyed wool. All are welcome.


Halifax, Continued
January 15th, 2006 / News, Road Trips, Suppliers and Teachers / No comments
The third day of Sandy Cheverie’s class was devoted to braiding, what I wanted to focus on the entire time. Sandy’s father had invented Braid-Aids a long time ago, and they really make braiding easier. I had 2 different weights of wool, something I hadn’t considered when planning my braid, and that made it a little more difficult to keep the braid even. The tough part of braiding for finishing a rug is getting the corners right and ending the braid. We never quite got as far as finishing — which was really frustrating for me when I got home. I braided and rebraided the end at least 5 times and it still doesn’t look exactly right. To do this class right, it has to be at least 2 days long, and hooking should not be a part of it.
Here’s the my first attempt at a braided edge.

Peconic Ruggers: Next Meeting, Monday, January 16,2006
January 12th, 2006 / News, Peconic Ruggers / No comments
The Peconic Ruggers will meet at 7 PM on Monday, January 16 at the Grange, Sound Avenue, Riverhead, New York.


Sandy Cheverie’s Hooking and Braiding Class at the ATHA Biennial
January 12th, 2006 / News, Road Trips, Suppliers and Teachers / No comments
You can tell that Sandy Cheverie was a Phys Ed teacher in another incarnation. She’s enthusiastic, has a wry sense of humor and doesn’t suffer foolishness. She is also an incrediably accomplished rug hooker and braider. She brought several rugs to class, many of which hung on the walls of Braid-Aid, her family’s store in Pembroke, Massachussetts, for years. (It was a sad day when Braid-Aid closed!)
Students were required to purchase a pattern from Sandy, a 20″ octagon of flowers. She sent us a sketch of the pattern ahead of time so we could color plan our piece. She then brought along a large stash of wool for us to purchase should we need to fill in with colors we didn’t have. This was a problem for me. I didn’t want to hook — I only wanted to learn how to braid and use the braid for finishing a rug. (I was not the only one in the class to feel this way.) Also, I did not want to hook someone else’s pattern. I’ve been designing my own rugs for years. But, knowing it was only right to particpate in the entire class, I went ahead and color-planned the rug and hooked my heart out for 2 days. I had half of the rug finished by the end of day 2. And I was exhausted. I ended up mainlining coffee and Diet Coke and, of course, could not sleep a wink that night. To add to the after effects of the caffiene, our room faced the waterfront and a cute little Irish pub that featured live music til about 2 AM, Thursday through Sunday night. Both Barb and I ended up being exhausted the entire time we were there.