The Excitement Builds!

(Weird photo courtesy of AI!)

Can you believe there are only 2 more sleeps before the Northumberland Rug Hookers event on October 26??  We’re going to (with your help, of course) Hook the Town Red!

Dianne and her band of merry hookers have been working very hard these past few weeks to bring you what we hope will be a wonderful event. The set up at Grace Church will take place tomorrow so we’ll be ready when doors open at 9 am Monday morning.  

We know many of you will be coming from a distance so here’s a handy dandy list to check off as you prepare:

• completed rugs for display! We’d love to see what you’ve been working on…..and maybe you’ll win a prize! The categories are:  Theme (Hook the Town Red), Fine Cut, Wide Cut, Alternate Fibres/Items. 
• scissors or cutters for sharpening. Chris Poole will be there!
• a vintage rug for registration. Here’s a link to our earlier post on the topic, explaining about the information to bring along. 
• ca$h!
• your lunch and maybe a mug.  We’ll have goodies and coffee/tea on hand, but you’ll want to keep your strength up! 
• some hooking to work on! Take advantage of every opportunity to get a few loops pulled.  
• Items for donation to Greenwood Coalition. Our keynote speaker, Hilda Van Netten, works closely with their Art Hive program, promoting social engagement and emotional healing through hands-on creative activities.  Many of their participants need items for the cold winter months.  We will have a bin for donations of: socks(#1 on their list), waterproof gloves, hats, scarves, hand warmers, tissue packs….or drop off your loose change.  It will all go to a good cause!

….and yes, that photo was generated with AI….check out the weird double ended spoon, and the strange scissors no rug hooker would ever use. And who wraps paper around a sandwich and ties it with string?

Program for Hook the Town Red

 

Rug Registry at Hook the Town Red

 

A snippet of a vintage rug owned by Dianne Algera, registered in 2024. 

The Northumberland Rug Hookers are inviting all attendees to October 26th’s Hook the Town Red to bring in any vintage rugs for registration in the Ontario Heritage Rug Registry. 

Eligible rugs must be at least 25 years old (hooked in 2001 or earlier) and hooked by an Ontario resident.  We’re sure many folks have items that are that age!

Here’s what you need to do:

• Print and complete the info on the OHCG Rug Registry Form, found right here by clicking this link! You’ll need to know a few details on the person who hooked the item, as well as on the item itself.  These pages contain the same info as is found on the OHCG website. 
• Bring the rug and completed forms to Cobourg and meet up with our photographer who will photo the rug and accept your forms for submission to the registry. 
• The Northumberland Rug Hookers will submit the forms and photos on your behalf
• You will hear back from the Registry, confirming that your item has been registered and will receive a numbered label to affix to the back of your rug. 

The rug registry’s goal is to preserve the stories of the hooked rugs, the person who hooked them and the communities in which they lived. 

We look forward to welcoming you to Cobourg! 

What to Bring to Hook the Town Red

(This was previously posted to fb and instagram….but never made it to the blog, until now!)

Plans are being put in to motion as we speak for our upcoming hook in on October 26 in Cobourg. Here are some things you may want to bring:

- completed rugs for display! We’d love to see what you’ve been working on…..and maybe you’ll win a prize! Here are the categories for your consideration:  

   - Theme (Hook the Town Red) - featuring the colour red!,

   - Fine Cut, 

   - Wide Cut

   - Alternate Fibres (projects containing yarn, sari silk, buttons or other embellishments)

   - Not a Rug (bags, pillows, baskets, hats, mittens, stools…)

- scissors or cutters for sharpening. Chris Poole will be on hand. If you can get your items to him ahead of time, that wb  great.  If not, bring ‘em along on the day of…

- a vintage rug! We’ll have folks on hand to help you register your rugs that are more than 25 years old. To prepare, head to ohcg.org and click on Rug Registry. There you’ll see the information required to get your rugs registered for posterity! This is a very worthwhile thing to do.

- ca$h….some of our vendors may take plastic or etransfer but some may not….so it’s always wise to have a bit on hand.  Also, you’ll need $5 for admission!

- your lunch and maybe a mug.  We’ll have goodies and coffee/tea on hand, but you’ll want to keep your strength up! (Unless cookies and cake are considered an important food group in your household??)

- some hooking to work on! Take advantage of every opportunity to get a few loops pulled.  

We’re working on door prizes and other fun things for your enjoyment.  The first 100 attendees will also get a goodie bag with some small but very useful items!

October 26 is only a few weeks away! We can’t wait to welcome you to Cobourg!

Workshops at Hook the Town Red

Join us for a mini workshop at Cobourg’s Hook the Town Red event on October 26!

We’re offering two fun red-themed projects: a quirky cardinal or a beautiful maple leaf. Check out the samples below!

We’ll provide all the materials, so just bring your hoop, hook, and scissors. We’ll supply linen backing with the pattern drawn and wool/yarn to finish your project. [approx 10x10 cm] All this for just $10!

The workshop will be held in the afternoon on October 26, from 1-3. To sign up, simply register & pay in person on the 26th to ensure your spot. Get there early, as there are only 20 places available. 

In support of Greenwood Coalition. 

Greenwood Coalition

We’re so looking forward to welcoming you to Cobourg on October 26, for our Hook the Town Red event!  We have a fabulous program for your enjoyment, including our keynote speaker Hilda Van Netten, an area artist who will lead us in an exercise on right vs left brain thinking and how to apply it in our creative lives. 

Hilda is involved with the Greenwood Coalition’s Art Hive program that promotes social engagement and emotional healing through hands-on creative activities.   The Coalition uses a community model of caring to walk alongside people living with poverty, mental and physical illness, drug dependency and disability. 

Many of the participants of the Art Hive program need items to help them through the cold winter months.  We will have a donation bin at the hook in and are looking for donations of items: socks, waterproof gloves, hats, scarves, hand warmers, tissue packs….anything to help make their lives more comfortable. 

Please consider bringing along some of these items for our bin, or drop off your loose change - it will all go to a good cause!

Back at it again!

We had a very lively meeting today, our first Monday meeting since last May. Lots of things to discuss and lots of rugs to ogle. 

Big news of the day is that Judy Cross is back after sometime away to recover from her broken ankle….and her St Francis is almost done!

Karen & Ardell were there with lots of stuff to sell and there were lots of buyers to buy!

….and there was a whack of rugs for our viewing pleasure, whether fair entries, display items or thing that just got done over the summer. 

As an added bonus, we had 3 folks demonstrating rug hooking at Lang this past weekend.  They got to dress up in period costume…..don’t they look lovely? (Photos taken by Lynda Johnston!)

Vendors at Hook the Town Red

 

Yes, indeedy, we have a stellar line up of vendors for your shopping enjoyment. They’ll all be in cobourg on Monday October 26 from 9 to 4. 

Check out this list! Links to their websites included where available.  If you know what you’re likely to want, why not contact them in advance?

Heartfelt Fibre Arts: Dawn Liu- Smythe specializes in high-quality unique fibre and tools for rug hookers and fibre artists.

Artworks by Karen Kaiser:  Karen and Ardell will be there with their hand-dyed Dorr wools  

Willow Creek Rug Hooking: Carol Shewan will be offering patterns, tools, and material.

Yarn It Cobourg: Cathy Witlox is passionate about knitting, fibre and community!

Yarnsomniacs: This is a store that specializes in heritage craft supplies, fibre tools and locally dyed wool.  

Chris Poole will be there to sharpen your scissors and cutters.  If you have a chance to get stuff to him now, he can sharpen it and bring it along on the 26th.

Thistle and Sticks:  Barb Newman and sister Bev will be on hand with soaps, hand-dyed scarves, cards, and handwoven items  

And 2 of our own members will have goods for sale!  

Nancy Mallette will bring her honey products. Yum!

 Rosemary Hill Jewellery: Rosemary will bring her fantastic jewellery!

By the lake!

 

Lynda invited us to her lovely lakeside home for hooking today! It started out a tad cool and breezy but warmed up nicely as the morning progressed. 

Her home is spectacular and the setting by the lake is gorgeous!  A big thank you to Lynda and hubby Mike for hosting today’s event!

Here are a few photos…

Hook the Town Red - Speaker and more!

The Northumberland Rug Hookers are hosting a hook-in October 26 and you’re all invited to Hook the Town Red!  

It promises to be a fun day, with vendors, and prizes, and rugs! 

Chris Poole, sharpener extraordinaire, has confirmed he will be there!  

We have some ideas for workshops percolating….watch this space for more info!

....and we have a very interesting speaker for the day!

Hilda Van Netten is a Cobourg-based artist and teacher who will be leading us in a session on the Battle of the Brain! This is a fun class where she will help us to understand the creative vs logical sides of our brains.  Looking forward to it!  You can see some of her work and learn more about Hilda at her website.  

Here is a selection of the many portraits Hilda has done of participants at the Green Wood Coalition Art Hive

She has been very involved with the Green Wood Coalition, an area organization that uses a radically inclusive community model of caring to walk alongside people living with poverty, mental or physical illness, substance dependency, or disability in Northumberland County. By focussing on what’s strong, not what’s wrong, they work for positive change that leaves no one behind.  We will learn more about them and Hilda’s work teaching and doing art at the Community Art Hive over the course of her talk. 

We will have a donation bin set up to collect warm socks and mittens on behalf of Green Wood. If you have items for donation, please bring them along!  Even those reusable hand warmers wb good to include!

Fun with buttons!

 

We did a goofy thing recently….and had a lot of fun with it! We saw a group in Yorkshire who did some interesting « button people » and learned that they wanted to create fairies and angels for Christmas, with buttons. 

We started out with just doing button people….but it grew along the way, with both real and imaginary creatures!

Check these out!

Watch this space for more examples to come!