Hooked on Newfoundland: A Rug Hooker’s Road Trip
Part 2 - King’s Point to Twilingate
Inspiration is everywhere in Newfoundland. The rugged coastline, the windswept trees, the rock formations. As a photographer, every new day, every curve in the road, brings new and beautiful subject matter to capture. I begin to ponder how I might document our journey with my yarn purchases. Certainly, I will have enough photographs to hook landscapes for the rest of my life, but I want to design something that will somehow represent our entire five week journey on the “Rock”.
It is with this in mind that we leave the Viking trail, Route 430, and head east along the TransCanada Highway toward central Newfoundland and the Baie Verte Peninsula. The weather has turned during this part of the trip from 30 degrees and sunny to moody, grey and cool. The rain and cooler temperatures are a welcome change, as several devastating forest fires remain out of control in the south eastern area of the Province. For me, the cloudy sky and wet landscape turns into a palette of grey and silver with pops of colour everywhere.
King’s Point is located along Route 391 at the base of Green Bay. This small community hosts a RV campground tucked in behind the school and overlooking the bay. As luck would have it, the morning rain was replaced with sun breaking through the cloud cover. I could hear live music drifting through the air, so I walked up the hill toward the school to investigate. On the lawn in front of the building, a Christian band was performing as part of the community’s summer music series. But here’s the interesting part—most people weren’t sitting on blankets or lawn chairs. Instead, they stayed in their vehicles, honking their horns in appreciation after each song. Cars and trucks were parked all around the school—lined up along the road, packed into the lot, all facing the band like a makeshift drive-in. I found a sunny patch of grass, sat down (careful not to get run over), and enjoyed the concert, all the while thinking how I might capture this moment in a rug.
The next morning brought more rain and we ventured further into the community to explore the Humpback Whale Pavilion, a building with a full sized skeleton hanging from its roof. It was definitely well worth the hour or so we spent learning the story behind the whale on display and its habitats.
Just up the road from the Pavilion is the King’s Point Pottery Crafts and Gifts and one of my researched stops for the trip. The artist-owners create award winning, functional pottery that clearly reflects their passion for the environment around them. As the Shop name suggests, they also sell other locally hand crafted and unique gifts such as wall art, wood work, jewellery, glass, books, cards, and, of course, rug hooking. Walking into the studio, shortly after it opened, I met rug hooker, Sandi Yates and what followed was a delightful conversation on all things rug hooking: where to buy supplies, what inspires our work, and other Newfoundland artists. Sandi had attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Newfoundland Rug Hooking Guild held on Fogo Island in May and shared with me some of her experiences and what a supportive community it is. I certainly feel that way with my own rug hooking group, the Northumberland Rug Hooking community.
Sandi’s work was for sale in the studio shop including a hooked waste paper basket and several colourful mats with puffins. She talked about her work as I admired the pieces before purchasing two cards with the same images as the hooked mats. Before heading out, Sandi recommended I check out her ‘go-to’ yarn supply shop in Triton, a mere 30 minute drive away. As luck would have it, Triton has another Whale Pavilion which just happened to be our next stop of the day.
After exploring the Sperm Whale Pavilion, my husband dropped me off at my next wool destination, a studio called “Cast on! Cast off!” located in South Green Bay, Triton. The studio is located in its own building, tucked in behind a house off the main road. The moment I stepped in from the grey, misty rain, my senses lifted. A burst of colour filled the room, instantly pulling me in. There is something about a wall of neatly arranged wool - every shade perfectly in place - that sparks the imagination. I couldn’t resist reaching out, wanting to feel the texture of each skein.
I was warmly welcomed in by a woman who was knitting quietly behind a desk. She gratefully provided a tour of the wool shop highlighting the selection of hand dyed wools and beautiful skeins by Cascade, Patons, Fleece Artist, Julie Asselin and others. I zero in on the large selection of Briggs and Little Heritage yarns and inquire if they have any studio dyed colours. In my quest to purchase a selection of yarns during my trip, each one needs to be unique to the studio or area. Supplies in the studio are running low, however, I choose a skein of the studio dyed “Blueberry Jam”. Blueberries are abundant in Newfoundland and although I didn’t know until a few days later, it was blueberry jam season, so a perfect choice.
For knitters, Cast On! Cast Off! is also home to a locally designed knitting sweater pattern called the "Newfoundland Guernsey". I loved the look of this sweater, almost to the point that I thought I might buy some knitting needles and learn to knit!
After a few wet days, the rain moved on leaving cloudy skies and a sun trying very hard to push through. We headed to the quaint community of Twillingate, a popular destination for iceberg viewing in May and June and soon experienced Newfoundland wind. The wind was so strong, walking the exposed trails near the lighthouse became a work out and with no hope of seeing icebergs at the end of August, we retreated to the campervan. It’s another perfect day for rug hooking.
Tally of rug hooking supplies: 4 skeins of yarn, one pattern, two cards
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