Hooked on Newfoundland: A Rug Hooker’s Road Trip Part 7 - The Road To and From Newfoundland Leads to More Studios

Hooked on Newfoundland: A Rug Hooker’s Road Trip by Gwen Brice

Part 7 - The Road To and From Newfoundland Leads to More Studios

A road trip to Newfoundland from Ontario means there are three provinces to pass through, and three provinces’ worth of rug hooking studios and yarn stops calling my name.  Needless to say, we made a few detours in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick along the way.

My first stop was Amherst, Nova Scotia at the Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio. Many a rug hooker has walked through these doors and felt instantly inspired by the rainbow of colour and texture that greets  them, and I was no exception. I arrived with a short list of staples to restock, but, was quickly sidetracked by the abundance of tempting choices. I wandered through the shop, past skeins of freshly dyed wool hanging to dry, and into the studio, where I take a moment to absorb the beauty of the many original works adorning the walls. 

Conscious of  time, I reluctantly made my way back to the shop to pay for my purchases. I happily accepted a  homemade oatcake for my patiently waiting husband, realizing that bringing him treats might become a very welcome side effect of my yarn shopping.

On the homeward journey of our trip, we stopped for a few days to visit friends in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.  Mahone Bay just happens to be the location of another favourite studio: Encompassing Designs. I love scrolling online through the many whimsical seasonal patterns.  Several years earlier, I purchased Christine Little’s 3D ginger bread house pattern and the finished house proudly adorns my mantel at Christmas. In the back of the shop is a room with many of the patterns hanging on racks for ease of viewing.  

On this trip I finally decided to purchase two seasonal patterns, one featuring snowmen and another with a bunny, that I’ve been eyeing for a couple of years. My allotted space in the campervan for trip purchases was already quite full, but inspired by the way patterns were displayed on hangers at the studio, I borrowed a page from the organizing brilliance of Encompassing Designs and tuck my new patterns onto hangers beneath the shirts in our campervan wardrobe.  I also couldn’t resist a skein of studio hand-dyed yarn, in my favourite earthy tones and managed to find little corner to store it in. 

There were two more stops on this epic road trip, this time in New Brunswick.  Loopy Wool, located between Moncton and Fredericton, was a new studio to me. A fellow rug hooker in the Northumberland Rug Hookers group had enthusiastically stated it was a “must see” stop and who am I to argue?  The studio was gorgeous with bright coloured patterns, yarns, wool fabric, and other supplies everywhere you looked. Many of the studio patterns are printed in colour to help with colour planning and placement. I happily bought a few supplies for a project I was working on at home and we set off.

My rug hooking road trip would not be complete without visiting one final destination. The origin of many purchases since I began rug hooking. The supplier to many artists and studios. The Mill that produces the very recognizable and versatile 2 ply Heritage Yarn: Briggs and Little Mill located in Harvey, New Brunswick. The Mill was established in 1897, and is Canada’s oldest fully integrated woollen mill manufacturing pure wool yarns from scouring the raw wool to twisting, dyeing and skeining. Visitors can go on a guided tour of the factory, learning how each step in the process is completed. 

Unfortunately, the day I visited, the mill was closed for its seasonal break, but the shop was open, and really, that was the important part. I happily wandered inside while my husband, a seasoned professional in our well-established routine, took our dog Elsa out for a walk. This left me free to do what I do best: admire all the yarn, fall in love with far too many colours, and seriously overthink which ones needed to come home with me.

And so ends this Rug Hooker’s road trip. The final tally of rug hooking supplies after a seven week campervan road trip was 12 skeins of yarn, 1/4 yard of wool cloth, 3 patterns, 4 cards and 1 kit. Let the creative hooking begin! Let the creative hooking begin!

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Gwen for providing us with this wonderful 7 part series on her trip east. We hope you enjoyed it!  If you’d like to see more about Gwen’s trip, head over to her YouTube channel for lots more content! Link HERE.