Temperature tapestry notes

This month's cover of The Economist, featuring "Show Your Stripes" graphic.

(The information below is intended to supplement a presentation given by Jennifer Wiber, at the Northumberland Rug Hookers Hook-In, Sept 30.)

Our theme today is all about climate change - “The Heat Is ON”. It’s certainly a topic that’s been in the news lately. It’s a very complex one and scientists and activists are trying to raise awareness about it. One of the ways that we can have a hand in this awareness is by helping to generate conversations about climate change.  Those conversations can lead to a better understanding of how our actions impact our environment. 

There’s this thing called data art and it’s being used to highlight important issues. It lends itself very well to rug hooking, as you’ll see. 

Data art is defined as a conceptual work of art created using information from a variety of sources, either scientific data, or self tracked data.  When we’re presented with a bunch of numbers or information, it doesn’t really sink in.  But by working with this data in a creative manner we can achieve greater awareness of complex matters, like climate change.

Data implies the idea of computers, and I’m a big time nerd (I do the web stuff for our branch) so computer-type things don’t bother me, but I’ll show you some examples where computer skills aren’t required.

Much of my talk will be on scientific data, ie weather, used to create art, but for a moment, let’s talk about the self tracked data.  There’s been an explosion in this kind of information: think about those folks who track their daily steps, or monitor their sleep cycles.  Imagine turning that into some kind of work of art.  

Here’s a great article from The Atlantic, on the growing field of data art. 

There is an artist named Laurie Frick who has mapped her steps into an amazing 2 storey display.  The same person has also made a large installation of her mood (tracked via an app), using laminate countertop samples.  She calls it "Moodjam".  

Moodjam by Laurie Frick.  From The Atlantic article linked above.

She feels that her work is more than simply visualizing info - to her it serves as a metaphor for the human experience, and belongs firmly in the art world.  The article says:  "Frick believes that while numbers are abstract and unapproachable, human beings respond intuitively—and emotionally—to patterns."

Bear in mind that you don’t need a computer to do data art - sure, it helps, but there are plenty of folks who have tracked the weather, their eating habits, etc, and then created works of art from it.  Some great examples of this are:

• The lady who tracked how late her train was, and knitted a scarf based on this information.  It was sold not too long ago for more than $10k with the proceeds donated to charity.

• Then there’s the mayor of NDG in Quebec who sat in council meetings and tracked how often men spoke vs women spoke and turned it into a shawl.

So that brings me to knitting.....I’ve been knitting for 50+ years, and have been aware of these things called Temperature Blankets, where you translate the daily temperature into a colour and knit/crochet that into a blanket or scarf, etc.   

Here's a great video on the topic:



Here's another video of someone showing their completed blanket:

Out of that concept sprang something called The Tempestry Project, where temperature data for a given location is used to create scarves/wall hangings representing several years.  These are then hung together in a gallery setting and they tell a very interesting story about climate change.  There is a very clear indication that the more recent years are showing a trend towards more extreme temperatures. 

An example of  a  kit from the Tempestry Project website.

Their website has a great "in the media" section with several excellent articles highlighting their work.

Folks will often do family groupings - doing a wall hanging for the year of birth of each member of a family, or a family tree, showing the weather in the year of birth for each ancestor.

A gallery display photo from the Very Pink website

Another approach is for a knitting group to do a series of hangings for their town, each one for a specific year. They are being used to raise awareness and generate discussion about climate change.  The data doesn’t lie - it’s just facts.
The Tempestry Project has a website run by an enterprising couple who will:

• Provide you with temperature/precipitation data for whatever location you choose, along with a key/legend showing what colours to use for each temperature range
• Provide you with sufficient yarn to knit a temperature tapestry, in the colours and quantities required.  
• In addition to wall hangings people have used this information to do cross stitch pictures, and even knitted a dress, all with this same design. 

An example of  a gallery display of several Tempestry wall hangings from the Tempestry Project website.

When i saw that, i wondered if there was a way to do the same thing in rug hooking.  We have the data, and we can certainly do wall hangings....
I’m a glutton for punishment (and at the time didn’t have a huge stash), so i dyed my own fabric to use for my own tapestry.  I worked out that i wasn’t so sure i wanted to do something with 365 rows in a 4 cut - that’s 45 inches - especially if it wasn’t going to work out, so i decided to do something with weekly data.

Weekly data: Toronto 1957, Montreal 1955

Above is one of my first attempts - my birthday and hubby’s - each of these lines represents the temperature on Tuesday for example.  Not bad, and you could do something bigger with more family members.  Alternatively, you could divide it into 4 pieces and do coasters, each one representing a season.  Christine Van Hees has done several of these as gifts and they were very well received - folks thought it was a thoughtful gift, and she used up stuff from her own stash.

Weekly data coaster,  Orono 1934

Once i had that under my belt, i branched out to do a full year. Rather than work with lines, i opted for inch mat.  Each of these squares is the high temperature for each day in 1923, for Apsley Ontario, just north of here.

Daily data,  Apsley 1923

To make this a tad easier, I created a spreadsheet where I could populate the weather data and it could be used to define what colour to use for each date.  After i did that i discovered that the Tempestry Project has a whole set of instructions and a spreadsheet of their own.  (more on that in a subsequent post)

Ok....so this was starting to show some promise.  Then i started doing what i call “birthday mats” - where you collect the temperature on a person’s birthday for every year.  Here are a couple of examples. This is the year this person was born, and here’s the current year....  I learned that you have to play around with your temperature scale and the colours, or you’ll end up with a fairly monochrome mat.

Birthday Mat: May 5, 1955-2019,  Toronto

Birthday Mat: Jan 8, 1955-2019

Birthday Mat: July 4, 1955-2018

This was all going well, but it's a bit of work to compile the data and then hook it.  I then discovered the “show your stripes” project. It is an initiative started by a scientist at the University of Reading in the UK to get folks talking about and aware of climate change.  He collected the weather data from all around the world and created graphic images of the temperature change over the past 100+ years.  Rather than supply the actual numbers, he decided to show the info graphically using stripes for each year.  He feels that using these images enables communication with minimal scientific knowledge. And remember that we said data art allows us to connect with something on an emotional level, rather than look at a bunch of numbers?

Image from Showyourstripes.org,  Annual average temperatures for the GLOBE from 1850-2018

The bonus? You don’t need any kind of spreadsheet or numbers!
He supplies this data, free of charge, for most countries in the world.  You simply go to his website, find the stripes for your selected location and you can do what you want with it.  here’s an example of the average annual temperature in canada for the last 100 years.  The Economist magazine this month featured one of these on its cover (shown at the start of this post). 

Average annual temperature in Canada,  1918-2018, from Showyourstripes.info

I’ve done all of this in straight lines,.....but don’t be constrained by that.....what about using a tesselation for each of your days or years??  Simone Vojvoden of Red Maple Ruggery is working on that - she has chosen an ogee shape and is showing both the high and low for each day.  It's VERY large - 7'x9' i think?  You'll see also from the colour legend she's developed,  she's chosen colours that go together well, but don't necessarily show a progression.  It looks lovely and will be spectacular when it's finished.

Simone's rug in the planning stages

Simone's rug in progress

Simone's colour legend

As Simone and I have both found, there is quite a bit of planning that goes into one of these rugs.  The hooking itself is quite doable,  tho in some cases it can be a bit tedious!

Just to prove  that  I, too, can do something other than straight lines, here's an example of a mat celebrating an anniversary, featuring "balloons".

Hopefully I’ve given you some food for thought for your future projects.  In a subsequent post I will provide  links to the Tempestry spreadsheets, as well as my own, and give you some hints on other resources to consider for your own project.

Don’t be put off by the fact that computers are often used in data art. I bet, even if you don’t use one, there’s someone in your life with the skills who’d be willing to spend an hour with you on such a project. 

Alternatively, you can take a more mindful approach, and record the weather daily by looking out the window or reading your thermometer, and then hook a few rows each week. 

Also, be on the lookout for non weather data....I found info on-line about the return of humming birds, the freezing of lakes, monarch butterflies, etc.  

The key with these data art projects, especially those addressing the weather, are that they can help to generate a conversation with the audience. Everyone who sees one of these rugs asks what it is, or what inspired it, etc. When I tell them it’s all about climate change, and they see the striped project, they’re amazed at how obvious the change is in the past few years.  It creates a greater sense of awareness about what’s going on and hopefully will help us all to realize the impact of our actions.  It certainly generates an emotional reaction.

If you do one of these projects, either individually or as part of a group, you, too, can be working to stimulate conversations about climate change. You don’t have to be an expert on the topic - you are just presenting the data, and the facts speak for themselves. Think of how powerful a mat showing the weather for your family would be. Or think of the impact a bunch of mats showing the weather for your community would be if shown all together. 
Hope you found this info to be useful!

A screenshot from Instagram featuring temperature blankets

Port Hope Library

My, we’re a busy bunch!  In addition to getting ready for tomorrow’s hook-in, we did a demo/learn to hook day at the Port Hope Library!  Brenda Ashton and Sally Kernan represented us very well!  Here’s Brenda’s report:

Hello everyone,we had a wonderful afternoon at the port hope library. Sally joined me as we hooked alongside 12 eager learners. Lots of info passed out and a lovely display of community effort was involved. Thank you for this opportunity, brenda

Here are some photos from Brenda, as well as an Instagram post from the library folks!

The Heat Is ON....Almost!

Tommy and one of the temperature tapestries that will be on display

It’s almost time for the Northumberland Rug Hookers’ Hook-In and Regional Workshops.....September 30 in Cobourg. 

It promises to be a wonderful day, whether you’re taking one of the workshops or attending the hook-in part of the festivities. There will be speakers, vendors (think fabric, patterns, linen, yarn, hook, hoops, jewellery, soaps, and probably many things you didn’t know you needed!), scissor sharpening, prizes, yummy treats, and lots of rugs to ogle. 

Check out this lovely sunburst bracelet, available at the hook-in from Rosemary of Toth Jewels

Never been to Cobourg before?  Here’s a link to our location at Grace Church, 440 King St East.  If you’ve got some time to spare, check out downtown Cobourg....several interesting shops there.

What to bring?

• A rug for display....remember there are prizes! Categories are: fine cut, wide cut and “The Heat Is On” featuring subjects that deal with weather. 
• Your hooking project to work on, or whatever materials you need to bring for your class.
• Your Lunch! Treats and goodies will be available throughout the day. We’ll break for lunch from 12 to 1:30. 
• A mug. Coffee and tea are provided

Timing this year is different than in previous years:

• If you’re attending a full day workshop, plan to arrive between 8:30 and 8:45.  That will give you time to check in at registration, get settled in your classroom and snaffle a treat before class starts at 9 am
• The half day class,  with Loretta, will start at 1:30 - so you've plenty of time to enjoy the hook-in for the morning!
• If you’re coming to the hook-in, plan to arrive between 9 and 10. Speakers will start around 10-ish. 
• If you’re a teacher or a vendor arrive any time around 8 am (coffee/tea should be ready by then!)
• We'll break for lunch between 12 and 1:30 - lots of time to eat, chat and visit the vendors....That's also when we'll do draws for prizes and tally up the votes for the display of rugs.

Looking looking forward to seeing you there!

Port Hope Fall Fair Results

Yes, indeed, there were several winners from our group at the Port Hope Fall Fair.  Congrats to all of the winners!  Here are some photos from the displays:

Winners included Nancy C., Tanya, Christine and Debbie!

Nancy M and Dianne also got firsts in their categories!

Here are some closer looks at their work, along with some of the other winners.

Debbie (Best in Show, too!)

Nancy C

Iris

Tanya

Christine

Dianne

Cathy

Donna

Nancy M

Dianne

Jennifer

And check out our fancy new display rack - many thanks to Lynda and Claire (and Greg!) - all had a hand in its development.

Port Hope Fall Fair is Coming

It’s almost time for the Port Hope Fall Fair, taking place September 13-15.  We typically have several entries as well as a display. Check out the categories available for judging in the fair booklet here.   While there are several categories specific to Rug hooking*, consider one of the other categories where a hooked item might fit.  Please be sure to read the rules for submission. 

* rug hooking categories include: 

• Fine Cut: any design; #5 cut and lower
• Not a Rug: a traditionally hooked item that is not used as a rug or wall hanging such as a pillow, stool, Christmas ornament, purse, garment etc.
• Original Design: must be your own design; no purchased patterns or adaptations
• Recycled: any design using recycled materials
• Rural Roots: any design that depicts the country roots of the Fair
• (think country or fall scenes, agriculture)
• Wide Cut: any design; #6 cut and higher

There is a $7 entry fee (regardless if the number of items entered), unless you were a winner last year, in which case this year’s entry fee was deducted from your winnings. 

As with previous years, if you would like your rug to be entered along with others from our group, please bring your rug to the Thursday meeting before the fair.  Dianne will supply tags for you to complete and will bring everything to the fair grounds on the Friday morning. 

Even if you don’t want to enter an item for judging, we usually have a display of rugs, so any that you’d like to include for the weekend wb appreciated. 

Hope to see you there!

Evening Meetings are Back!

Yes!  Due to popular demand, we are reinstating our evening meetings.  These are just like the regular Thursday gatherings where we hook, and natter, and support each other in rug hooking.

Meetings will be held twice monthly, starting September 10, 2019.  Join us at 1185 Elgin Street in Cobourg - in the HTM Insurance Building, across from Pineridge Nursery, west of Canadian Tire.  We’ll be there from 6:30-8:30.

This will be of interest to folks who have always wanted to join us, but who work during the day!  For NRH members who are new to rug hooking, we can loan you hoops and hooks, until you can purchase your own.

For this first meeting please RSVP to nrhookers@gmail.com, if you haven’t already.

Hope to see you there!

Cobourg Farmer’s Market & Other Events

Audrey & a newfound friend at the Cobourg Farmer’s Market

There is a LOT going on these days!

The other week were had a group at Lang Pioneer Village to demonstrate - very successful!

We ran a 2 evening class at the Cobourg Library to teach rug hooking in July - another success!

This last Saturday we were at the Cobourg Farmer’s Market, and had lots of visitors and interest. Many thanks to Francine, Ann, Nancy, Dianne, Dora and Audrey for helping out. A HUGE thank you to Christine for organizing the day, bringing materials to hand out and generally keeping us in order. 

With events like this, it’s really important to engage the public in what we do, and we certainly had lots of opportunity to speak to folks about our craftiness!

Next week you’ll find us at the Hastings Fibre Fest, August 9. 

....aaaaand.....on top of all that, we’re organizing The Heat Is ON, which is a combined hook-in and workshop session.....vendors, prizes, classes, guest speakers and MORE! There are still a few spaces available in our workshops, if you’re interested.  Check out our website for details. 

Plein Air Hooking in Northumberland

The Thursday group had a last minute change of location, as the church was being used for Bible Camp so Joyce graciously offered us the use of her home for our gathering.  It was a lovely sunny day and we spread out and enjoyed our own version of plein air hooking.

Winston enjoyed lounging in the grass

We were captivated by Laurie’s “pigs under glass” toy!

Dianne told us about some upcoming events:  

- 10th & Final Hastings Founders Fibre Festival August 9
- Almonte Fibre Festival September 7, 8.  Here’s a link to their website.

Here are some photos of in-progress and completed works from previous weeks:

Susan C’s Murphy, started at Trent

Claire’s big bold flowers!

Martina’s Santa and the man in the moon has now entered the whipping stages. 

The missing post!

Due to an unfortunate glitch, our submission for the summer OHCG newsletter didn’t get included....so here’s the info that you missed:

Donna Wheeldon’s floral rug, based on a design from Joyce. Hooked with yarn. 

Spring has been busy for us as we gear up for our Sept 30 event. Most recently, however, we attended a presentation by Paula Laverty, a renowned expert on Grenfell Mats. She gave an excellent presentation on the mission and their history, and then took time to evaluate mats that participants brought in.

There’s still time to register for workshops taking place at our combo Hook-in & Regional East Workshops [registration closes July 26]. We typically host a hook-in every 2 years, but this time we're adding a series of workshops to take place at the same time as the hook-in. Mark your calendars to join us in Cobourg on September 30, 2019.

There are four workshops available: Rookie Hooking (Tina Cole, sponsored by the OHCG), A Journey into the World of Primitives/Wide Cut (Loretta Moore), Tangle Art (Janice Daniels) and The Heat is ON (a pictorial workshop with Susan Clarke). Attendees can choose between the hook-in, the workshops, or both! To register, go to cobourghookin.blogspot.com, or contact us at cobourghookin@gmail.com.

Our theme is THE HEAT IS ON, and we will be exploring climate change and weather patterns. It’s also the title of one of the categories for display/judging. We’re hoping to see rugs that demonstrate wind, or snow or that evoke a sense of hot or cold.

We’re excited that we will have 2 guest speakers: Alice Olsen Williams is renowned for her unique quilted textile works that blend expressions of Anishinaabe beliefs and ideology with reflections on contemporary social issues. Jennifer Wiber, a Cobourg-based rug hooker, will present her Temperature Tapestry theme.

As with our other hook-ins there will be several vendors, prizes, cutter/scissor sharpening and delicious refreshments.

Joyce Jones & Dianne Algera admire some of the rugs on display at our April meeting

Intro to Hooking - Success!

We held an “Intro to Rug Hooking” at the library tonight, and it was a rousing success.  We originally thought there would be 4 registrants, but we ended up with more like 19 folks!  Christine sent up the bat signal and rounded up some extra helpers, and set to work preparing additional kits.

Thanks go to:  Francine, Nancy M, Laurie, Martina, Lynda, Greg, Cathy, Dianne, Judy, and especially to Christine who took on the lion’s share of the work, coordinating with the library and generally hosting the evening.  Everyone brought rugs for a mini display.  Another vote of thanks goes to the
Cobourg Public Library who promoted the event and provided the space.

The attendees selected their worms and tackled the projects with vigor.  They made good progress, but some will return next Tuesday for more instruction.  Some took their projects home to finish there.

We have some interest in starting up our evening gathering - but we need to give some thought as to how best to achieve this.

Here’s a slide show of some of the rugs on display:

Virtual Hook-In: August 13

Ann’s pictorial!

Remember way back in May when we were filming stuff for the folks in Australia?  We prepared a bunch of material and shipped it off to them at the start of June.  They are working on it as we speak, and are preparing something that will be shared with hookers all over the place.  I suspect that, due to the volume of stuff they got, we’ll only see snippets of our submission, but we’ll get to see tons of stuff from other folks!

Valerie’s Hungarian motifi!

I just saw a facebook post that announces the virtual hook-in will take place the evening of August 13.  It looks like it will be done via facebook, but as we learn more i will let you know what to expect.  Here’s a link to the facebook page where they announce the hook-in and show you a snippet of a video from a US hooker.  I don’t think you need a facebook account to get into it.  If you DO have a facebook account, please follow the Australian RugMakers Guild - they post a ton of wonderful info of interest to fibre artists.

In the meantime, here are some snippets from videos we prepared back in May:

This video is what kicked off our focus on rugs that make us proud.   Here’s Joyce telling us why this particular rug is her favourite:

This video showcases what we do in the community: