Rug nirvana….

As part of a recent trip, i visited a women’s rug co op in the south of Morocco.  It’s located in a village called Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site located on the southern edge of the High Atlas Mountains.  It has also been used as the location for several movie productions (Gladiator, and Game of Thrones-season 3).

The villagers are Amazigh (aka Berber), and have a strong tradition of colourful textiles with intricate details. The lady below was wearing a black dress with lace/embroidery detail, and had hennaed fingers. 

The Coooperative is called Aknif Lglaoui, run by local women looking to generate income and educational opportunities.  There are about 60 women involved, mostly working from home, with a few folks staffing their show room in town.

These ladies do it all from start to finish….they collect the fleeces, wash them, card the wool, spin it and dye it….then they get to work on the weaving  

The looms we saw were constructed with vertical i-beams and cross bars of wood (approx 2x6 size).

Their show room is packed to the ceiling with all manner of rugs for sale, and they willingly pull them out for potential buyers to peruse.

Price-wise, they were fairly reasonable - we estimated most prices to be in the $30-$70 cdn per square foot.  Waaaay cheaper than would typically be charged for a comparable size hooked rug in Canada - there is at least the same, if not a ton more, effort put into these rugs as a hooked rug.

An interesting tidbit on care of these rugs:  in winter, the rugs are used “good” side up.  In summer they are flipped over and used good side down.  This allows for any embedded dirt to be extracted during daily use.  There is snow in the Atlas Mountains not too far from Ait Ben Haddou, but i doubt they use it to clean rugs there.

The rugs fall into 3 distinct categories, based on the materials to construct them:

- woolen rugs

- agave silk rugs

- boucherouite rugs

All of the rugs use a cotton warp as a foundation.

Woolen rugs

These use the wool that was carded, spun and dyed by cooperative members. Dyes are largely natural: indigo for blue, pomegranate rinds for yellow, etc. There were several instances where coloured fleeces were used in their natural state. 

Left: natural gray fleece; Right: natural brown fleece. 

Some rugs have symbols woven into them, some have symbols embroidered, and some have them knotted.  Embroidery and knotting is usually done as the rug is woven, not added afterward.  Some rugs are completely done via knotting, and have a shaggier appearance.  The ends on the embroidered rugs are not woven in or knotted - they’re simply left loose on the reverse side. I suspect that these will felt into the main body of the rug over time.

We were given a page detailing the meaning of some of the symbols they use.  Here’s a link to a website detailing some of them.  

Here is an example of all 3 methods:  the upper symbol is embroidered, the middle symbol is knotted (and trimmed) and the lower symbol is woven.

Here is an entire rug done via latch-hook method - ie the rug is woven, and then tufts of yarn are knotted into the woven base.

Another style of woolen rug looks more like a patchwork design, but is created line by line.  The colours in these are fairly balanced so the weaver must keep track of what they are doing as they go along.  A 5x8 rug can take 8 months to complete - worked on as time permits.

I don’t have any examples of these rugs taken at the cooperative, but here are some from other shops, to give you an idea of the patterns.

I didn’t ask, but i suspect these rugs represent ways of using up your stash.

Agave Silk Rugs

These were a revelation to me.  The Agave cactus - where we also get sweetener, and tequila from - are used here to produce silk.  The agave leaves are crushed and the fibres extracted and dyed.  Here’s a link to an article on how to make the silk.  

Rugs made with agave have a very different feel to wool rugs, and seem almost like an outdoor rug.  The designs on these rugs are often embroidered on.

One of the ladies on our tour bought a long runner, but arranged for the cooperative folks to cut it into 2 pieces, and refringe the ends.

Boucherouite Rugs

These are rugs that are made from old clothing (sound familiar?).  The patterns used for them are not as precise as for the woolen rugs.  Sometimes they are woven into a simple rag rug.  Other times they are knotted into more of a Proddy style.  Sometimes you see them made with yarn.

I had to ask to see some, and was taken into another room, but later i realized that we were all sitting on them during the presentation.

Most of the fabrics used in these are synthetic - both woven and knit.  When i asked about the materials for boucherouites all of the ladies tugged at their sleeves to indicate that they used old clothing.

Here are some more boucherouites seen in the souks of Marrakech.

….and yes, i bought a woven one (not a boucherouite) at the cooperative.  Natural gray wool, with embroidered, knotted and woven Amazigh symbols.

Almost “Viral” Video!

 Our video:  Rug Hooking: Art or Craft is getting lots of attention these days - it’s been shared on facebook in several places and we have garnered lots of views and shares!

It was prepared for the OHCG’s 2023 Virtual Annual Conference.

Here it is, in case you missed it - or if you want to see it all again!

https://youtu.be/hESbQzurkOM

Winner!

Congrats go to our very own Francine Birket, winner of an Honourable Mention at the 2023 OHCG Annual, in the Oriental Category.  Check out her stunning entry!

If you want to see the judged entries from this year (and last year), they’re on the OHCG website.  Click here to view them.  Our members did us proud, with some fantastic works submitted.  All are winners, IMHO!

Not to be outdone, our very own Dianne completed her Maude Lewis at today’s Annual event.  Wonder what she’s going to do next??

We had an excellent turn out today, with 22 folks in attendance.  Carol Shewan was there with some goodies for sale.  We watched the program together, had a nosh or 3 and chatted away the morning.

If you want to check out the video featured at the Annual with our very own members, Rug Hooking:  Art or Craft? here’s a link.

…and if you want to check out the Auction that was mentioned at the Annual, there’s still time!  Here’s the link for that - lots of good loot for sale!  It closes at 7 pm Monday.

Ipad apps for rug hookers

 A lot has happened in the world of iPads since we published this post (can you believe it was 5 years ago??)….and we’ve had a bit of activity on our blog showing that folks are looking for this info…so here’s a wee bit of an update.

(Btw, this is just one person’s opinion…there are whacks of other apps out there that wb of use to a rug hooker!) 

First up, we have drawing apps - the 2 most notable are:  Sketchbook and Procreate.  Both are fantastic for drawing and colour planning your rugs.  

Sketchbook is free for most of the functionality, and only $2.79 for the deluxe version.  The folks at Wooly Mason Jar are offering a zoom class on how to use it for rug hooking.  If you’re new to iPads and want some hands on learning….this is a good option.

Procreate is a paid app:  $14 in canada, but is a very powerful tool.  There aren’t any classes on how to use it for rug hooking, but there is a very good video tutorial series embedded in the product which explains a ton of stuff.  Here’s a link to those videos, which are also available under the “help” tab.

If you’re using one of these drawing apps, i highly recommend using a pen or stylus.  They can be expensive, but very useful.

Then there are the photo transmogrification apps:  these are great if you have an existing photo that you want to use as a basis for your rug hooking.  I mentioned a bunch of them in the post from 2018, and here are my current favourites:

- Photomania - available as an app, and as an online tool.  Use the online tool, not the app for the best set of functionality.  Just click on “Edit Photos” to go straight to the online tool.

- Lunapic - an online tool

- Pastiche - an app.  You can get some interesting effects from the free transformations, and more are available if you pay for the deluxe version.

- Picsart - an app with an online version, again, with lots of free options in addition to paid ones.

…and if you don’t have a photo to start with, but want some inspiration, go to Unsplash.com (also available as an app).  It’s a free source of photos that can be used for rug hooking.  If you’ve seen any of the images promoting the OHCG’s virtual events, almost all of them came from Unsplash, and were turned into posters with the help of Procreate.

If you want to develop your colour sense, take a look at this post, detailing some ipad games you can play that are all colour-based.

For those who like to look at pictures of hooked items, try Instagram!  It’s a great source to see what other folks are doing.  Search or follow this hashtag to get started:  #rughookersofinstagram. 

….and finally, there’s a ton of content out there where you can just watch and listen - you can view these on an ipad or on a computer, and they are well worth the time.  Here are 2 very popular ones.

- Thursday Live with Deanne Fitzpatrick - always entertaining and informative.  These are available on her website, but also on facebook (and you don’t need a fb account to view them)

- Wooly Mason Jar & Wooly Soul Strings - produce lots of facebook live videos - check their website for the links and schedule.  They also have a whole whack of video content that’s very useful.

ETA:  Rugspirations with Robin Whitford:  interviews on rug hooking!  Here’s a link to her youtube channel.

Are there other online or podcast things you enjoy, too?  Add a comment with your favourites!

It’s About Time

Yes, indeedy…it is about time we hosted a hook-in!  Mark your calendars for Monday October 2, 2023.  That’s when we’re hosting an event we’re calling “It’s About Time”, and it will feature vintage rugs.

We’re planning on holding a Rug Registry that day.  We’ll give you more details on how that will work later on, but in a nutshell:  it’s where rugs, made in ontario more than 25 years ago, are registered, photographed and their history (and history of the maker) recorded.  It’s a great way to preserve our history and traditions!

So, bring along those vintage rugs that you want to have registered.  If you don’t want to go the registration route, please bring them along for a display of vintage rugs.  Even if you’re not sure of the provenance of a rug, we’d love to see it.

We’d also like to see your non-vintage creations, too, so bring them along!

There will also be a speaker or 2, vendors (yes!), refreshments and cutter sharpening.  

We’ve set up a dedicated page to put all of the info relating to our event.  Look on the upper portion of the page, and you’ll see “It’s About Time” - just click on it any time!

Where:  Grace Church, 440 King St E, Cobourg

When:  October 2, 2023 10 am-2-3 pm

Bring:  $5 (admission), your lunch, your hooking, rug(s) for display and/or registration.

And just to whet your appetite for all things vintage, here are some photos of a display of vintage rugs.  In 2017, the Art Gallery of Northumberland hosted a show of all things hooked (organized by our very own Dianne Algera), and one room was set aside for vintage things.  To see the full display, click on “AGofN Exhibit” above….and prepare to be amazed!

….and I’m sure we’ll locate a few more photos between now and October, so watch this space for more details and more rugs!

Centennial Rug

Our group has been working on an old Rittermere Hurst pattern.  It was published for Canada’s centennial in 1967, and was featured in a contest by Chatelaine magazine.

So far, we’ve gotten all of the motifs completed, and now have the difficult task of figuring out what colour the background should be.

Here’s the rug as it stands right now:

Here’s an example from our very own Laurie:

Here’s the winner of the Chatelaine contest, from this article (very interesting….also, the reference to Rittermere archives at Brock, and the links in there, all lead to some great stuff on the history of rug hooking, etc):

Here’s another one i found online - for sale.  The front is quite faded, but the back shows the original colours….similar to Laurie’s. (Could it have been a full kit with all wool supplied?)

Reverse side of the rug

Front of the rug

…and finally, here is an example of a colour scheme we are considering….but not so sure it is a winner just yet (the elements don’t quite line up in this mockup, but you get the general idea….):

And an even earlier example from before we had the motifs finished:

Here’s a suggestion from Martina (currently checking in with her now to see if I’ve interpreted the colours correctly!):

More suggestions (need to verify I’ve correctly interpreted their suggestions):

Lynda

Brenda

Tanya

Tanya #2

This one was developed by group consensus at today’s monthly mtg.

Another group effort

……and the verdict (for now) is:

Watch this space for more examples as we “audition” other colours…..or better yet, reply in the comments with your suggestions/preferences!

Edward Jones Display

 

The display at Edward Jones is Live!  This is a business in downtown Cobourg that curates displays of works by local artists.  This project was spearheaded by Lynda Johnston and Dianne Algera.  They met with the folks at Edward Jones to arrange for the display, collect the pieces and deliver them to the business.

The rugs were delivered this morning, and they’re already up!  There may be a few tweaks to the windows, but here’s a taste of what’s there now.  Note also the sign in the window explaining a bit about rug hooking and directing them to this blog (hello  👋 to anyone joining us from the link on that sign!).

If you can, make a point of stopping by the window to see all of the wonderful works.  There are new pieces, antique pieces, whimsical pieces and traditional ones.   They’ll be in the window until the end of December.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many of you already have paid up your 2023 membership dues for the Northumberland Rug Hookers.  If you haven’t, check out our latest email for details on how to send in your dues.  We haven’t really done much about collecting dues during the pandemic, but now that we’re back to in-person, dues are important!  Note that future emails will only be sent to paid up members.

Here are some photos from this past weekend:  Dianne, Laurie, Cathy, Audrey and Judy were at Lang Pioneer Village, demonstrating rug hooking.  Don’t they look cute in costume???