Congratulations, Steph and Mariah! - by Pam Kirk

We (as in the board members of Green Mountain Hooked Rugs) are so excited that both Stephanie’s and Mariah’s hooked pieces have been accepted for publication in the 2015 “Celebration.”   “Celebration” is the annual juried publication from Rug Hooking magazine. 

Stephanie submitted the large oriental “Persian Palm” which she had completed for Nancy Aldridge Beech.  The rug was less than 1/3 hooked and Stephanie needed to dye wool to match as well as duplicate Nancy’s hooking style.   The rug received the Peoples’ Choice Award at the Green Mountain Guild Exhibition “Hooked in the Mountains” in October 2014.   Mariah submitted a portrait she designed and hooked in black, white and grey tones of her grandmother, Anne Ashworth.  Mariah had completed it to have available for viewing by those attending the last Green Mountain Rug School to be  held at Vermont Technical College in June 2014.   All the pieces selected for the 2015 “Celebration” will be on exhibit at the 19^th annual Sauder Village Hooking Week in August.

Stephanie is an accomplished rug hooker in all genres of hooking; producing gorgeously shaded floral, fruit and scrolls; wonderfully creative geometrics; handsomely colored orientals and inspiring landscapes. She is also a colorist and fabric dyer extraordinaire following in our mother’s footsteps.  Famous also for her ability to repair and finish rugs seamlessly in style of the original, that art of rug hooking keeps her busy.  Stephanie runs the Green Mountain Hooked Rug Shop where she also holds classes and hook-ins.  She is also in demand as a teacher.

Mariah’s bent in hooking seems to be toward her original portrait designs and using wool cut on #2 and #3. Her first project “Aries Woman” was also published in “Celebration”, so it seems natural that her other portrait piece should also find a place in “Celebration”.  Though Mariah has been hooking for only a few years, she is also becoming known for her original designs and her dyeing skills.  She is quite a master at using swatches made up of 28 and 32 values and moving from the lightest of one color through to the darkest of another.  She is also becoming quite skilled in spot and multi-dyed pieces which can be found in the Green Mountain Hooked Rug shop.

I think it is just wonderful that my sister and my niece (mother and daughter) will have pieces published in the same issue of “Celebration.”  A fantastic accomplishment; I know our mother Anne would be so proud of her daughter and granddaughter.

 'Ahmie' 10"x13" designed and hooked by Mariah Krauss

   

'Persian Palm' 70"x105" designed by Pearl McGown, hooked by Stephanie Allen-Krauss

              

An Old-Fashion Winter

Here in Vermont we're having what my husband calls an 'old-fashion winter'... lots of snow and three ranges of temperature... cold, colder, and ya-don't-wanna-know how cold! One morning several weeks ago, I actually did see 30 below Zero on the thermometer outside my kitchen window. 

Pretty cold, but I was happy to grab a cup of  hot coffee and head for my cozy hooking corner in the livingroom. My idea of heaven is snuggling into my chair with a great design, warm wool, luscious colors, soft music, and a couple of hours of uninterrupted hooking! That's January for me.

I always seem to finish a rug in January, too. This year it's the 8 foot runner that I'll be taking to New York in February. I'm still traveling to Long Island, NY periodically to repair hooked rugs from the antique collection on a private estate. I'm wonderfully inspired by these old geometrics, some of which I've never seen before in my 40 years of doing rug repair. My runner is a replacement for one that is just too far gone to repair. Unfortunately, there was a pad glued to the back of original rug many years ago and, when the glue and padding became dry and brittle, the burlap backing and hooked loops split. I can't peel that padding off and I certainly can't get a needle through to secure the loops, let alone repair the splits and holes, so the whole rug is not salvageable. Such a shame, but the good news is that I hooked a replacement using the original as inspiration. I'm looking forward to my next visit to see what new inspirations arise.

Happy hooking to you wherever you may be. 

My New Runner 24" x 92"

 

The Old Runner for Inspiration

I'm Going Hooking - Pam Kirk

This is THE perfect way to start the new year - after 35 years of not hooking with a group, this Thursday I am going to hook with the ATHA Citrus Belle Rug Chapter group! 

Other than a couple classes the last two years at Green Mountain Hooked Rug School, I have not hooked with a group while I worked at my corporate job.  I tried it once in my area a number of years ago, but it just did not work to try to take time out for hooking with a group in the middle of my work day. I was disappointed I couldn’t make it work as I did miss meeting up with others to hook.  The Citrus Belles meet in a location about 45 minutes from my house, and though they meet every week, I am not sure I will be able to do more than a couple times a month. But one never knows, I may get so hooked, I make it a regular in my weekly schedule.

This is the rug I'll be working on...

It's one of our Green Mountain Patterns called 'Ardibil' designed by my Mom, Anne Ashworth. 

It's a perfect Oriental for wide cut.