Janis Katz writes

“GET HOOKED” – it’s not what you think!
Continuing this year’s theme of “Do Not Waste”, Guild members and guests spent the evening learning about, and practicing, the art of “hooking” (or sometimes “prodding”). This event was co-presented and hosted by Congregation Darchei Noam. 

Our Guild secretary, Barbara Goldstein [see more about Barbara below], gave us a primer on (rug) hooking: she showed us stunning samples of her own work (bags, chair pads, cholent trivets) and then demonstrated how it’s done. The supplies are few: latch hook canvas, a crochet hook (or chopstick), and a darning needle. Then there’s the fabric: everyone grabbed their favourite from the Guild stash – chiffon, velvet, cotton, wool, etc. – and started tearing or cutting thin strips about 1 cm wide.

With this technique, you start on the edge first. Fold back one row of the canvas and whipstitch or overcast using a darning needle threaded with a fabric strip. Then you use your crochet hook or chopstick to fill in the grid. “Hooking” uses a crochet hook to pull up fabric loops in each grid square. “Prodding” is done with a chopstick, to push loops down in the grid. The loopy side is the right side.

Everyone had a great time tearing strips of fabric, hooking and prodding, and chatting.

A tip from Barbara: you could “get hooked” on this technique and be tempted to go out and buy fabric, but remember – do not waste, use your stash!

The Guild was delighted to be able to partner with Congregation Darchei Noam for this event, and we’ll be partnering again in March and May of 2016.

 A note about Barbara: Barbara is a graduate of Sheridan College and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Textile Studios, as well as an active member of The Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Textiles, Toronto. She has exhibited in many art shows, most recently “The Edge of the Forest”, now traveling across Canada. All completed work shown in this post are Barbara’s.