Friday, November 14, 2008

class with Heather Ritchie - day one

First off, I have to say how fabulous it is to be in Vermont and going once again to the Shelburne Museum to see so many wonderful rugs on display at the Round Barn. Although I hadn't yet taken a single photo until today, I did manage to make up for lost time with over 200 taken today. So there will be lots to share with you in the coming days. For now, I'd like to talk about my first day of class with Heather Ritchie...

If I had to summarize it using just three words, I'd say that "it was awesome". Heather is just as delightful as I had imagined...and I really enjoyed her teaching style today. It was a combination of demonstration, story-telling, encouragement, and matter-of-fact instruction...all delivered in a terrific accent. Just wonderful.

Speaking of wonderful....here are the four rugs that Heather brought with her to share with us. Since she had to fly to get her, she was obviously limited in her luggage, so we were lucky to be able to see some of her work up close and personal.

The first three rugs are typical of the area where she lives, the Yorkshire Dales...


Many of the flowers in this next rug were hooked with fine-guage knits, including sweaters...




This next one was my favourite. It was inspired by a photograph Heather's son took of her and the lambs are hooked with raw fleece from local sheep. The proddy border is very decorative. Heather uses one of her rugs for her Christmas cards each year, and Bearing Gifts is this year's rug...


I'm having lots of fun creating flowers and playing with my new tools. Here's a picture that shows what I managed to get done today...