Being a part of the 2017 Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village was a truly wonderful experience.  If you’ve never been to Sauder, I urge you to go next year. I’ve been hooking for 20 years and this was the first time I’d been able to attend.  It was an unforgettable experience.

I went to Sauder with my good friend, Roberta McCusker.  We had so much fun looking at the exhibits, taking classes, shopping in the vendor booths and then discussing techniques, colors, and interesting designs in our room each evening.

I was really excited when I realized that  Caryn Devlin, designer/owner/rug hooker at The Wool Garden was attending Sauder.  Why was I excited?  Because she is joining 207 Creatives on the sail aboard the J&E Riggin in 2018.  Roberta is also joining us so I knew it was the perfect opportunity for the three of us to meet up and get to know each other.   Needless to say, we were fast friends after the time we spent together that day.  If possible, we were even more excited about the upcoming sail!

Caryn came to Sauder with her husband, Mark, who was being honored as part of “The Year of the Man” for his invention of the Honeydoo Cutter.   I tried a Honeydoo Cutter during my class with Lori Bechlin of Notforgotten Farm  and knew  the saying “it cuts like butter” was no exaggeration.   What a cutter!

It’s impossible to pick one word to describe my first view of the rug hooking exhibit. My mind registered a huge mental “WOW” and I’m sure my mouth dropped open. So much talent, color and so many ideas translated into hooking. I was both very humbled and very inspired. Humbled by the extraordinary talent surrounding me and inspired to sit down and play with my own wool and linen.