[Nfb-krafters-korner] Thoughts On Hooking Rugs: Was Re: VI/Blind and crafting

[Pam Drake]

Hello, All!

I have just joined this list.  I thought the following information 
might be of help to those interested in latch hooking.

It has been several years now but I have done, and truly enjoyed rug 
hooking.  I have an old copy of "Row Upon Row", which, as Lauren 
says, was done by Marie Porter at the Catholic Guild For The Blind in 
Chicago.  The name was later shortened to Guild For The Blind.

I Googled and visited the site and found no reference to any Braille 
publications.  I also read that they will be moving in February of this year.

Below is the contact information including current and new street 
addresses.  The phone will remain the same.  You might want to 
contact them to see whether or not their Braille and craft books are 
still available for purchase through them.  If not, it sounds as 
though the book mentioned below may well be the same one.

As for buying and sorting yarns, it has been a while.  I bought 
individual packages of pre-cut yarn in my desired colors.  I put 
small Braille labels with the name of each color and put them inside 
zippered food storage bags.  I went to a yarn shop rather than a 
large chain store, and asked the clerks to hand me the 
various       packets which I then put into the bags with appropriate 
Brailled color name slips.  Perhaps not the most efficient method for 
today's faster-paced commerce, but it worked well at the time and 
might still be a good idea if buying at a small shop with Staff 
willing to take the time to identify the colors.

I made several projects but was put off by a disappointing incident 
which probably shouldn't have bothered me, but was frustrating enough 
to do so.

The last time I bought yarn for a particular pattern the clerks 
offered to give me a piece of canvas, though I was perfectly willing 
to pay.  The canvas was limp; and I was too inexperienced to realize 
that, being so limp, the canvas did not stand up well to my less than 
smooth strokes of the hook.  The holes became misshapen.  AS I worked 
it became harder and harder to locate the individual squares, and 
attempts to properly align the stitches resulted in snags that caused 
larger and larger holes.  It got so bad I grew tired of fighting; and 
ended up setting the work aside, never to touch again.

I have moved a couple of times since then and the last time I looked 
for my poor rug I could not find it.  I have thought of ripping out 
the stitches and starting over but have yet to do so.

I would advise anyone wishing to do latch hook projects not to make 
the mistake I made.  Make sure the canvas you use is stiff enough to 
hold your hook as you draw it through the holes.

As for me, perhaps through the list I will be inspired to find the 
pattern again and start over.

The Guild For The Blind can be contacted at:

Guild for the Blind
180 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60601
tel:  312 236 8569
fax: 312 236 8128

Their physical address will change to:
65 E. Wacker Place, Suite 1010.
Chicago, IL 60601



I hope this info will be of help to someone.

Pam Drake



At 03:03 PM 1/11/2011, you wrote:
>If volunteer braillist and tapists has it it is probably available 
>through their lending library.
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Zimmer, Cindy" <cindy.zimmer at nebraska.gov>
>To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 2:18 PM
>Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] VI/Blind and crafting
>
>
>>So I did a Google search and I found this on the  Braille Library & 
>>Transcribing Services, Inc.formerly Volunteer Braillists & Tapists, 
>>Inc. under the craft area.
>>
>>1456 Row Upon Row Porter, Marie, ed. 2 194
>>
>>Does that mean it is still available?
>>
>>Cindy Z.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>>[mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lauren Merryfield
>>Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 11:38 PM
>>To: List for blind crafters and artists
>>Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] VI/Blind and crafting
>>
>>Hi,
>>I think the author of "row upon row" was Marie Porter.
>>Thanks
>>Lauren