A wild and wooly weekend

May 29, seven women–one from Newfoundland and half a dozen from points throughout Nova Scotia–checked into Brier Island Lodge and spent the weekend learning more about the history of their art.

They were enticed there by Vicki Graham, the Westport entrepreneur who hung out her ‘Hooking by the Sea’ shingle just two years ago.

The Wild and Woolly weekend retreat included sheep shearing, wool dying, carding, spinning, and rug hooking. There was also local cuisine, wine, and the type of camaraderie that develops when people share a passion.

Brier Island Lodge is home to a flock of heritage Cotswold sheep, and shearer Lukas Lange of Lunenberg relieved each of them of the heavy fleece they had grown over the past year.

The wool was then gathered and the next step was washing it to remove the dust, dirt and barnyard odours.

Graham, dressed in a Victorian period costume, showed the women how, a hundred years ago, the dried fleece was carded and spun into wool for use in knitting as well as hooking.

Over the weekend, the women also worked on their original creations.

In its earliest days, rug hooking was a craft pursued by the poor. While the rich covered their floors with factory produced carpets, the less wealthy hooked rugs from scraps of leftover fabric, fleece, and hand-spun wool.

Today hooking is recognized as fibre art, and original works by recognized artists can sell for thousands of dollars.

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