Rug Hooking in the Chosen Spot

Country Barn, 20" by 16", #4- to 6-cut wool on linen. Designed by Davey DeGraff and Caryn Devlin and hooked by Barb Snape, 2019. “Using worms from my stash, I tried hooking in the painterly style.”

First Congregational Church, Canandaigua, 21" by 23", #3- and 4-cut wool on linen. Design adapted from a pen-and-ink drawing by Jan Case, a member of the church, and hooked by Kathy Peters, 2019.
“The Congregational Church has always been on my radar to hook. Built in 1812, it’s the oldest building in Canandaigua and was designated a National Landmark in 1958. The church sits on a slight incline on Main Street above the city of Canandaigua. It’s a simple, beautiful Federal-style building with a towering spire housing a two-ton bell. It absolutely cries out to be memorialized in wool. The church looks white but is actually a light gray with white accents. I dyed 10 shades of gray for the church and three greens for the trees. The dark blue for the sky was a suggestion of the hooking group to provide better contrast for the church. The church was an enormous challenge but one which I very much wanted to do.”

Haystacks, 14" by 11", #3-, 4-, and 5-cut wool on linen. Designed by Molly Colegrove and hooked by Barb Snape, 2018.
“I love the obviously rural theme of this rug since I live in a farming area. Most people don’t know that this is what most of New York State looks like. It was fun to play with the colors of fall and needlefelt the haystacks and sky.”

South End of the Lake, 7" by 10" hooked area, 16" by 19" framed, mainly #5-cut wool. Hand-dyed wool, recycled wool, hand-dyed nylon (pantyhose), wool roving, yarn, and silk on linen. Designed and hooked by Darlys McDonough.
“I wanted to hook this scene, so typical of the south end of all 11 Finger Lakes. I use techniques of the Impressionist painters I learned in an art class taught by Molly Colegrove. The scene is based on my photograph taken in early morning at the marshy south end of nearby Canadice Lake, where the air is fresh, the water is calm, and the colors are beginning to wake up. This rug is best viewed at a distance, and the class helped me learn patience; I had to take breaks from being so close to the rug, occasionally tossing it down on the floor to observe it from different angles. Leaving a linen border around this rug seemed to suit it. It’s the only rug I’ve had professionally matted and framed under glass.”

Squaw Island, 19" by 15" with frame, #4-cut wool and bits of Safari Silk on linen. Pattern based on past and present images of Squaw Island. Hooked by Barbara Kutner, 2019.
“Squaw Island is an ancient formation island located at the north end of Canandaigua Lake. It is New York’s smallest Fish and Wildlife Management area and one of the two smallest islands of the 11 Finger Lakes. The frst humans known to settle the island were ancestors of the Native American Iroquois tribes. From artifacts found on the island, it’s presumed the island was used for fishing and hunting waterfowl and deer. Legend has it that the island was a refuge for the Seneca Iroquois women and children from their enemies. There have been some efforts lately to change the name of places with the word ‘squaw’ because it’s seen as insensitive to Native Americans. But by any name, Squaw Island will remain a special place to our family and to Canandaiguans who love to canoe and kayak there.”

The Wyffles Barn, 23" by 21", #6- and 8-cut wool, wool roving, hand-dyed wool jersey and wool yarns. Pattern drawn by Davey DeGraff from a photo by Kathy Hitchcock of a weathered Canandaigua barn. Hooked by Kathy Hitchcock, 2018.
“The rug was started in Davey DeGraff’s class, who taught the technique of hooking in various directions to create organic texture in landscapes. The hay bales were needle felted from wool roving. The rug was mounted over acid-free foam core backing and framed with stained wood corner trim.”

Susan B. Anthony: FAILURE IS IMPOSSIBLE, 18" by 28" framed, #7-cut hand-dyed wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Diane Phillips.
“Susan B. Anthony was an American icon whose fght for women’s suffrage became focused on the Ontario County Courthouse in Canandaigua on June 18, 1873. Susan was tried here for voting illegally in the 1872 presidential election. The judge found her guilty and fned her $100. She refused to pay, but the judge declined to jail her because it would have paved the way for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Susan wanted the appeal to happen so she could challenge the fact that women were denied voting privileges. She never paid the fne but was never again arrested.”
This rug was donated by the maker to a charity auction and purchased by Carla and David Levant.

Michelle Palmer, left, and Susan Donovan color planning the carousel rug.

Roseland Carousel, 24" by 20", #4-, 6-, and 8-cut wool on linen.Designed by Michelle Palmer and hooked by Susan Donovan, 2019.
“Roseland Park, originally called Lakeside Park, was an amusement park along Canandaigua Lake from 1925 to 1985. The 1909-era carousel was added in 1941, immediately becoming a favorite. Many of us have lovely childhood memories of riding the bright and colorful horses.”
When Susan broke her wrist, Chosen Group members Kathy Peters and Diana Halter completed the hooking so that the rug could be submitted for this article.

Canandaigua Lake Boat Houses, 8" by 6", traditional punch needle with embroidery thread on weaver’s cloth. Designed by and digital pattern available from Michelle Palmer. Punched by Debbie Kalcevic, 2019.
“Our Chosen Spot rug hooking group asked Michelle to teach a class for us on needle punching. She designed the pattern for the class and provided kits with all materials. It was lots of fun for all to work on the same pattern and end up with different results.

Canandaigua Lake Boat Houses, 8" by 6", traditional punch needle with DMC floss on weaver’s cloth. Designed by and digital pattern available from Michelle Palmer. Punched by Kathy Peters, 2019.
“This was my second punched piece. Later, I hooked Michelle’s design in wool on linen. Now I have two versions of my favorite scene.”

Canandaigua Lake Boat Houses, 28" by 16", #3- to 7-cut wool on linen. Designed by and similar pattern available from Michelle Palmer, hooked by Kathy Peters, 2019.
“The boat houses are iconic images for the Canandaigua area and I have always wanted to hook them. Michelle Palmer created a pattern of the Canandaigua boat houses for our group. I completed that, and loved the pattern so much that I asked her to do a pattern on linen for rug hooking. My rug differs from Michelle’s design in that I opted not to include the boat from the original design. I loved hooking the houses and took artistic license for the colors. The water was a challenge and took the longest to complete.”

Canandaigua Lake Boat Houses, 25" by 21", #3-, 4-, and 5-cut wool on linen. Designed by Molly Colegrove and hooked by Barbara Iglewski, 2019.
“People have been compelled to capture the boat houses in art and photography for over a century. Because I live in Canandaigua, I wanted to hook Molly’s boat house pattern as soon as I saw it.”

Canandaigua Lake Boat Houses, 28" by 24", #6-cut wool on linen. Designed by and similar pattern available from Michelle Palmer. Hooked by Norma Press, 2019.
“The pier adjoining the boat houses is my favorite place to sit and view boats coming in and out of the marinas. I imagined how people have been viewing this scene for over a century, so I changed the original boat to an early 1900s tour boat that was actually used in the Finger Lakes. As a whimsical touch, I sewed on an embroidered flag patch.”