The rug hookers in Ontario are a generous lot. Below you can see some of the hooks that have been donated for the rug hooking project in Matangwe, Kenya. Thank you to everyone. To Claude who, in spite of illness, met me in town to donate her hooks. To Anne B. who collected hooks in her area and lugged them to the One of a Kind show for me. To Dianne who mentioned the project in the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild newsletter. And to the many other hookers near and far who heard of the hooking project in Matangwe and gave up their spare hooks. I have almost 100 now. And lots of burlap too.
This is year two of the project. If all goes as planned this year, the women and men in the Matangwe community will draw patterns of the stunning local birds on the burlap and make hooked mats which we will eventually sell. I will be taking some t-shirts and dyed nylons which we will cut into strips, but my hope this year is that we begin to use local used clothing with the plan to eventually be self-sustaining. We will also begin to make our own hooks and hopefully find a source of local burlap–so that the project can continue after I leave. Thank you again for the great boost!
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