Kinderhook Hook In



What a cute little hooked pin!



A great lunch was provided, thanks to these hard working ladies!



Kinderhook Rug Hookers!



  Lovely primitive pattern being hooked by MaryAnn!



What a beautiful rug, a gift for a wedding!




Wow, what a stunner, this rug is beautiful and HUGE at 5 x 7 feet.




Here's a close up of the rug above.




A sea of Hookers!!!



Oh my goodness, look at the nice, muted pastels in this beauty and what gorgeous hooking!





How lovely!  Look at the beautiful wools by Jane Hester and what a pretty display!



What beautiful colors Natlie has chosen for this beauty!!




And heres a prize for me, "Miss Liberty" from Heavens to Betsy.  I can't wait to hook it!!



Other goodies from Kinderhook!!

As I write this I am still in afterglow from the wonderful day Mom and I had yesterday.  Last Friday a wonderful woman named Alice called us from Kinderhook and asked if we would like to set up at their Hook In.  About 75-80 ladies gather three times a year for a big Hook In.  I was unsure if we could be ready within a week, but not one to ever say no, my mother and I both said "well, of course", so I spent last week drawing patterns and Mom dyed yards and yards of wool.  Bleary eyed, but excited, on Friday afternoon we headed off to Kinderhook which is about a 3-4 hour drive.  We decided to partake in a bit of "city living" and had dinner at the Albany Cheesecake Factory, which I have to say, as usual, the food was great, but, why, oh why did they have to post the calorie count of each dish??  Did you know that most of their cheesecakes are between 900-1500 calories per slice?  It really almost took the fun out of a splurge.  I say almost because I had the romano chicken and took a piece of carrot cake cheesecake back to the hotel. (Mom had the lemon raspberry, and both were to die for) Of course those calories wouldn't stop us!! 
We also visited Barnes and Noble and a really neat store called "Charming Charlies" in the Colonie Mall.  A great store full of inexpensive, pretty costume jewelry, purses, scarves and more.  Everything was displayed according to color; a blue section, pink section, wonderful black and white section.  It was a visual cornucopia!! 
The next morning, up at 5:45, we headed down to Kinderhook, which, by the way is a very charming little village, with pretty historical homes.  "Hook In" signs pointed us in the right direction and led us right to St. Pauls Episcopal Church.  Alice met us at the door and showed us to our spot. 
Mom and I were a bit anxious as this was our first Hook In.  We love doing what we do, but were unsure if people would like our designs, our wool, etc.  Well, it wasn't long before the ladies came in and I have to say, our feelings of nervousness quickly went away.  Everyone was soooo nice and very complimentary.  As a business you want to have great sales, but I must say, the best part of yesterday was to just "be" with these ladies.  We talked all day about color, technique, designs, punch needle, different ways to do things.  We were the new gals and it seems as though they liked our wool and designs and their excitement was the best reward for us.  We met so many wonderful ladies including Natalie who was looking for just the right blue for her rug, MaryAnn who is going to tackle our petite prims rugs, Barbara who chose the whole set of six butter mold chair patterns. 
I cannot write this without thanking Betsy Reed from Heavens to Betsy.  Mom and I ventured down to visit her wool shop in January and instantly made a friend. She is just about the nicest woman I have ever met.  Sometimes people in this business are guarded about sharing ideas but Betsy is just overflowing with great ideas and is full of resources for the business and is happy to share her knowledge.  I BIG HUGE thank you Betsy for recommending us to Alice!!
Thanks also to Alice who ran the show yesterday.  What a nice lady and from the responses we got from the ladies, everyone had a great time!  You ran a great hook in.
Also, thank you to Barbara, a very nice woman with a friendly smile and just a great personality!! Sometimes when you walk into a new place it can be intimidating, but Barbara and Alice put us right at ease. 
We also want to thank Alice's son and Barbara's husband for loading the truck for us.  My husband let me and yes, I say let me, take his new truck and they were scared of scratching the bed of the truck.  They did a fine job packing us up and we made it home without losing anything!!
So, this has been a very long post, but as you can tell, we had a very nice day and are anxious to start designing new fall designs as we have been invited back in September.  Our future is uncertain right now as the Army beckons and we may be moving to Missouri, but gosh, we sure would like to go back in September.....can you say road trip? 
For those of you waiting for the newsletter, look for it this week, we have lots of new wools and patterns. 
Until next time.....