Stressed? Hook a rug: Fredericton’s Hooking Guild wants students to try the craft

Jennifer Jamieson, left, and Judy MacLean, right, are ready to hook you at the Healthy Aging expo on Saturday. (Jennifer William/AQ)

Students looking for a study break that doesn’t involve a screen might find one in a hook and a strip of wool.

At Saturday’s Healthy Aging expo, members of the Heritage Rug Hooking Guild of Fredericton said rug hooking isn’t only for grandmothers. 

They’re also open to bringing it to St. Thomas University (STU).

Guild member Jennifer Jamieson said she is thinking about making a large community rug that students could add to between study sessions. The idea is to display it at the Yellow Box, STU’s art gallery, in a corner of the study hall in Margaret Norrie McCain Hall. 

“If I made a big one, then the kids could all do different parts of it and just donate it to the school,” Jamieson said.

Hook, loop, repeat: Jennifer Jamieson shows how it’s done. (Jennifer William/AQ)

Guild president Judy MacLean said learning takes about a minute. At the expo, visitors added loops to a community rug that will hang at Government House next fall during the guild’s 45th anniversary exhibit.

“Anybody who comes and puts a few loops in here can say they have something hanging at Government House,” MacLean said.

One petal down, plenty to go: a sunflower takes shape at the Heritage Rug Hooking Guild booth. (Jennifer William/AQ)

Both women said the craft helps with stress.

“It’s meditative,” Jamieson said. “It’s tactile. It gives you something that you sort of think about, but you don’t have to really think about.”

MacLean said she likes to hook first thing in the morning because it sets the tone for her day. “I find it very calming,” she said.

The guild said its members are experimenting beyond traditional wool, using silk, old T-shirts and plastic bags. 

MacLean said thrift stores are a good place to find materials, which makes the craft a budget-friendly option for students.

Several visitors told the guild their teenage granddaughters are interested, Jamieson said. MacLean said one of her former student library workers crocheted every night to unwind.

Jamieson joined the guild after inheriting her grandmother’s rug, which she estimates is about 100 years old. She went looking for advice on cleaning it.

“They just sucked me in,” she said.

A hooked sign for a hooking guild: the booth’s handmade welcome at the expo. (Jennifer William/AQ)

The guild formed in 1982 and has about 43 members. It meets on the first and third Thursday of each month, September to May, at Gibson United Church. 

Another group, Evening Matters, meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Christ Church Parish Hall and suits students who work or study during the day, MacLean said.