SANTA ON VACATION

Look who paid me a visit in the studio today, completely out of season:

I mean, it's April, for heaven's sake.  What is he doing around?  At least he brought his cat.  That was fun.

Ok, ok.  What is this about...?

On Monday, I noticed a craigslist ad for three hooked rugs for $12 each.  With photos.  They were all wonderful.  I wondered if they could actually be hand-hooked.  If they were, I found the price both exciting and depressing. 

Anyway, I am NOT, repeat...NOT...a Christmas or a Santa fan.  But I know lots of people who are, and I had one in mind.  Plus even I--the original Grinch--thought this Santa-with-an-adorable-obviously-loved-kitty was darling.

I emailed the photos to my rug hooking group and sure enough, Cheryl the Rug Rescuer was interested.  And I was interested in one of the other two rugs.  So on Monday I drove to a local Costco parking lot which was halfway between the seller's town and my town, and bought two of the rugs.  Of which Santa is one.  On the way there it occurred to me that I had sadly neglected to ask the most important question:  "Are these rugs hand-hooked?"  I can't believe I didn't ask that!

By the time I pulled into the parking lot I realized my error and pretty much assumed they were machine-made in China.  And that's how it seemed at first.  But then...

Here's a closeup of the cutie-pie cat.  Who cares if he's not hand-hooked?

Ok, so I meet the seller in the parking lot and my first question is the one I should already have asked.  I can see that the three rugs all have a weird backing attached to them.  A bad sign.  Definitely machine made.  Then the lovely and nice seller tells me she bought them from Orvis (she thinks) years ago.  Ok, not just machine made but machine made IN CHINA probably.  Worse and worse.

But who can resist these rugs?  (I'll show the one I kept tomorrow.)

So for $12 each, I buy 2 of the 3 rugs.  They are in great shape and totally clean.  Well-loved.  In the car, I see that the one I'm keeping for myself is "!00% wool, made in China."  Definitely not hand-hooked.

But then...

I researched hooked rugs at Orvis tonight and found the following statement on an old webpage they had (they no longer sell hooked rugs):  "All of our wool hooked rugs are still completely handhooked for an authentic texture, character, feel and coloration. Each depicts a domestic scene that continues the 200 year old tradition of hooked rugs."

No kidding!  So while I'm sorry that some unfortunate Chinese laborer, who doesn't believe in Christmas (I get it, neither do I) was likely forced to make this a few decades ago and probably wasn't paid more than 25 cents, the rug IS here, after all, and we may as well care for it and love it for as long as it exists. 

Sad.  But also, a really wonderful design.  And hand-hooked, after all!

So Santa really did come to visit my studio today, and he's sleeping there with his kitty tonight, at least until Cheryl comes tomorrow to take him home.

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