Ragging along

LOUISA Creed has been a hooker for 16 years. She meets once a month with a group of like-minded women and, as part of International Women's Week, she and her friends will be showing off their hooking skills in York's Rowntree Park caf.

But before you start dashing off an outraged letter to your MP, let's clear up one salient fact: the pursuit Louisa is an expert in is rag rug hooking.

This is a traditional craft, which has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years, involving hooking strips of recycled fabric through loose-weave hessian to create a rug, or a work of art worthy of gallery wall space, depending on the individual hooker's level of creativity.

Louisa, of Norfolk Street, York, who gives a hearty chuckle when referring to herself and her fellow Ebor Ruggers as hookers, definitely falls firmly into the artistic category.

A successful flautist raised in a family of painters, she specialises in images of cats and landscapes, which she crafts from carefully chosen, subtly coloured recycled fabrics picked up from charity shops.

Her first own-design rug, Rosie In The Airing Cupboard, which depicts her elderly cat nestled comfortably among the sheets and towels, was published in Emma Tennant's book Rag Rugs of England and America, was featured in Country Living magazine and even inspired a flower bed in Gateshead as part of Visual Arts Year in 1996.

"It's the texture that I love," she said. "I also like the recycling aspect - it's a very modern old craft in that respect."

Louisa and nine of her fellow hookers - oh, come on, it's not that funny - will be in the caf at Rowntree Park tomorrow from 10am to 3pm showing off their skills and inviting visitors to have a go themselves.

"This is a craft that anyone can try," said Louisa. "You don't have to be particularly artistic, although it does help if you want to progress on to doing your own designs. It's also relatively cheap to do. Once you have bought your hessian and stocked up on some old clothes from charity shops, that's it.

"We ran a workshop for Women's Week last year and it proved to be quite popular. I hope we get the same sort of response this time."

International Women's Week is an annual event in York aimed at celebrating women, their achievements and their ambitions.

This year more than 30 events around the city will cover a diverse range of subjects and activities, from astronomy and Minster history to Romany dancing and a women-only disco.

The week, which ends on Sunday, March 9 is organised to put women's issues - health, safety, employment and so forth - on to the local agenda. However, it is not a heavy, issue-laden programme. The emphasis is on celebration, with art, writing, dance and music to the fore. And hooking, of course.

If tomorrow's rag rug event whets your appetite, Louisa will be leading a workshop at Murton Farming Museum with her husband Lewis (a hooker of five years' standing) and fellow Ebor Rugger Glenda Morris on May 11 from 10am to 4pm (price £22.50; phone Heather Lamborn on 01904 738317 to book a place).

"With both these events our aim is to inspire," said Louisa. "Each of us has a different way of working and a different point of view, so we cannot and will not give hard and fast rules for making hooked rugs.

"We approach our rugs as artists do: exploring colour, form, texture and design. People do not need something added to them to make them artists; instead, something must be brought out of them.

"If you think that you are not an artist because you cannot draw or paint, remember that neither of these skills is necessary to make effective and satisfying rugs. And at the end of the day, if you don't want to put the finished product on your wall, at least you can warm your feet on it."

Updated: 08:54 Tuesday, March 04, 2003