Kris McDermet: Class of 2023

Name: Kris McDermet
Location: Dummerston, Vermont

Tell us a bit about yourself. What are some of your interests and hobbies?
Besides combining braiding and hooking, I love baking, gardening, meeting with local art groups, and being a longtime hospice and bereavement volunteer, and volunteering at our local FoodWorks Program. Of course, my husband, Stewart, and cat, Willow, rank at the top.

How did you get introduced to rug hooking?
My rug braiding teacher Isabel Clough asked her first braiding class that I was part of to try rug hooking. A wonderful and longtime rug hooker named Mary Sheppard Burton lived nearby in Maryland. Both women changed my life forever, and I am so grateful!

What was your first project?
I made a hooked center with my initial and braided around it. That was after I had needle-pointed the center and my cat at the time took the needle-point apart.

Is there one rug that stands out as being particularly memorable?
My favorite is PRINTS! It is a seven-path labyrinth with braided “walls” and hooked “paths” which includes all the bugs, birds, and animals seen at our home in Vermont.

Is there a particular style of rugs that you're most interested in hooking?
I like hooking pieces now that tell a story about an environmental or social issue to help raise awareness.

What's your favorite part about hooking a rug?
Thinking about how the braid will complement that particular piece.

What's a piece of advice you'd give to a new rug hooker?
Think broadly, be brave, try something new, challenge yourself, be colorful and confident!

What do you love most about Celebration?
It is a way to show work that is both traditional and contemporary, proving that there is room for all of us in this wonderful rug braiding and rug hooking world. Thank you for the opportunity to show work in this different way.

The Jewel of Boston
Awakening
Catching the Sky in the Midst of Pink Raindrops

The Jewel of Boston

The Jewel of Boston--Connecting Olmstead’s Emerald Necklace to the City of Boston, 57” x 60”, #4- to 7-cut wool, charmeuse silk, crushed taffeta, cotton thread, and wool/silk wet felting on linen.
Designed and hooked by Kris McDermet, Dummerston, Vermont, 2022.

The Jewel of Boston is to honor Boston’s wonderful park system, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, during his 200th birthday.

Awakening

Awakening, 53” x 70”, #5-, 6-, and 7-cut hand-dyed wool and silk on linen. Joomchi fabricated from mulberry paper with wool and silk fibers, and backlit with LED lights. Designed, hooked, and braided by Kris McDermet, Dummerston, Vermont, 2021. Lighting by Tim Mathiesen, West Brattleboro, Vermont, 2021.

Catching the Sky in the Midst of Pink Raindrops

Catching the Sky in the Midst of Pink Raindrops, 4’9” x 6’2”, #3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-cut hand-dyed wool and silk yarn, and charmeuse silk, on linen. Designed, hooked, and braided by Kris McDermet, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2020.