Instructions for How to Hook a Roving Wool Rug

You can add to your decor by hooking your own rugs.

Rug hooking is an art dating from colonial times, when settlers needed to create rugs that helped to keep the floors of their homes warm, particularly during cold and snowy winters. This craft doesn't require many tools, and you can cut your own strips of fabric using a wool cutter. Consider this a "green" craft---you can recycle old clothes that can't be worn anymore.

Things You'll Need

• Rug hook
• Beginner rug hooking frame
• Wool cutter
• Scissors
• Rug backing with pre-printed pattern

Instructions

1. Stretch your rug backing tightly over your hooking frame. Hold your rug hook in your dominant hand between your thumb, first and third fingers.

2. Pick up one of the wool strips and position it under the rug backing and hooking frame. Push the rug hook down through the point on your backing pattern where you want to begin working. Catch the wool strip in your hook.

3. Make sure the wool strip isn't twisted as you begin working. Pull the strip of wool through your backing and make sure the loop is the height you want. As you pull up on the hook and strip, twist your wrist slightly.

4. Push the rug hook and wool strip down through the rug backing. Before you push the strip through, position your hook at the spot where you want to push it down to the bottom. Don't position your loops too far away---position them closely enough together that you get a good, thick pile. However, don't position them too closely either; the backing will begin to tighten and buckle.

5. Leave the ends of the wool strips pulled through to the top and ignore them until you finish hooking the entire pattern. When you finish, cut all the ends so your pattern is neat.

Tips & Warnings

• Leave a little gap between loops.

• If your wool strips are wide, leave additional room between loops.

References

• Craft Site Directory: Rug Hooking
• Yankee Peddler: Some Bits About Rug Hooking