What are the different types of rug hooking?
Rug hooking today has evolved into two genres, which primarily fall into groups based upon the width of the wool strip employed to create a rug: fine hooking and primitive hooking. Fine hooking, in general, uses strips of wool measuring 1/32 to 5/32 of an inch wide.
Rug hooking is a traditional textile craft practice in Newfoundland, primarily practiced by women. Hooked rugs or mats are made by using a hook to pull loops of fabric through a burlap base, held tightly in a frame.
Punch needle punches the loops down into the work, whereas rug hooking uses a different tool to pull the loops up through the work. The two techniques actually form the same type of stitch, but the action is a bit different.
So how do you choose a hook? We recommend that you look at what you need and then go from there. Rug hooking uses different sized strips of wool (or yarn) to make up the rug. A good rule of thumb is the thicker the yarn or strip, the larger the hook you need.
For rug hooking, we need an open-weave fabric, and the best ones are linen, burlap and monk's cloth. Linen is the most durable backing fabric you can use for rug hooking, and durability is a key component for making rugs that will last 100 years or more.
While rug hooking uses a base fabric of burlap or hessian, latch hooking uses specially woven rug canvas.
What yarns work best for rug hooking? Basically any yarn that is a worsted weight-bulky will work well for rug hooking, as long as it is not slippery. If you are looking at a label, any yarn that knits 3.5-4 knitted stitches per inch is great.
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Hooking rugs is easy. You can even teach yourself. You pull strips of wool cloth, usually recycled clothing, washed , dried , and torn apart through a burlap or linen backing loop by loop. There are no hard and fast rules.
The key difference between this and tufting is that tufting is done with a tufting gun and punch needle is done by hand. Keen to give it a go, check our gallery below for some of our favourite craft supplies.
How long should wool strips be for rug hooking?
Your wool should be clean and ready to use. You can cut it into one quarter to one half inch strips. A simple method for cutting wool is to take an eight-by-four inch rectangle of wool cloth, fold it accordion-style, and cut it into strips.
The hugely talented Rug Hooking artist Rachel Leblanc uses no frame at all. You'll need a hook or a punch to make rugs. This can be be a very simple tool. Your collection of hooks can be developed over time if you feel the need.
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Monks Cloth is a loosely woven cotton fabric used as a foundation cloth for Rug Hooking or Punch Needle Work. This evenweave fabric is soft allowing hooks and needles to slide through easily making it a very popular choice among rug hookers and punch needle artisans.
Some are quite flat, others very fluffy, but all deemed/sold as for use to hook in rugs. They say "felt" or for applique, etc. I do realize one can hook with anything if going about it for different purposes for textiles/tapestries!
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Rather than a pile like hand-knotted or hand-tufted rugs these rugs have small knot bumps from the hooked wool. These are made using a hook device. Once the piece is complete, an adhesive is put on the back to protect the knots. They are typically not as durable as other rugs and should be used in lower traffic areas.
Latch hooking is similar to rug hooking as well as crochet in that it involves a similar hook.
Rug hooking started to slowly show up in New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces in the mid 1800's. It was only natural that if they couldn't afford to buy the rugs shipped in from Europe, Colonial women would find other means to make their homes comfortable. Using rags to make hand-hooked rugs was the answer.
Hooking rugs is easy. You can even teach yourself. You pull strips of wool cloth, usually recycled clothing, washed , dried , and torn apart through a burlap or linen backing loop by loop. There are no hard and fast rules.
What was the favorite backing for hooked rugs in the mid 1800s?
Burlap became the popular backing after 1850 for hook rugs because the wider weave structure not only made it much easier than other textiles for the yard to be pulled through, but just as important, it was a way to salvage and reuse feed sacks.
Hooked rugs first became popular in America in the 1840s. They were practical items of household furnishings and were perfect examples of recycling – utilizing old burlap grain sacks and scraps of wool or rags. By their very nature (they were walked on) hooked rugs are frequently found in poor condition.
