sweet...i have a rug i started about 10 years ago and now i don't even know which closet it's in...i'm a cat person so LOVE it...

I love it!!

I've done a few from a kit with the pre cut strands.

when I was in grammar school our playground taught us to hook using strips of cloth and burlap. My mother joined in and we did some simple things. Itwas very enjoyable.
I love your kitties

I knew it was going to be hooked rugs! I used to be one too....don't have any left though. I made them all for gifts. It was fun....relaxing to me!

Yup, another hooker here, and another project that hasn't quite been finished:

{{!gwi}}

I did a little lamb on a blue background once, for the baby's room, (43 yrs ago). I knew what you were talking about too, lol. Looks like you're almost done with yours!

Ooh, sunflowers!! Nice work, Linda!

Yes, very relaxing. I think we should all get out our hooks and get busy before the weather warms up and we can't stand the idea of working with wool. :-)

Speaking of which, I hope I can find the wool I set aside for this project.

I love it Alisande! Did you design it yourself?

Yours is great too Linda!

I made one from a kit a very long time ago. Not sure what happened to it. Don't think I'm cut out to be a hooker. :-)

Fantastic!

fantastic!

(sigh) I've always wanted to be a hooker. Hmm!

Gayle

This is one craft that I've always wanted to learn,
Maybe I'll take a course now that I'm retired and have the time.

I have about thirty antique ones. The pictoral ones are especially nice like the kitty ones which say welcome and the Scotty dog one also saying welcome. Most are Amish. I have a few pansy ones, and one above my one fireplace says a woman's name and date 1879..From the Cape I have a whaling ship hangin above another fireplace. Most of my nice ones are on the walls because of the cats.

Oooo! Susan, I love the kitty rug! And I love the big sunflowers, Linda! Looks like a whole lot of work. If I Google "Hooking rugs" do you think I'll get enough info to get started on something like that? I've collected cat stuff for at least 25 years and rugs never last long around here...tsk tsk.. I'm going to Google right now and see what I can find, I know how to knit and crochet, rugs shouldn't be too different - hopefully. Boy, why is everybody so creative here at KT?! I feel kinda guilty for not doing more interesting/worthwhile projects... Thanks for the inspiration! Nancy

Very cool! That would be quite a family treasure.

How lovely!

I have a hooked rug that my Great-Grandmother Betty made. It was "old" when I was a young child; I remember my childhood dog, the only one every allowed in Grandma's house, sleeping on it. It needs some repairs, but all things considered; it's in good shape.

I wish I were there for you teach me how to fix it.

I love it Susan. I'm an avid cat lover.
Linda ~ that's going to be a beautiful rug. I love sunflowers too.

I used to be a hooker, but it's been over 30 years since I did any hooking.

Linda

And, what terrific hooking you do Susan. I'd pretty much say you're a Pro by now. LOL I always thought I'd enjoy hooking too. :)

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!

Lily, I hope you'll post some pictures of your collection. We'd love to see them!

Nancy, I browsed Amazon, looking for some of the books I own to recommend to you, but the first one I ran across is one I've never seen. Basic Rug Hooking: Everything You Need to Begin Hooking Rugs is put out by Rug Hooking magazine--a great publication I used to subscribe to. I'm guessing it's a very useful book.

Joan Moshimer, transplanted from England to Maine many years ago, was largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in old-fashioned rug hooking back in the 1970s. Her Complete Book of Rug Hooking is a good one. She also has a book devoted to hooking CATS: Hooked on Cats. You can get a copy pretty cheap through Amazon's "used and new" link.

I'm sure there's tons of info on the Internet about rug hooking how-to, but I'm behind the times on that.

Caroline, I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help. I had to throw out a small rug made by my beloved Aunt Peggy. We had it in storage for quite a qhile, and it became badly damaged. I agonized over this for some time, finally deciding that if it were one of my rugs, and my children were faced with this after I was gone, I wouldn't want them to be upset about it. I took pictures of the good parts, and let it go.

PS: I found these sites, which look interesting for beginners:

Rug Hooking 101

Angel Girl

And here's a rug hooking DVD!

Interestingly, Amazon emailed me this morning with an offer for a new rug hooking book. Do you suppose they're monitoring my GardenWeb posts?

Thanks Susan. I'm still looking through the Google hits... I'll see if our library has Joan Moshimer's book(s). Who knows? I just might surprise myself and be able to post one of MY rugs someday! LOL! Nancy

Wow lots of "retired" hookers around here LOL...I have never done it think it is beautiful though. Love both of them... Stacy

I love your rug alisande and yours too justlinda. I'd like to try that someday, hooking rugs that is.

If you can't find a local teacher and want to just get a "feel" for it you might try one of the smaller kits from Hobby Lobby or Michael's they come with pre-cut strands and usually a hook is included then you can graduate up to the "real" thing the wool!!

I have been interested in learning. I understand that it is long strips, right? Do you pull them up from the top/pattern side, or are they poked in, or how does it work?

And what holds the loops up?

The strips can be as long as you like, although if they are too long they might be prone to tangling. You hold a strip in one hand underneath the rug, and pull up loops with the hook held in the other hand.

The hook is like a crochet hook with a wooden handle. It is not to be confused with a latch hook, which is something else entirely.

You start by pulling up one end of the wood strip. It will stick up higher than the height of the loops. Then start pulling up loops. You'll find you eventually get into a rhythm of pulling and slightly twisting to release the loop. You end the same way, pulling up an end to be snipped off later.

Wool strips usually range in width from 1/8" for somewhat detailed work to 1/4" for the simpler designs known as "primitives."

Project can be as small as coasters or even Christmas ornaments. Here's a hooked teddy bear I made years ago:

The more I write about this, the more psyched I am to start doing it again!

I forgot to answer your other question, Dances. The loops are held snugly by the backing material, usually a fine grade of Scottish burlap.

The cat rug is gorgeous! My sister used to be a hooker,too, teehee! She let me practice on one of her rugs. It was very relaxing, I can see why people like hooking rugs.

Amazon sent me a notice this morning that this book has just been published. The author is a Canadian, and there's a strong history of beautiful rug hooking in Canada.

The book intrigues me (love the cover!). I don't really need another book on rug hooking, but maybe.....

Oh, and I just found Rug Hooking For the First Time, which sounds very good. And not expensive.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to stop now!

Those are just gorgeous! I've never done any hooking of any sort but I've seen a lot of nice work. And both examples here are NICE!

Ack! In doing a search for something else, I found fellow hookers! Yeah, I hook, on the side, for fun and have one from Christmas still unfinished. If I figure out how to post pictures, I'll do so.
Love your work!! Your loops line up beautifully like soldiers on parade! Gorgeous.

I'm sure that the local Goodwill store thinks I must be dead since I haven't been in lurking around looking for some great wool clothing to cut up into strips. No smells coming from my kitchen windows while the dye pot is on the stove......ahhh...no time for hooking when Spring is in the air!

Thanks, Faeriedust! Yes, hooking is definitely a winter pursuit. The feel of wool between your fingers can be comforting when the cold wind howlsÂand rather repulsive at 90º F.

I've begun work on the cat mat again, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm not noted for my organizational abilities, so I was thrilled to find the woolens for this project tucked away in big zip-loc bags, labeled "7 Cats." It feels very good to be hooking.

I recently bought Deanne Fitzpatrick's newest book on hooked rug design. Her rugs were not what I'd expected, given that she's from Atlantic coastal Canada. Her designs are lovely, but the colors rather dark overall. And I wasn't crazy about her hooking style. Unlike those "soldiers on parade," her loops look like mine did when I first startedÂangled every which way. Still, the book inspired me the way all books and articles about hooking do.

Susan