Rug Hooking - General Information

In recent decades, rug hookers have been exploring new materials and new techniques. This experimentation (combined with knowledge and respect for the past) has allowed rug hooking to evolve and grow into an exciting and creative form of art. We are excited to be a part of this fun and social craft. 

Basically, 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. Designs of the fine-cut hooking genre use more fine shading accomplished by overdyeing wool in gradated color swatches.
• Primitive (or wide-cut) hooking uses wool strips measuring 6/32 up to 1/2-inch wide. The wide-cut hooking accomplishes shading and highlights using textures in wool, such as plaids, checks, herringbones, etc. Wide-cut designs are generally less detailed and mimic the naivety of rug hookers of the past.

What you need to start rug hooking: 

• backing material (such as Scottish Burlap)
• strips of cloth or yarns or lengths of ribbon
• frame or hoop to hold your work
• rug hook(s)
• how-to books: "The Rug Hooker's Bible" or "How to Hook Rugs" and/or DVD "Rug Hooking Learn at Home DVD 1" or DVD "Hooking and Braiding."

Nice to have: cutting machine with various cutter heads and punch needles.