People have been for centuries, it is believed that it became popular in the 19th century when women from rural areas in New England started making these rugs as a means of in their homes. Hand hooked rugs have since become very popular all over the world including the United States and Canada. Because rug hooking is not a very difficult task many women do rug hooking as a hobby, something to help them pass the time, while at the same time creating beautiful rugs to place in their homes.



These rugs can be seen in museums around the world and there are now internet sites that offer these hand hooked rugs for sale as well as those that have instructions on how to make them. They come in a to choose from and are not very difficult to make. They are made with the use of a small hook attached to a wooden handle, that pulls strips of wool through a backing. These hooks looks quite like what someone would use to do crochet. These rugs can be designed to suit the individual taste, and they can include abstract designs, landscapes or anything that your mind can imagine, some have even been made as murals using the face of actual people.

Here are some basic guidelines on how hand hooked rugs are made.

You start by stretching burlap in a hoop placing the design side up, make sure it is taut, then you can rest your hoop on a table or if you feel more comfortable you can rest it on your knee.

Next using your left hand hold the end of the woolen strand between your thumb and forefinger.

Hold the hook with your right hand just like you would hold a pencil or pen.

Now place the wool that is in your left hand beneath the burlap and use your right hand to push the hook through the mesh making sure that the shaft of the hook is touching your left forefinger, behind the strip of wool, at this point the barb should hit your thumb and push the wool onto the hook.

Now to start the strip you will have to pull the end of strip through weave to about 1/2 inch, then push the hook into the next weave, while catching wool and puling to form a loop as high as the width of the strip.

Keep working from right to left and make even loops that slightly touch each other and when your each the end pull it through the weave. When the first strip is finished you can start the second strip in the same weave where the tail ended. Continue this procedure until you have finished making your rug, and be sure and trim off all excess wood, so your rug will look smooth and finished.