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Here Is a Quick Guide On How To Complete A Latch Hook Kit or Latch Hook Rug:
Its easy and its fun.
First of all you need to have a latch hook kit. It usually includes yarn and the grid to make the design. You may have to purchase the hook separately. Then, once you have your kit out, look at the paper that shows which colors to use where.
Choose the color that goes in that spot. Now grab the latch hook kit with your left or right hand with the latch side pointing up. With your other hand take the string, wrap it around the shank and even out the ends, and hold it. The other hand should still be holding the latch hook kit.
Then, put the top of the latch hook kit in one hole of the grid and out the hole directly above it. After you do that make sure the latch is open and take the ends to the right side of the latch and hold it with the string going in-between the latch and the hook.
Now all you have to do is pull the latch hook back through the hole. When you do, the latch should close around the string and make a knot. Pull on the ends to make the knot tighter. If you mess up you can always pull the knot out.
Always go in rows from left to right starting in the bottom left corner. Never ever skip around.
I hope you like latch hooking as much as I do. It passes time away and i find it very relaxing.
We Hope you find all the latch hook kits you need at Maries, but please contact us if you cannot find the one that you are looking for.
Marie x
Traditional Latch Hook rug hooking
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Traditional Latch Hook Kits hooking is a craft where Latch Hook rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a crochet-type hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage. In contrast latch hook ing uses a hinged hook to form a knotted pile from short, pre-cut pieces of yarn.
Wool strips ranging in size from 3/32 to 10/32 of an inch (2 to 8 cm) in width are often used to create hooked rugs or wall hangings. These precision strips are usually cut using a mechanical cloth slitter, however, the strips can also be hand-cut or torn. When using the hand-torn technique the rugs are usually done in a primitive motif.
Designs for the rugs are often commercially produced and can be as complex as flowers or animals to as simple as geometrics. Rug-hooking has been popular in North America for at least the past 200 years.
History of rug hooking
The author William Winthrop Kent believed that the earliest forebears of hooked rugs were the floor mats made in Yorkshire, England during the early part of the 19th century. Workers in weaving mills were allowed to collect thrums, pieces of yarn that ran 9 inches (23 cm) long. These by-products were useless to the mill, and the weavers took them home and pulled the thrums through a backing. The origins of the word thrum are ancient, as Mr. Kent pointed out a reference in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor.
Latch Hook Rug hooking as we know it today developed in North America, specifically along the Eastern Seaboard in New England in the United States and the Canadian Maritimes. In its earliest years, rug hooking was a craft of poverty. The vogue for floor coverings in the United States came about after 1830 when factories produced machine-made carpets for the rich. Poor women began looking through their scrap bags for materials to employ in creating their own home-made floor coverings. Women employed whatever materials they had available. Girls from wealthy families were sent to school to learn embroidery and quilting; fashioning floor rugs and mats was never part of the curriculum. Another sign that hooking was the pastime of the poor is the fact that popular ladies magazines in the 19th century never wrote about rug hooking. It was considered a country craft in the days when the word country, used in this context, was derogatory.
Since hooking was a craft of poverty, rugmakers put to use whatever materials were available. Antique hooked rugs were created on burlap after 1850 because burlap was free as long as one used old grain and feed bags. Every and any scrap of fiber that was no longer usable as clothing was put into rugs. In the United States, yarn was not a fiber of choice if one did not have access to thrums. Yarn was too precious, and had to be saved for knitting and weaving. Instead the tradition of using scraps of fabric evolved. Yarns and other creatively used materials have always been used for hooked rugs in the Canadian Maritimes. The well-known Cheticamp hooked rugs used finely spun yarns and the highly valuable Grenfell mats were meticulously hooked with recycled jerseys. Everything from cotton t-shirts to nylon stockings were cut and used.
The modern preference for using only cut wool strips in hooked rugs originated with Pearl McGown in the 1930s, and may have saved the craft from disappearing in the United States. Mrs. McGown popularized strict guidelines for rug hooking and formalized its study.
Rug hooking today
In more recent decades hookers have followed quilters in exploring new materials and new techniques. This experimentation, combined with knowledge and respect for the past, will allow rug hooking to evolve and grow in the 21st century. While there are many well-known designers of rugs like Bev Conway, Karen Kahle, Anne-Marie Littenberg and Davey DeGraff, many hookers prefer to create their own patterns. Hookers, like quilters, often meet in small groups to pursue their hobby in a social setting. One notable exposition of the craft is the annual Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild Show, which is held annually at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Hookers are also taking advantage of the internet. Online group meetings are becoming more popular, allowing hookers around the world to share their passion. One example is Phyllis Lindblade's Yahoo group, Rughookers, which offers its members hooking advice and an extensive gallery of rug photos. A Bulletin Board style forum started Dec. 07 and welcoming new members is Latch Hook ing, A Community for Latch Hook ed Rug Lovers. There are many groups throughout the country that meet and have exhibits. ATHA(Association of Traditional Hooking Artists), an organization that stresses openness to all designers and encourages creativity in the craft has many chapters which meet to exchange ideas.
thanks to wikipedia for this information
Braided rugs are made by using three or more strips of fabric, usually wool, folding the raw edges to the middle and braiding them together. For an oval rug the center braid should be one inch longer than the width-length in feet. example 2' x 4' rug center strip would be 2'2" long. The center braid is laced together and new strips are sewn on to make the braid longer as lacing continues.
Traditional rug hooking is a craft where rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, rug warp or monks cloth. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a latch hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage.
Rag rugs were commonly made in households up to the middle of the 20th century by using odd scraps of fabric on a background of old sacking.
Using either yarn or strips of cloth, you work with the punch tool from the back side of the pattern. The Monk’s cloth backing is tightly stretched on to a frame. Every time you punch the needle down through the backing, it makes a long thread on the right side of the rug. Then, as you lift the needle, it automatically makes it into a loop. These loops pack together to create a rug so solid that chewing dogs and clawing cats are its only enemy. As long as you use the tool correctly, it will automatically make all the loops the same length.
Sometimes referred to as "speed hooking", this method of rug hooking is loved for its ease and speed.
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