By Cheryl Patrick White

A good rug hooking kit requires very few items, is relatively inexpensive, and the craft itself is very easy to learn. Unlike a lot of crafts... when you make a "mistake", you can simple pull the wool strips out and re-use them. Of course, the larger the size of the project in the kit, the more expensive the kit will cost.

If you are just learning to be a "hooker"... then starting with a small kit offers a few advantages: (1) price and (2) short amount of time to complete, and (3) a less expensive frame can be used for small projects.

Every Rug Hooking Kit should include:

Burlap or Monk's cloth with the design drawn on it.
A ball handle hook
Enough binding to put around the edge
Enough strips of 100% wool to complete the project (My kits use strips cut 3/8" to 1/4")
Some kits include a picture to use as a color guide and others have the colors marked on the burlap/Monk's cloth
OPTIONAL - some kits are offered WITH and WITHOUT a frame

A little "hookin" history...

Rug hooking was one of the first American crafts. It was a craft born of necessity as the early settlers tried to warm the cold damp floors in their homes. They would use the empty burlap feed sacks out of the barn, a hook fashioned out of a nail, and old torn and ragged clothing.

The husband would normally make the hook out of a nail by driving it into a piece of wood and then grinding a "hook" where the nail head had been. The frame normally consisted of four boards tied or nailed together to form a square or rectangle. The women would set up the rug by the kitchen stove and hook using the old clothing that had been torn into strips. Often the children would tear or cut the rags into strips for their Mothers to use.

Rug hooking is a rich part of our American heritage. And even today, remains an enjoyable past time. Generations after our ancestors arrived in the new world, rug hooking can still be carried out without electricity or technology... the same way it was carried out years ago.

Unfortunately, because the rugs were actually USED on the floors, very few have survived for viewing today. If you are fortunate enough to have one that has been purchased or passed down in your family... CHERISH it and for goodness sake don't use it as a rug!

Cheryl White is the Head "hooker" and "stripper" at http://www.RugHooking101.com
She has been practicing her craft for over seven years and is committed to offering others any help she can provide. Feel free to contact her most any time.