From an early age it was rug making that interested me the most in the line of textile work. I made a number of rya rugs using those pre-cut lengths of wool and I also made braided rugs and pompom rugs. When I went to college I took my rug making materials but hardly had time to do any rugs. A long gap occurred until the children started to come along and then I returned to rug making. So there are many rugs in my past – many have been sold, some have just disappeared, and some have been used and used and used and are still with us. Here are some pictures showing some of them in use now in our Seattle house.
flat woven rug, woven on my Glimakra loom in Bhutan, 1986
flat weave with rya, done in Bhutan, 1986
circular braided rug, done using 3 strands of rug wool, Dublin, c. 1997
crocheted rug, Dublin, c. 1998
card woven strips joined to make a rug, Dublin, c. 1984
hand tufted rug based on a Norwegian design, c. 1971
In another post I’ll show my inventory of rugs for sale. My stock is low but I do plan to get a big loom again and get back to what I like doing most.
One of the first books I had about rug making was Fern Carter’s Braided Rug Book. I acquired this in the 1950’s. It was a favourite and I browsed it many times. Fern Carter lived in Oregon. I no longer have my copy of the book but now that we are back on the West Coast maybe I will be lucky and will find a copy 2nd hand.
