Because rug hooking is not an exact art, such as needlepoint or counted cross stitch, it allows much more room for personal expression. There's really no such thing as a "bad" hand-hooked rug, because even the poorest of designs still have personal charm. (Just look at some of the old, valuable naive rugs.) This means you don't have to be an artist to design your own hooked rugs. . . anyone can do it.

Rug hooking is like coloring in a coloring book, you simply outline an area and then fill it in with colored wool. It isn't necessary to count stitches, worry about dropped stitches or to fill every hole of the backing ~ making it the perfect craft for everyone.

Getting Started

STEP 1: Start hooking your rug with a color plan. Have the wool strips you'll be using cut and ready before you begin. Be sure to have enough wool strips for your background areas. (Five folds of wool that cover the background area you're hooking should be enough.)

STEP 2: Gather your color strips together for the first section you'll be working on. Have your hook, a pair of good scissors and a snippet bag ready.

STEP 3: Select a comfortable chair with a back. If there are arms on the chair make sure they don't restrict your movement. Make sure your feet are touching the floor.

STEP 4: Sit with your feet placed several inches apart on the floor. Sit up straight at your frame, if you're using one - most of us do, but not everyone does. Keep the section of the design you are hooking positioned in the middle of your frame, or centered on your lap.

Start Hooking

STEP 1: With the backing material of your choice (burlap, monks cloth or linen) tightly placed on your frame, or with the edges tucked under your legs if you don't use a frame, place your left hand (if you are left-handed, use your right hand) under the backing. Your fingers underneath will feed the wool strip onto the hook. This will help you keep the wool strip from twisting and will keep it at the proper tension for pulling it up through the backing. (See more about this in my "hints" below)

STEP 2: Insert your hook into the backing from the top, right where you want a loop to come up, and carefully hook onto the strip of wool that your left hand is holding underneath. (Always hook just inside the drawn lines of your various design elements to keep them from "growing".)

STEP 3: You can start with any color, but it is best to start somewhere in the center of your entire design and then work outward. Start by leaving a wool strip tail on top about a half inch long, then pull your first loop up through the backing being careful not to twist it. It should be about as high as the wool strip is wide. (1/4" wide strip = 1/4" high loop, etc.) Go down and up, again and again, with your hook to form the loops. When you reach the end of the strip of wool, just pull it up and leave a little tail on top. Get another strip of wool and, going into the last hole you left - the same hole where the tail is - bring up another tail and start hooking again.  

STEP 4: When you place the wool strip on the hook underneath, hold it with your fingers. Draw the loop up through your backing, pulling up gently until your loop "stops." You should feel it as it tightens and rests against the backing. This will produce a smooth stitch on the back of your work. (In the beginning, you might want to look to be sure the wool strip is lying flat and is not twisted or hanging down on the backside of your work.)

Note: A good way to control your loop height is to bring the loop up on your hook to about a 1/2 inch high over the surface - using your underneath hand, pull it gently back down to the height you want it before removing it from your hook. Pull the loop up and then slowly back down to the right height. With practice, they will form an even pile.

STEP 5: Continue with this process until the design element you are working on is filled with loops.

STEP 6: When the shape you are hooking is filled in, bring your last loop up leaving a tail. You can leave your tails on top of the rug until you are done hooking each area and then trim them down all at once, or you can trim them as you go. (Being a neat-nik, I like to keep mine trimmed as I go.)

STEP 7: When the rug is all finished, lay it face down on a smooth, solid surface and cover it with a wet, wrung-out, towel. Press down with a hot iron in up and down motions (don't iron it back and forth like a shirt.) Move slowly, pouncing from the center of the rug outward, until you have steamed the entire back; if necessary, square it as you go. Let it dry overnight.

Additional Hints:

If you space your loops too closely together, (this is called "packing") you can end up with a lumpy, distorted rug. This 'tight packing habit' can also cause you to have difficulty poking your hook through the backing material while hooking. A too-packed hooked rug will have a tendency to curl under or buckle, instead of lying flat, so try not to pack your loops too closely together. A hooked rug needs some space to dislodge dirt from shoes and so forth.... so a leaving a couple of threads between the loops is a good idea.

The wool strips should come up through the backing easily. If they do not, the strip is probably twisted. Twisted strips on the back or front are a no-no... unless they are purposely being used as part of a design (like in a Santa's beard or as sheep's wool.)

Sometimes it helps to gently wiggle your hook a little bit as you come up through the backing with the strip. Straight pulling up on your hook, if done too hard, can cause the previous loops to pull out. Try resting your hand on the rug when pulling them upward and "roll them" up with the hook instead. Pull and roll, pull and roll. . . If you have pulled out some loops, don't despair. Keep on trying, it just takes practice.

If you dislike an area you've hooked, you can just pull it out completely and hook it over. (This is called "reverse hooking" - and we all do it!)

As you become more practiced at hooking you will find your loops becoming more consistent in height and spacing. Everyone develops their own method of hooking and holding their hooks. Try different ways, and just have fun!

Instead of jumping around and doing all one color, work on the next adjacent design element in a different color. This will allow you to better see your work in progress, and will prevent you from getting bored. Remember to outline first (inside the lines) and then fill-in.

Don't cross your wool strips over each other on the backside when hooking from one spot to another. Cut them off and start anew. Crossed strips on the back can create lumps that will be discernible when the rug is on the floor, and they can cause a rug to wear faster. (This won't matter as much for hooked wall hangings, but it's a good habit not to get into.)

You will see some backing showing on the reverse side between your rows of wool. This is normal. However, any large gaps on the back should be filled in. This can be done after your rug is completed. (Mark them with toothpicks and then fill them in with a few loops.)

Binding Your Rug

To bind off your rug use a sewing machine or do it by hand. If you use a sewing machine, sew a row of zig-zag stitching approximately 1/2 inch from the hooked edge of the rug. If your sewing machine does not have a zig-zag attachment then just use two rows of standard stitching. Then, trim off the excess backing, leaving about two inches to fold under. (You can also sew a strip of cotton rug binding along the edge of the backing)

There are many different ways of binding your rug. One method some find satisfactory is to wrap the rug edges using wool strips from the rug design. If you choose to use this method it will be necessary to have many, many long strips of your chosen wool color still available. Plan ahead if you'll be using this method.

Others like to use upholstery cording, that is approximately 1/4" to 3/8" in circumference, around their rugs. Place the cording right next to the finished edge of the rug and snugly wrap the trimmed backing material around the cording. Basting it, or holding it there as you work, overcast around both the backing and the cording with wool yarn, using a large-eyed, circular upholstery needle. (Choose a yarn color close to one that is already in the rug, or dye some yarn to match.)

Sew the yarn around the cording and backing, closely but neatly, being careful to cover it completely. (It's easiest to do the corners by first mitering the backing material and then basting it around the cording with thread.) The finished corners might seem a bit bulky at first, but they will lay flat when you steam press them.

When the cording is all wrapped with yarn, hand sew cotton rug binding tape all the way around the rug close to the cording - covering the cut edge of the left-over backing - then hem the outer edge of the rug tape down.

Remember, the most important thing of all... is to be a "Happy Hooker!"

(Feel free to copy and print these instructions for your personal use.)