Latch Hook Rug Kits

History & Background

Latch Hooking is a popular hobby. The ease at which latch hooking can be learned has made it a popular kid craft as well. It is usually done for pure pleasure and relaxation, and the finished products are generally displayed as a proud decoration rather then used as a stepping mat- as its name may imply. Latch hook rug materials can be bought in nifty all inclusive packages. These packages include a hard net-like material with a colored pattern, loads of pieces of cut yarn wrapped neatly by color and a latch hook. The latch hook is a stick with a hook at the end of it which is closed by a hinged piece (or latch.)

However, this easy craft has a long history. Latch hooking was actually born from another type of crafting called rug hooking. This craft is believed to have begun in the early nineteen hundreds in Yorkshire England. There weaving mill workers used to collect the useless scraps or thrums which could be up to 9 inches long. At home, the impoverished workers would pull the thrums through a backing to create a rug.

Then, in the 1830s machine made carpets entered the stage. The poor, who could not afford these costly rugs, looked for ways to produce their own. They usually used burlap as a backing since they could find free pieces from old grain and feed bags. They tied to it any materials they could get for free including old rags and clothing.

Though the rook hooking materials may be very different then they were today, the process was not. The hook they used, was an open hook, similar to the crochet hook of today. With the hook, loops of yarn were pulled through the burlap or any other stiff woven base.

In the early nineteen hundreds rug hooking was a dying activity. Then in 1930 Pearl reintroduced the craft for the sake of the craft rather than the sake of the rug. She set up a set of rules and guidelines for wig crafting and set out to teach it. Instead of using old scraps of junk, she taught people to use quality yarn of wool 2-8 centimeters long.

Though the method of latch hooking is very different, it is certainly a tamed down version of rug hooking.

How to Latch Hook

Custom latch hook design

You have a few choices of how to get your own latch hook design

1. Draw your own design with permanent marker on your latch hook canvas. Remember the canvas is full of holes. If you don't have a paper underneath, you will have marker marks on your table.

2. Draw a picture on a paper, or take a ready made paper. If you don't want to ruin the original, make a photocopy of it. You can also use the photocopy machine to resize it if it is the picture is the wrong size. Just be sure to keep the proportion intact. Place the paper underneath canvas and trace on canvas.

3. Use a latch hook design computer program such as Latch Hook Rugware© (http://www.hobbysoftware.com/) these programs allow you to specify the exact size of your canvas and the density of the boxes. You can either draw a picture or import one. The program will then print out the picture on a grid with numbers inside the boxes. Follow the pattern as you latch hook.

Then you have to buy yarn. You can either buy cut yarn or cut it yourself. Latch hook computer programs will tell you how much yarn you need. Otherwise you will have to count the boxes, noting how many of each color fill each box.

Latch Hook Kits

If you are seeking an easier latch hooking experience, you would probably be best off going with a latch hook kit. These kits come with pre-designed canvases and precut yarn to fill the pattern. You can buy these kits online, in a yarn store or in a crafts store. All you have to do is choose a size range and then choose a design that comes in that size range.

The latch hooking process.

Whether you bought a kit or gathered the materials yourself, once you have all the supplies you are ready to begin. Latch hooking is really simple and once you did a few rows of knots, it will probably become automatic.

1. Pull the latch hook under one horizontal line in the canvas and then back over the next. The point, slightly below where the hook part ends should be the part that's under the canvas. The hook should be open

2. Folding the yarn around the latch hook a bit below the hook (and the canvas piece covering the hook)

3. Place the two sides of the yarn inside the hook area

4. Pull the latch hook back. As you pull, you should see the hook part closing

5. Pull until you have pulled the latch hook out from under the canvas. You should now see a formed by the yarn around the canvas

6. release the yarn from the hook

7. make sure the two side are even and pull tight

8. Repeat until the whole canvas is filled.

Usages

Although, if you make a big enough rug it can work as a floor mat or rug this is not suggested. The yarn you use for latch rugs is usually not the highest quality and will get ruined easily. Besides, no one wants to see all their hard work stepped on like that. Instead most people frame their hook rugs and display it on the wall as a piece of art. Because it is one.

Tips

• Be realistic with yourself. If you know you lose interest in projects after a while, then start off with a smaller hook rug- you can always buy a second. This is especially true for small children who get very excited about projects in the beginning but lose interest soon after. Remember, there are millions of unfinished hook rugs out there that could have been finished if people wouldn't have been overly ambitious when they bought it.

• For anyone not using a ready made pattern, leave at least one inch empty around each corner. You will need this to finish off your project