Foxy hooking

Nightime Garden Fox by Dulcy Stewart. See more of her creations here.

A modern hooker

"Leslie Giuliani hooks rugs with a contemporary folk feel" says the blurb for the article in Hand/Eye magazine. See all the photos and read the article at http://handeyemagazine.com/content/modern-hooker, or check her website - www.lesliegiuliani.com.

12 ways to recycle fabric into rugs

"Archipelago" is done in cross stitch, using t-shirt fabric

Re Rag Rug is an experimental design project that explores the social and environmental sustainability of the rug. The project started in August 2012 by Katarina Brieditis and Katarina Evans. In 12 months, they created 12 unique rugs using 12 different textile techniques. Their materials were old clothing and scraps from the textile industry — fabric that otherwise would have been discarded.

They used different types of rags in combination with a variety of textile techniques: sewing, crocheting, knitting, macramé, rolling, cutting, appliqué, embroidery, structure and relief effects, three dimensionality, color and dyeing techniques - and they also experimented with scales. This resulted in 12 new types and expressions of rugs.

"Aquarelle" uses old woolen sweaters and running stitch, rather like kantha technique

"Many of the rugs were made with craft techniques that didn’t require large spaces or machines and could therefore be manufactured as cottage industry in textile producing countries," they say. "Via this mode of production, using waste is environmentally sustainable while socially sustainable. At the same time, the production becomes a platform for developing crafts and creates jobs."

(info from handeyemagazine.com/content/re-rag-rug, photos from reragrug.blogspot.se, where you can see all the rugs ... none of which is hooked!)

A snail-y rug

Who says rugs have to be symmetrical? - this is "Circus Snails" by Lori Lupe Pelish -

Lori is also a considerable quilter. See more of her rugs in the Rug Gallery on her website.

Cartoonist turns hooker

Roz Chast, who supplies cartoons to the New Yorker magazine, also hooks rugs. There's an article about her work in Hand/Eye magazine (read it, and see further photos, here).

The aspects of hooking that interest her most are colour, texture, limitation ... and leisure.

Ben Hall's rugs

A leaflet from a 1999 Crafts Council exhibition turned up recently - it mentioned a fingerprint rug by Ben Hall. Three cheers for the computer age - here it is on his website -

I also enjoyed the "carpet beater" rugs, of which this is an example -

Made of recycled denim.

On his website he says "As a maker/designer I have always been attracted to salvage and re-using materials that may have outlived their original purpose in producing something new. " He enjoys the limitations and constraints of the medium. Do look at his website to see other hooked and proddy work.