Learn the art of designing and making a Nordic traditions rya rug. With this book, you can make authentic, heirloom-quality rya rugs without a loom or special equipment and enjoy them as art on the walls, floors, beds, and more. Ryas have a long history. In the days of the Vikings, ryas were woven on looms with a wool pile that gave warm insulation in the cold winters as warm cloaks on a freezing sea, sleigh blankets, and as bed coverings. After World War II, Nordic countries marketed their signature crafts around the world. They wove backings, spun hardy rya yarns, and designed kits easily made by beginners. These industries thrived throughout the midcentury modern era, but suddenly supplies became difficult to find when fashions trends changed. From the late 1970s to recent times, not only supplies, but experienced teachers were very hard to find. Melinda Purcell Byrd was born into a rya rug family. Her grandparents, Bill and Angelina Lundgren from Northboro, Massachusetts began importing Swedish rya supplies the year she was born. They established a thriving business by providing kits and custom designs in rya across the United States. Melinda designed and made her first when she was 11 years old. After college, she worked with her grandparents as designer, teacher, and business manager becoming proficient in all things rya. After fashions trends changed, Lundgren Rya, along with dozens of other suppliers in the USA and Europe closed their doors.Thirty years later Byrd has used her experience and the Internet to revive rya rug making and provide a resource for currently available supplies as well as teach how to use them. In her book, history of how this craft began, thrived, and was nearly lost is shared. She demystifies the designing process and gives detailed examples of various designing techniques for right-brained and left-brained thinkers. You'll find personal story profiles of other rya pilgrims, innovators, and visionaries to inspire you. Full of colorful illustrative photos by award-winning photographer, Ken Koons, this book will move you to join the rya rug revival and make your own rya rugs!

Table of Contents Introduction Tools Required Latch Rug Hooking Frames --Precut wool Locker Needle Hooking Pile Rug Making Rugs with Rug Guns Punching needles and other tools Rug Weaving Rag Rugs with Recycled Scraps --Using a Shaggy Rug Tool Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Introduction I was just browsing through my own personal library, looking at all the vintage craft books, but I did not find a book with instructions on how to make rugs. I could make Victorian crochet doilies, knitted mittens, scarfs, some articles of clothing called fascinators, and even socks and knickerbockers, but what about rugs? It is only later that I found out that according to the Victorians rug making was not considered to be a genteel occupation, which could be indulged in by the daughters and wives of gentlemen. These languishing ladies would sit in front of the embroidery frame, plying a needle, while dining of strawberries and cream, no doubt, while rug making was done by people of lower social strata. Nevertheless, we are fortunate that we have stopped thinking of such idiotic considerations in order to make rugs. So this book is going to tell you all about the art of rug making, and you are going to let your creativity loose in making these amazingly beautiful items for your home.

Learn to make beautiful punch needle hooked rugs with veteran instructor Amy Oxford. A complete "how to" photo essay walks you through every stage of rug making. A question and answer section, interviews with professional punch needle rug hookers, and photographs of work from some of the field's most innovative and inspired craftspeople make this book a must for any textile lover.

Learn everything you need to know to successfully complete 18 authentic folk art projects. Woolley Fox American Folk Art Rug Hooking is filled with inspiration, how-to basics, and projects with patterns. Understand the essentials from the detailed instructions and photography for working with wool, dyeing, cutting, hooking, finishing, and more. Finally, try your hand at 18 step-by-step rug hooking projects, each one inspired by leading American folk artists!

Navajo blankets, rugs, and tapestries are the best-known, most-admired, and most-collected textiles in North America. There are scores of books about Navajo weaving, but no other book like this one. For the first time, master Navajo weavers themselves share the deep, inside story of how these textiles are created, and how their creation resonates in Navajo culture. Want to weave a high-quality, Navajo-style rug? This book has detailed how-to instructions, meticulously illustrated by a Navajo artist, from warping the loom to important finishing touches. Want to understand the deeper meaning? You'll learn why the fixed parts of the loom are male, and the working parts are female. You'll learn how weaving relates to the earth, the sky, and the sacred directions. You'll learn how the Navajo people were given their weaving tradition (and it wasn't borrowed from the Pueblos!), and how important a weaver's attitude and spirit are to creating successful rugs. You'll learn what it means to live in hózhó, the Beauty Way. Family stories from seven generations of weavers lend charm and special insights. Characteristic Native American humor is not in short supply. Their contribution to cultural understanding and the preservation of their craft is priceless.