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Rug hooking is both an art and a craft where rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a crochet-type hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage. In contrast latch-hooking uses a hinged hook to form a knotted pile from short, pre-cut pieces of yarn. Wool strips ranging in size from 3/32 to 10/32 of an inch (2 to 8 mm) in width are often used to create hooked rugs or wall hangings. These precision strips are usually cut using a mechanical cloth slitter; however, the strips can also be hand-cut or torn. When using the hand-torn technique the rugs are usually done in a primitive motif. Designs for the rugs are often commercially produced and can be as complex as flowers or animals to as simple as geometrics. Rug-hooking has been popular in North America for at least the past 200 years. == History of rug hooking == The author William Winthrop Kent believed that the earliest forebears of hooked rugs were the floor mats made in Yorkshire, England during the early part of the 19th century. Workers in weaving mills were allowed to collect thrums, pieces of yarn that ran 9 inches (23 cm) long. These by-products were useless to the mill, and the weavers took them home and pulled the thrums through a backing. The origins of the word thrum are ancient, as Mr. Kent pointed out a reference in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. However, in the publication "Rag Rug Making" by Jenni Stuart-Anderson, ISBN 978-1-900371-53-7 Stuart-Anderson states that the most recent research indicates "...the technique of hooking woolen loops through a base fabric was used by the Vikings, whose families probably brought it to Scotland." To add to this there are sound examples at the Folk Museum in Guernsey, Channel Islands that early rag rugs made in the same manner where produced off the coast of France as well. Rug hooking as we know it today may have developed in North America, specifically along the Eastern Seaboard in New England in the United States, the Canadian Maritimes, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In its earliest years, rug hooking was a craft of poverty. The vogue for floor coverings in the United States came about after 1830 when factories produced machine-made carpets for the rich. Poor women began looking through their scrap bags for materials to employ in creating their own home-made floor coverings. Women employed whatever materials they had available. Girls from wealthy families were sent to school to learn embroidery and quilting; fashioning floor rugs and mats was never part of the curriculum. Another sign that hooking was the pastime of the poor is the fact that popular ladies magazines in the 19th century never wrote about rug hooking. It was considered a ''country'' craft in the days when the word country, used in this context, was derogatory. Today rug hooking or mat making as it is sometimes referred to has been labeled in Canada as a fine art. Since hooking was a craft of poverty, rug makers put to use whatever materials were available. Antique hooked rugs were created on burlap after 1850 because burlap was free as long as one used old grain and feed bags. Every and any scrap of fiber that was no longer usable as clothing was put into rugs. In the United States, yarn was not a fiber of choice if one did not have access to thrums. Yarn was too precious, and had to be saved for knitting and weaving. Instead the tradition of using scraps of fabric evolved. Yarns and other creatively used materials have always been used for hooked rugs in the Canadian Maritimes. The well-known Cheticamp hooked rugs used finely spun yarns and the highly collectible Grenfell mats were meticulously hooked with recycled jerseys. Everything from cotton T-shirts to nylon stockings were cut and used. The modern preference for using only cut wool strips in hooked rugs originated with Pearl McGown〔(Pearl McGown )〕 in the 1930s, who may have saved the craft from disappearing in the United States. Mrs. McGown popularized strict guidelines for rug hooking and formalized its study. However the Grenfell Mission had previously and as early as 1916 established the same strict guidelines as structured by Lady Anne Grenfell wife of Sir Wilfred Grenfell as indicated in Paula Laverty's book "Silk Stocking Mats". Inventions for Rug Hooking with Ease In the 1930s the handicraft of rug hooking spread to Denmark where it flourished. In 1939, Ernst Thomsen from Hjørring in Denmark invented an unusually reliable handheld sewing machine to do rug hooking with yarn. At first, it was made of brass but as this was not durable enough, they changed the material to stainless steel. This tool had two advantages 1) the speed of the rug hooking made it possible to create carpets that could cover the floors in the homes. But also, as a side effect, people who started rug hooking did not get the same problems with their arms, hands and shoulders that traditional rug hooking might result in. Despite the fact that the “Danella” already at the turn of the first year was prepared in 6,000 pieces, the war put a provisional stop to the propagation. The tools were instead on stock at the bank throughout the war. Ernst Thomsen was namely a banker and the switch to manufacturer was not realized until 1950 where Europe was up and running again. The production was soon extended to include carpet designs. Patterns were printed on canvas and together with worsted yarn; it was sent out to about 300 permanent embroidery shops in Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. There was also a large amount of tools exported to France, UK, USA and Canada. In the 1980´s the method was imported to Japan and South Africa. In 1949, the tool was marketed under the name "Aladdin". Approximately 10 years later, the needle again got a new name: the "Danella". Ernst employed his artistic daughter, Jane Dyrdal to design the carpets. Ernst Thomsen's daughter and son-in-law, Jane and Kåre Dyrdal took over the firm in 1978 where Ernst died and they ran it until 1987, when they decided to sell it to a rug-hooking teacher called Sussi Lunden. Sussi Lunden runs Danella today in 2015 on the farm Ulstrup as she has developed the business into also being an embroidery shop. 〔http://vendsysselwiki.dk/index.php/Smyrnan%C3%A5len〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「rug hooking」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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