I’m always checking out books on rugmaking from my local library and the latest one I found was “Twined Rag Rugs” by Bobbie Irwin. Reading this book was my first introduction to twined rugs. I had heard about them, but really didn’t know very much about them.

Twined rugs can be made using a pegged frame, unpegged frame, hoop, conventional loom or no frame at all. Like woven rugs, twined rugs have warps and wefts. The warp of a twined rug is generally only seen at the top and the bottom of the rug. The weft is what you see and is made up of two or three pieces of fabric that are twisted, cover and tie the warps together.

I like the simplicity of twined rugs. Like any other method of rugmaking, you can get as creative and complicated as you want, but if you’re just starting out, you can make a beautiful rug, using a simple pattern. I also like the fact that you really don’t need to spend a lot of money and you don’t need a lot of equipment to get started.

“Twined Rag Rugs” explains in detail the equipment and materials used. It gives instructions for building small frames for samplers and a frame with suspended wires or a Salish loom for making larger rugs. Bobbie Irwin encourages everyone to learn twining by starting with a sampler and includes instructions for making nine different samplers, each of which offer new techniques, so you can select a method that’s most suitable to you before starting a larger rug. She also includes patterns and instructions for ten different rugs.

This book is full of step by step pictures and diagrams. I started making one of the samplers and found it very easy to follow the pictures. After working on the sampler, I understand why Bobbie encourages you to start with a sampler. Although it’s not difficult, it takes a little practice to keep the wefts even and to get the hang of twisting and crossing over the warps.

If you are interested in learning to twine, this book is excellent place to start. “Twined Rag Rugs” by Bobbie Irwin can be found at your local library, some of your favorite bookstores or online at Amazon.com.

Buy Twined Rag Rugs: Tradition in the Making from Amazon.com