And so begins the twined rag rug...

This afternoon, October 6, 2013, my husband completed
construction of a 27" x 36" red oak loom for me. The
loom will be used for twining a rag rug, which is a
very old, yet still very unique method of weaving
cloth into itself, forming a thick mat, or rug.

Years ago, I found myself enamored by rag rugs, yet
did not manage to get around to actually making one
until I happened upon an 'all you can stuff into a
bag for one price' sale at a local thrift store.
Making my way around the store, I found four pot
holders that were made using the reminiscent square
frame with pegs, reminding me of weaving rugs.



Although my loom of long ago was metal, and painted red, if I remember
correctly, today's looms are made of plastic. Because I had such fond
memories of making similar pads as a child, I bought the four pads during
the sale. Making my way around the store, a giant double-rack display
of T-shirts caught my eye. All the shirts I could fit into a bag? Potholders?
Looms? It was time to make a rug!

For fun, I bought a children's weaving loom / pot holder making kit at a local box
store, made a pot holder and giggled. After the pad was finished, the wheels began to
turn. When I arrived home with my bounty of T-shirts, I quickly pulled out all of my
rag rug books collected over the years, surfed the internet for days, and daydreamed
of rugs.

And then I found it.

Nancy Vandenberg's blog - Wyoming Breezes.
Nancy is an amazing woman with a warm heart and enough talent to shame you under the table
for trying. She is quite a twiner, and in fact, has the most amazing black-and-white photo
of her own mother twining genuine rag rugs years ago. I fell in love with her site, and once
I found her instructions for making my own loom, there was no turning back. I began to stalk
her every wonderful blog post with admiration. With Nancy as my inspiration, here goes...

Stay tuned for updates and hopefully, completion.