Hooked Carpets

Hooked carpets/ Hooked rugs are well known and one of the most popular types of floor coverings. Practice of hooking rugs and carpets is not new. This practice is prevalent since many centuries. Hooked rugs and carpets manufacturing reflect great artistic skill and craftsmanship. It is no ordinary art. It is an art that gives your place a new meaning, a new look and a touch of the royalty.

History
The rug hooking practice history can be traced to Ancient Egypt. In 4th and 5th century A.D this practice was common in Egypt. From Egypt, hooked rugs reached to Arab through Arab travelers. Arabs taught hooked carpet and rug making to the people of Spain. In due course of time this practice spreaded to whole of Europe and North America. Initially neither chemical dyes nor Aniline dyes were known. People utilized natural sources to color the hooked rugs. The prominent dyeing sources were roots, vegetables, barks, flowers, fruits and berries.

Hooked Carpets Category
Hooked carpets can be categorized as:

• Latch Hook carpets
• Primitive Hooked carpets
• Antique Hooked carpets

Know Before You Buy If you are planning to buy hooked rugs then remember that they are manufactured in variety of gauges. Gauges signifies two things- amount of detail that will be present in the rug and the the depth of the pile height. There are three gauges used for making hooked rugs- gross point, petit point and micro point. Secondly examine the materials used, determine the style and color and then make the final decision s to purchase the hooked rugs.

Modern hooked Carpets
Hooked carpets are one of the most sought after home decor product across the world. Available in numerous designs, patterns and colors they can give your home a new focus. Modern hooked carpets are durable, last longer and beautiful. Hooked rugs come in variety of styles like traditional, Oriental, Persian, formal, casual and contemporary. These rugs can add warmth to your room and can transform a drab room into full of colors. It is a small investment for reinventing one's room.

Other types of hooked Carpets
On the basis of different pile height and loops, hooked rugs can be categorized as:

Gross Point Hooked carpets
Grass point hooked carpets are constructed in thick loops. These carpets consist of long piles and less details. The pile height of gross point hooked rugs is usually about ½ inch.

Petit Point Hooked carpets
The pile height of the carpet is ¼ inches high. They are neither intricate nor rustic. They are also moderately detailed.

Micro Point Hooked rugs
Micro point hooked rugs are finely detailed and intricately patterned. Pile height is one eighth of an inch.

Materials used in hooked carpets
Hooked rugs and carpets are manufactured using following materials:

Wool
Wool is the most preferred material for making hooked rugs and carpets. Almost 95% of the hooked carpets manufactured today are of wool. Wool provide warmth to the room and are luxurious, strong, resilient and soft.

Cotton
Cotton is another material though less common than wool for manufacturing hooked rugs and carpets. Cotton can absorb colors more easily hence they can be dyed with exquisite range of colors. Cotton hooked carpets however should be protected from dusts and cleaned regularly. They are good for low traffic area.

Acrylic
Acrylic is cheap alternative of wool. They give feel and appearance of wool. However Acrylic hooked rugs do not absorb as steadily as cotton neither they are durable like cotton hooked carpets.

Styles Of Hooked Rugs

Floral hooked Rugs
If you want to add color to your room, then Floral hooked rugs are the best choice. Floral design hooked rugs in various colors have the ability to enlighten your room. Colorful rugs with bright colors and variety of themes can add excitement to your room.


Contemporary hooked Rugs
Contemporary hooked Rugs and carpets are available in different shapes like round, rectangular, oval, square and so on and are capable enough to add bold statement to your room. Modern in design and traditional in techniques, these rugs promise luxury to your room.


Antique hooked Rugs
Antique hooked Rugs are designed and manufactured with traditional patterns. Most common types of these rugs are one having Oriental and Persian patterns. Antique hooked rugs look great in the entrance to a home or in a dining room.

Designs
Design is the most distinctive and the striking feature of a hooked rug. Earlier designs were not planned. The patterns differ from artist to artist and from regions to regions. In earlier patterns, geometrical pattern was followed by few of the craftsman. Craftsman designed the hooked rugs using their own creative imaginations. Slowly and gradually pictorial pattern also began to be used.

Design and pattern was also influenced by the local surroundings and culture. For example in France French Pattern, In England English pattern, in mid Atlantic States Dutch influence prevailed. In the modern period many of the older patterns are followed. Some of the designs that are continuously depicted on the hooked rugs are marine designs, scenes depicted from farmyards, floral designs, geometrical designs, animal designs, detached leaves or buds and so on.

Rug hooking Rug hooking is a popular practice of making artistic rugs. In this type of craft, loop of yarn or other fabrics are pulled through a stiff base such as canvas, burlap or linen. Crochet hook is generally used for pulling the loops through the base. Hooking takes place through various means depending on which different kind of loops of varying sizes are formed. Rug hooking enables the artists to create unique and very fine designs.