LOCKER HOOKING
A NEW APPLICATION FOR PORTUGUESE ARRAIOLOS CARPET WOOL!
Locker Hooking is not a new stitch, but its origins are obscure.
It is said to have been popular in Great Britain in the 1920's, using six-ply rug wool, but its popularity diminished.
In America locker hooking made an appearance around the 1940's, but in this form, interest in the craft faded.
In Ireland, locker hooking can apparently still be found, using unspun staples of fleece and this is where the Australian Patricia Benson discovered it in the 1970's.
Patricia promoted the craft in Australia, using fleece from the sheep's back, and this has since become known as Australian Locker Hooking, and in that form, has found its way back into America and Great Britain, albeit on a small scale.
Not everyone has their own flock of sheep and therefore access to abundant raw material, so I hope that this book, introducing Locker Hooking with Arraiolos Wool, will help to publicise the craft, its potential and its pleasures.
Locker Hooking is the technique of pulling up loops of wool through the holes of a Smyrna-type canvas, using a long locker hook with a crochet hook at one end and an eye at the other.
The eye carries the locking thread which is pulled through the loops when the hook is full, so securing the loops on top of the canvas.
Locker Hooking is versatile and much faster than the Smyrna technique and produces thick, dense carpets, rugs, wallhangings, cushions, handbags, table runner,etc.
It can be made as simple or as challenging and intricate as you like, can produce basic items right through to extremely artistic items, and is always an expression of your creativity and your competence.
Gudrun Robinson - Quinta Holanda - Vale de Carvalho - 8150-062 São Brás de Alportel, Algarve, Portugal.
Tel: 289 991 159 - sales@gudrun-robinson.com
