Braided rugs ... .... ....

My first attempt.

Preparing cutting strips 1,5 inch.

... ... ... from New England.  My first attempt today on this grey sunday.

I fell in love with those beautiful braided rugs at the Mountain View Inn in Waitsfield from Susan and Fred Spencer. All home-made by Susan. Some of them are more then 40 years old and still in wonderful condition.

I was happy that she found time in the evening to teach me. And I was so lucky that Henk drove me to the Country Braid House in Tilton a few days later where I could buy the tools.
http://www.countrybraidhouse.com/

Mountain View Inn

Susie working on another rug.

Country Braid House in Tilton

The braided rug was a staple in early, Colonial American culture. Settlers used scraps of clothing and other excess materials to make a floor covering that would provide warmth and protection for a particular home's inhabitants and guestser.

In the late 1700s, Americans wanted to cover their wooden floors with decorative mats, and braided straw mats were common in homes of the time. In the early 1800s, New Engalnd became a center for woolen fabric mills making wool readily available to New Englanders and it was soon used to braid rugs. Braided wollen rugs became perferred to braided straw mats because they wer more durable and prettier. They remained popular because they were far more affordable than commercially made carpets.