Adapted from e Craft of Hand-Made Rugs by Amy Mali Hicks (New York, McBride Nast, New York, 1914).

“Before the present revival in handcrafts, the old Colonial looms on which the farmer folk did their own weaving were discarded as old-fashioned and cumbersome, and so when rugs or carpets were needed and there was no carpet weaver conveniently enough located to weave up balls of cut rags, the knitting needles were resorted to and the knitted fabric took the place of the woven one.”

16 yards of cotton fabric, cut into strips 3⁄4” (2cm) wide.
Yarn options: Super-bulky rug wool or t-shirt yarn. There are many tutorials on the Internet for making knitting yarn out of old T-shirts. Check Google or Pinterest.

Don’t worry about measuring gauge. Knit at a firm texture but not so tightly as to hurt your hands. The length of the CO will be the approximate diameter of the rug.

“It is a circular pace divided into twelve wedge-shaped sections or repeats by the peculiar technique of the rug. These sections are composed of knitted rows which begin at the center and run outward toward the edge so that the effect is that of radiating lines. Decoratively speaking, radiating lines always suggest action, so the rows have a tendency to carry the observer to the outer edge of the rug’s surface.”