A few weeks ago I was talking with someone about crafting when the topic of latch hook rugs came up. I believe they still sell these kits at Walmart and big box craft stores, which is amazing to me. Surely we as a society have progressed beyond the point of making latch hook rugs? Then again, I am quietly pleased to know that a whole new generation of kids will grow up with the experience of futility that is the latch hook rug.
Latch hook rugs are basically the "Paint By Numbers" of the home furnishings world. The kit comes with a big piece of color-coded plastic mesh, plus a huge sack of yarn pieces. Each yarn piece will be about 4 inches long. (This makes a rug with a two-inch pile, because doesn't everyone want a short, thick rug?) You use the eponymous latch hook to secure the yarn to the plastic mesh.
Just attach the right color yarn to the right colored bits of the plastic mesh, and you too will soon be the proud owner of a handmade ugly rug that will be too thick for a door to open over. (I love that the description for this kit says the rug "can be made to fit most any room décor." Yeah, right.) Should you find a location for the rug, be aware that they are very slippery and will whoosh out from under foot at the slightest provocation.
Of course, no one ever actually finishes making their rugs. This is another example of a completely unskilled craft that is as boring to make as it is ugly. (And painful, since you will inevitably jab your fingers with the latch hook tool.) I myself have an unfinished Snoopy latch hook rug lurking in my childhood memories. I found stray lengths of white yarn in my room for months after I quit working on the rug.
Image courtesy Flickr/Feral Indeed!
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