Make rugs on your own

The look of the pile is improved if it is "scrabbled" towards the worker with the finger nails after every few rows. This helps to remove the loose fluff of the wool from the surface of the rug and also encourages the cut ends of the wool to lie evenly. A comb does not do this as well as finger nails.

It will be noticed from the diagrams of both Surrey and Turkey stitches, that the strands of pile produced at the start and finish of the stitch are both pressed down by an "arm" across them when the knot is pulled tight.

Each row of pile therefore tends to lie down towards the worker but, fortunately, they are held up by the pile already worked and merely lie back against this, making it all the easier to work the next row.

Nevertheless, the pile as a whole does have a definite tendency to bend in one direction rather than any other when trodden upon and this explains the habit developed by loose mats or rugs on pile carpets to move or "walk" in the direction in which the pile of the carpet lies.