HOW TO MAKE BRAIDED RUGS

The braided rug, that Colonial staple and New England veteran, is economical (especially if made from scraps) and relatively easy to complete. Carty's slightly inflated text provides a number of ideas for variously shaped and patterned rugs. Recommending wool and cotton rather than acrylics (not durable), she offers helpful suggestions about braiding evenly, avoiding center humps, changing and combining colors, dyeing and tie-dyeing, and also includes fine sources for cheap fabrics such as tailors, decorators, thrift shops, and mill stores. The illustrations--of joining strands and braids, of finished rugs in furnished rooms--are pleasant.