I have been working on one of my new frames. My nephews gave me two floor frames for Christmas. The pattern for the frames came from the book, Basic Rug Hooking by Beatty and Sargent. It's a very basic design, a wooden rectangle 40"x 20", on legs that are hinged and can be folded for storage. I had thought I could wrap the two long sides with wool that would help hold the pins that would hold the rug, but I tried that method yesterday and was very disappointed in how loose the burlap was - I'm used to very taut backing on my Puritans.

I decided I wanted a big frame like these when I saw one in Nova Scotia last summer. I stopped in the tourist welcome center on the highway just after entering Nova Scotia (on my way to the ATHA meeting in Halifax) and the first thing I saw was a wonderful big lighthouse hooked rug hanging over the fireplace (see photo) - I recognized it immediately as having been hooked by Deanne Fitzpatrick - whose studio I was hoping to visit. Off to the side in the same room, I found a hooking frame (rectangular wooden floor type in the photo) set up by Deanne Fitzpatrick so people could try hooking. I sat at that frame for a few minutes and pulled a row of loops and felt warmly welcomed to Nova Scotia.

I leaned later that those frames are made by Fraser and cost more than $300 - although I can't remember if that was Canadian or US dollars. I doubt that they are exactly the same as the Beatty /Sargent frame, but close enough.

Anyway, today I purchased some rug tack strips and I will see if those will do the job of holding my rug on the frame. I'm a little concerned about the tacks poking my arms, so I also purchased a thick tube of pipe insulation that I can put over the tacks once they are holding the backing.