Owned by Fourth Generation Rug Maker and Dyeing Specialist Stephanie Ashworth Krauss

Our Stories

"That Damn Rug"

That Damn Rug hooked by Anne Ashworth "That Damn Rug", a commissioned piece hooked in 1992 by Stephanie's mother, Anne Ashworth, finds its way back home!

In celebration of the 30th year of Green Mountain Rug School, Stephanie chose to honor her mother, Anne Ashworth, by featuring "That Damn Rug" in the design of the 2011 Rug School brochure.

As promised, here's the full story as written by Stephanie:

Several years ago I received a call from a hooked rug dealer who I’ve know for quite some time. We chatted briefly and then he mentioned that he had just purchased a rug that I might know something about. He began to describe it, then paused, cleared his throat and said, “Well, I think it’s called That Damn Rug.” Ah, yes…

As most of my rug hooking friends know, my mother, Anne Ashworth, was a prolific rug hooker and a very fine hooking teacher. Her sense of design and color were well developed and her dyeing was legendary. She also occasionally did some commission work and no job seemed too big. I know of at least two 9 x 12 foot rugs she hooked on commission, and she was in the process of hooking a 14 x 18 rug for my brother when she passed away in 2001. She loved a challenge and heaven help the person who said, “…it can’t be done”. So in 1991, when Mom received a call from a rug dealer in New Jersey with a proposal for a ‘large project’, she naturally said yes. The project was almost her undoing!

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Shawl Pattern

Upon seeing the shawl that Karen Schellinger was sporting after the week-long dye class, at Green Mountain Rug School this year, many people asked for the knitting pattern. I am pleased to announce that it is finally here! If there is any confusion about the directions, feel free to email me and I will be happy to explain.

I use size 11 needles connected in the round that are LARGE. You will be fitting at least 150 stitches on your needles. The general rule of thumb is: if you wouldn’t knit a sweater with your needles, you shouldn’t start this shawl on those needles. I would not recommend going much smaller than US size 11 unless you know you knit significantly looser than most knitters since anything smaller will not give you a very lacey shawl.

Cast on 3 stitches
Row 1: Knit all 3 stitches.
Row 2: yo k1 yo place marker here k1 place marker here yo k1
Row 3: yo knit to end
Row 4: yo k2 yo k1 yo k3
Row 5: yo knit to end
Row 6: yo k3 yo k1 yo k4
Row 7: yo knit to end
Row 8: yo k4 yo k1 yo k5
Row 9: yo knit to end

The bolded k1 is your center stitch. The markers go around this stitch.

Notice the pattern of increasing the amount of stitches by 1 every other row before you reach the center stitch. This continues for every row, so the 10th row would begin with a yo then k5 before the yo k1 yo that will indicate the center.

Notice there is a yo before EVERY row except the first.

Continue the pattern until you have more stitches than you think you need. This can vary significantly depending on the size needle you use and the yarn. My largest shawl had over 600 stitches and fit end to end comfortably across the back of a large couch, but the yarn was thinner than I normally use. The shawl that was given to Karen by the dye class had just under 200 stitches and was quite large due mainly to the size of the needles and how loosely I knit it.

The "Florida" Fruit Rug: A Labor of Love...
or how two women almost bit off more than they could chew!
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The Story of a Rug: Bottom Star Big Dipper
(From Creative Rug Hooking by Anne D. Mather, Sterling Publishing Co. 2000)

Bottom Star Big Dipper by Stephanie Allen-Krauss, 1998

Editor’s note: About 6 months before I began writing this book, my teacher and good friend, Mary Williamson, handed me a photo of a rug that a student had given her. The photo haunted both of us. When I got the contract for this book, I started to search in earnest for the creator of this rug, my only clues, “SAK,” the initials in the corner. I called every rug hooker with those initials in the ATHA national directory to no avail. Then, while talking to designer Patsy Becker, I mentioned the rug. She was going to a national ATHA conference soon, and she said; why didn’t I fax her a copy of the rug? So I made up a flier and faxed it to her. The next day Patsy called. “You better sit down,” she said. And once I heard the rug’s story, I knew why it had haunted Mary and me, and why it needed to be in this book.

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The Way Home hooked by Stephanie Ashworth-Krauss

"The Way Home"
By Stephanie Allen-Krauss

The way home isn’t always an easy journey, and so it was with this hooked picture. Sometime around 1997 I sketched the basic design for a study I was beginning on hooked landscapes. When my husband became critically ill, I knew that this project had to be shelved for a time when I could focus more clearly. Life grew harder, but periodically I would look at my sketch and think, “when I’m able to work on this again, I’ll know I’m ‘on the way home.’” The years passed, my children grew, and my heart healed after my husband’s death. Then in 2005, while cleaning a closet, I found my sketch and felt inspired. I spent an entire weekend preparing the pattern, dyeing wool, and then finally hooking. For several months as the hooking progressed, I felt something happening as the picture took shape. Right around that time, a man in our community became widowed and within 6 months we started dating. I finished my hooked picture and a year later Ted and I bought a house together. I found my way to a new home and new chapter in my life.

This hooked picture was selected by The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers (TIGHR) for their Collectors Card Series. 'The Way Home' is card number 35 and the story is published in the Fall, 2008 Newsletter.