Wide-Cut Orientals

The Sacred Flame, 38" x 25", #4-cut wool on linen. OSV Design. Hooked by  Joan H. Strausbaugh, Adams County,  Pennsylvania, 2009. Joan’s first Oriental was not a wide-cut rug, but it got her thinking.

 Everyone’s heard this old saw: “work on a floral, rest on an Oriental.” This may be true for the fine cut crowd, but what about us wide-cut hookers? The peaceful orderly beauty of most Oriental patterns is pleasing to the eye, but their tiny motifs and intricate borders can only be achieved with the finer cuts. While working on a fine cut Oriental, I learned that the resting part is because the motifs are repeated time and time again—so once you figure out one, all you have to do is hook the rest.

I was lucky to be able to take a class with June Mikoryak, hooking Sacred Flame. In a week’s time, she set me on my path . . .

This article is from the January/February 2015 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.