A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

Miniature carpets for dolls' house enthusiasts, 13 Oct 2002
Dolls' house enthusiasts will be pleased to find a new area into which to extend their skills with the publication of 'Making miniature Chinese rugs and carpets'. A book very much in the vein of Meik McNaughton & Ian McNaughton's 'Making Miniature Oriental Rugs and Carpets' and its follow-up book. Instructions are clear and precise for pillar rugs, saddle rugs and prayer rugs. There are also informative explanations of the significance of design motifs, e.g homophones (use of an image which is phonetically similar to something which is being wished for).

'Chinese' rugs will provide an opportunity for miniaturists to provide that finishing touch to an 18th century chinoiserie room, a romantic bedroom setting, dining room or a study for an occupant who has travelled the old Silk Route.

The designs would also look lovely produced as miniature versions of their larger cousins, displayed in frames on your walls.

All designs are worked on easy to find 22 count canvas, mostly with Anchor stranded cotton, several with Appletons Crewel, and some with Kreinik Silk Mori (100% pure silk). There are conversion charts for alternative threads.

Since persian carpets are already provided for at present, I can only hope that the author does another book based on on Mexican/ South American design motifs, for which I see there is a gap in the market.

(Written on behalf of my wife, Maggie)

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

Miniature carpets for dolls' house enthusiasts, 13 Oct 2002
Dolls' house enthusiasts will be pleased to find a new area into which to extend their skills with the publication of 'Making miniature Chinese rugs and carpets'. A book very much in the vein of Meik McNaughton & Ian McNaughton's 'Making Miniature Oriental Rugs and Carpets' and its follow-up book. Instructions are clear and precise for pillar rugs, saddle rugs and prayer rugs. There are also informative explanations of the significance of design motifs, e.g homophones (use of an image which is phonetically similar to something which is being wished for).

'Chinese' rugs will provide an opportunity for miniaturists to provide that finishing touch to an 18th century chinoiserie room, a romantic bedroom setting, dining room or a study for an occupant who has travelled the old Silk Route.

The designs would also look lovely produced as miniature versions of their larger cousins, displayed in frames on your walls.

All designs are worked on easy to find 22 count canvas, mostly with Anchor stranded cotton, several with Appletons Crewel, and some with Kreinik Silk Mori (100% pure silk). There are conversion charts for alternative threads.

Since persian carpets are already provided for at present, I can only hope that the author does another book based on on Mexican/ South American design motifs, for which I see there is a gap in the market.

(Written on behalf of my wife, Maggie)

a good book of how-to and folk-lore, 10 May 1999
I recently bought this book in hopes of understanding how a Navajo rug/blanket was woven. I was not diasppointed at all; I believe I could do it with just this book--and that includes building my own loom! The authors include Navajo dyeing plants and proceedures, wool carding and spinning, and, of course, the weaving process. There are also a couple of patterns that beginners might try. In addition to the process, the author inserts quotes from Navajo women about the traditions and folk-traditions of the craft--such as the dangers in not completing the weaving in a timely manner, how spirits of the dead may work the loom when the weaver is away, etc. I like the book, but I cannot say that it has answered all of my questions.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

Miniature carpets for dolls' house enthusiasts, 13 Oct 2002
Dolls' house enthusiasts will be pleased to find a new area into which to extend their skills with the publication of 'Making miniature Chinese rugs and carpets'. A book very much in the vein of Meik McNaughton & Ian McNaughton's 'Making Miniature Oriental Rugs and Carpets' and its follow-up book. Instructions are clear and precise for pillar rugs, saddle rugs and prayer rugs. There are also informative explanations of the significance of design motifs, e.g homophones (use of an image which is phonetically similar to something which is being wished for).

'Chinese' rugs will provide an opportunity for miniaturists to provide that finishing touch to an 18th century chinoiserie room, a romantic bedroom setting, dining room or a study for an occupant who has travelled the old Silk Route.

The designs would also look lovely produced as miniature versions of their larger cousins, displayed in frames on your walls.

All designs are worked on easy to find 22 count canvas, mostly with Anchor stranded cotton, several with Appletons Crewel, and some with Kreinik Silk Mori (100% pure silk). There are conversion charts for alternative threads.

Since persian carpets are already provided for at present, I can only hope that the author does another book based on on Mexican/ South American design motifs, for which I see there is a gap in the market.

(Written on behalf of my wife, Maggie)

a good book of how-to and folk-lore, 10 May 1999
I recently bought this book in hopes of understanding how a Navajo rug/blanket was woven. I was not diasppointed at all; I believe I could do it with just this book--and that includes building my own loom! The authors include Navajo dyeing plants and proceedures, wool carding and spinning, and, of course, the weaving process. There are also a couple of patterns that beginners might try. In addition to the process, the author inserts quotes from Navajo women about the traditions and folk-traditions of the craft--such as the dangers in not completing the weaving in a timely manner, how spirits of the dead may work the loom when the weaver is away, etc. I like the book, but I cannot say that it has answered all of my questions.

In my mind, the best book available for a beginner., 03 Jul 1998
Down-to-earth, easy-to-follow.

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

Miniature carpets for dolls' house enthusiasts, 13 Oct 2002
Dolls' house enthusiasts will be pleased to find a new area into which to extend their skills with the publication of 'Making miniature Chinese rugs and carpets'. A book very much in the vein of Meik McNaughton & Ian McNaughton's 'Making Miniature Oriental Rugs and Carpets' and its follow-up book. Instructions are clear and precise for pillar rugs, saddle rugs and prayer rugs. There are also informative explanations of the significance of design motifs, e.g homophones (use of an image which is phonetically similar to something which is being wished for).

'Chinese' rugs will provide an opportunity for miniaturists to provide that finishing touch to an 18th century chinoiserie room, a romantic bedroom setting, dining room or a study for an occupant who has travelled the old Silk Route.

The designs would also look lovely produced as miniature versions of their larger cousins, displayed in frames on your walls.

All designs are worked on easy to find 22 count canvas, mostly with Anchor stranded cotton, several with Appletons Crewel, and some with Kreinik Silk Mori (100% pure silk). There are conversion charts for alternative threads.

Since persian carpets are already provided for at present, I can only hope that the author does another book based on on Mexican/ South American design motifs, for which I see there is a gap in the market.

(Written on behalf of my wife, Maggie)

a good book of how-to and folk-lore, 10 May 1999
I recently bought this book in hopes of understanding how a Navajo rug/blanket was woven. I was not diasppointed at all; I believe I could do it with just this book--and that includes building my own loom! The authors include Navajo dyeing plants and proceedures, wool carding and spinning, and, of course, the weaving process. There are also a couple of patterns that beginners might try. In addition to the process, the author inserts quotes from Navajo women about the traditions and folk-traditions of the craft--such as the dangers in not completing the weaving in a timely manner, how spirits of the dead may work the loom when the weaver is away, etc. I like the book, but I cannot say that it has answered all of my questions.

In my mind, the best book available for a beginner., 03 Jul 1998
Down-to-earth, easy-to-follow.

Excellent patterns and easy to follow instructions, 31 Jul 2001
This book is excellent for anybody who wishes to have a taste of the oriental in their dolls house. The colour patterns are large and easy to follow, as are the finishing instructions. An excellent book from beginner to expert!

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections.

Within each such section, the work is lavishly endowed with a wealth of richly glowing colour plates illustrating many of the best and most legendary rugs that have been on the world markets over the past two decades, these punctuated by a scattering of excellent maps, diagrams and well-chosen atmospheric pictures of weavers, deserts, mountains, animals, old paintings and the like. The thorough and well laid-out text is similarly interspersed with those entertaining anecdotes and telling on-the-spot findings gained from field-research trips by both father and son to the rug producing countries of the kind made famous by Mr A. Cecil Edwards, although in the hands of the Eilands this documentary evidence is timed and honed for optimum impact with a post-CNN suavity noticeably (some might say, regrettably) absent from A.C. Edward's chapter-ending 'Conversation Piece' cliff-hangers.

The result of all this lavish and entertaining mixture is a truely fin de siècle book on Oriental carpets, encompassing outstanding print and paper quality, superb colour illustrations of many of the 'keynote' rugs of the past twenty years that any budding rugaholic simply has to know about, the whole held together - and God bless the Eilands for this! - with a wealth of real, useful, accurate information, this given added interest and relevance by the penetrating and often gently provocative personal opinions of the authors.

For anyone wanting access to as wide and accurate a knowledge base on Oriental rugs of the 19th and 20th Centuries as could possibly be wished for within one book, there has been nothing remotely approaching this 'Oriental Rugs' of the Eilands since Ian Bennett's 'Rugs and Carpets of the World'.

The authors' breadth of knowledge and eclecticism of taste allow them to range wider and deeper, untroubled by the blur of bias effecting their focus, than the incomparable Bennett. Thus they provide a deeply knowledgeable, balanced and scrupulously fair examination and appraisal of virtually every type rug and flat-weave that is both worth bothering about, and remains (however intermittently) available.

'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide' is also - and this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn't buy Rug Books on an acceptably regular basis - quite reasonably priced for a work of such size, quality, and number of colour plates, especially when written by so eminent an authority as Murray Eiland Senior. The whole thing is a joy to look at, and succeeds in communicating the unique beauty possessed by the best knotted-pile Eastern rugs as much through its overall 'look and feel' as by the brilliance, elegance and subtlety of the individual items depicted. And then on top of all this is the substantial textual content, all of it pertinent, up-to-date, and attractively written. If 'Oriental Rugs' doesn't in fact come up with anything exactly groundbreaking in the issues it addresses, perhaps more helpfully it judicially and accurately records the real groundbreaking stuff that has set the tone and temperature of the rug world in recent times. Verdict: Extremely Desirable, if not quite Absolutely Essential, and with its truth and taste entirely uncompromised by the opposing forces of ego or e-commerce.

For beginning collector's or experts, this can't be beat!, 23 Nov 1998
With wonderful full color reproductions of the subject, this book is a piece of art in itself. After a wonderful introduction, the chapters are regionally oriented, making it easy to access specific information, or get an in-depth history. I can imagine myself returning to this book again and again, for many years to come.

Miniature carpets for dolls' house enthusiasts, 13 Oct 2002
Dolls' house enthusiasts will be pleased to find a new area into which to extend their skills with the publication of 'Making miniature Chinese rugs and carpets'. A book very much in the vein of Meik McNaughton & Ian McNaughton's 'Making Miniature Oriental Rugs and Carpets' and its follow-up book. Instructions are clear and precise for pillar rugs, saddle rugs and prayer rugs. There are also informative explanations of the significance of design motifs, e.g homophones (use of an image which is phonetically similar to something which is being wished for).

'Chinese' rugs will provide an opportunity for miniaturists to provide that finishing touch to an 18th century chinoiserie room, a romantic bedroom setting, dining room or a study for an occupant who has travelled the old Silk Route.

The designs would also look lovely produced as miniature versions of their larger cousins, displayed in frames on your walls.

All designs are worked on easy to find 22 count canvas, mostly with Anchor stranded cotton, several with Appletons Crewel, and some with Kreinik Silk Mori (100% pure silk). There are conversion charts for alternative threads.

Since persian carpets are already provided for at present, I can only hope that the author does another book based on on Mexican/ South American design motifs, for which I see there is a gap in the market.

(Written on behalf of my wife, Maggie)

a good book of how-to and folk-lore, 10 May 1999
I recently bought this book in hopes of understanding how a Navajo rug/blanket was woven. I was not diasppointed at all; I believe I could do it with just this book--and that includes building my own loom! The authors include Navajo dyeing plants and proceedures, wool carding and spinning, and, of course, the weaving process. There are also a couple of patterns that beginners might try. In addition to the process, the author inserts quotes from Navajo women about the traditions and folk-traditions of the craft--such as the dangers in not completing the weaving in a timely manner, how spirits of the dead may work the loom when the weaver is away, etc. I like the book, but I cannot say that it has answered all of my questions.

In my mind, the best book available for a beginner., 03 Jul 1998
Down-to-earth, easy-to-follow.

Excellent patterns and easy to follow instructions, 31 Jul 2001
This book is excellent for anybody who wishes to have a taste of the oriental in their dolls house. The colour patterns are large and easy to follow, as are the finishing instructions. An excellent book from beginner to expert!

A must-have book for rug hookers, 07 Nov 1997
This book gives very detailed instructions on dyeing. It covers jar dyeing, casserole dyeing, spot dyeing and gradation dyeing. There are also instructions on shading flowers, leaves and animal eyes. Order it before it goes out of print!

A good, simple project book, 22 Oct 2005
This is a good project book. There are lots of ideas, and the diagrams and charts are easy to follow. Each project includes a short intro, for example, a little about that style and it's history. Suggestions are made as to where in the dolls house the carpet/rug could be placed. Stitches, materials, tools, etc. are explained well, with good diagrams and photographs throughout. The projects in this book cover many time periods for decorating, but most are suitable for adapting.

great source book, 10 Jun 2006
This is a really useful source for everyone who likes dressmaking and wants to know about the behaviour of different fabrics as well as how to treat them when sewing. You get advise as to how to stop fraying, what sewing machine feet to use and which seams are appropriate. However this is NOT an extention to 'fabric savvy', so if you've got that one already don't be like me and buy this one too. It only has a couple more fabrics than fabric savvy and repeats the rest, which is really annoying. I am going to give the earlier edition to a friend and will keep 'More fabric savvy' for me.

Fun creative for all ages, 26 Oct 2008
This book was a lot more informative then I thought it would be. It was fun, easy to follow, and left me feeling a more creative person.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking to give as a unique gift, or looking to pick up a new past time.

Brilliant and Fun, 12 Sep 2008
What a great book, I found the instructions really easy to follow and fun to do. The rug is looking very professional!! I would urge anyone who is thinking about starting out, to buy this book and even if you have made rugs in the past you will get a lot of ideas from it.

Great introduction to the craft of braided rug making, 07 Jul 1998
This book starts with the history of the braided rug in the USA then goes on to provides details on planning, tools, and techniques. There are many pages of color pictures of existing rugs along with a color chart to follow. Many of the rugs are innovative in design and colors, but there is a good choice of more conservative designs, too. I found this book to be so useful, that, after checking it out of the local library 3 times, I've finally put in an order to buy my own copy.

The best general book on Oriental rugs for a long time, 24 May 1999
With the mass of Oriental rug books that have been published in the last ten years (let alone since the 1960s, when writing about Oriental rugs became the raison d'être for collecting them or dealing in them), it seemed almost impossible to hope for a *Good* general book on the subject ever being attempted again - there was simply so much information that had become critical to even a broadly accurate understanding of the subject that one couldn't imagine the surface even being scratched by anything less than a proper ten-volume "Survey".

But Murray L. Eiland - one of the authentic Big Daddies of the early Oriental Rug Book Revival - hit on the brilliant idea of taking as a starting point his distinguished standard work 'Oriental Rugs - A Comprehensive Guide', published in the high scholastic manner and drab production values of the early 1970s, and then re-engineering it in co-authorship with his aptly-named son Murray L. Eiland (who says No Man is an Eiland?), to produce, against the odds, what must surely be The General Oriental Carpet Book of our time.

Iconoclastically renamed 'Oriental Rugs - A Complete Guide', 'Oriental Rugs', as the new baby will undoubtedly become known in the footsteps of its parent volume, not to mention of the Eilands, incorporates the bulk of the most interesting and important new discoveries, attitudes, nomenclatures, theories and attributions of the past 25 years and packages it all up in the definitive Major Oriental Rug Book De Luxe Coffee Table Edition format, the identifying attribute of which has increasingly become those huge and stunning full page bleeds depicting in the most intimate close-up detail some isolated felicities of colour and ornament extracted from appropriately major examples, which serve here to introduce each of the book's main sections