Interview with Joyce Knapp

Joyce Knapp

Thursday 11^th October 2012

Rag Rugger

Joyce grew up at Lack Fell House, an isolated farmhouse situated on a wild fellside below Gregareth and the three counties cairns or Three Men as they are locally known. This beautiful setting .

Saw the development of rugging as a natural process of need and recycling of old worn items into warm and welcoming rugs beginning their lives in the first position at the bedside and gradually as wearing set in being moved from least posh room in stages!

Joyce is related to the famous “Terrible  Knitter’s” of Dent who knitted as they worked on the land. Joyce explained that they wore specially adapted belts which held their needles and wool so that as they needed to they would be able to release their hands and it would still hold the knitting in place.  Tizzer, Elizabeth Middleton, her Dad’s cousin was one of the last two “Terrible Knitter’s” of Dent.

  

Joyce’s mother taught her husband to rug. As her first duty was to make the family clothes it was left to Dad to then show Joyce, aged eight how to cut up material and make a ‘proddy’ or ‘pegged’ mat. Dad demonstrated a small section and Joyce followed using old corduroy, tweed and heavy cotton twill clothing with an old hessian sack put to new use as the prepared pieces were pushed through this backing. Joyce explained that her Dad used to say “by the ‘gegg’ of my eye” when he incorporated the different colourways of fabrics to best effect and to keep the pile even a thicker fabric could be cut narrower though the same length to ensure an even depth.

When Joyce returned to rugging to make her son a bedroom rug he took the rug into school to show his teacher and class and the teacher requested that Joyce taught all the class this technique for a Victorian themed project that was being studied. This led to their parents asking to be taught the technique too and Joyce became a rag rug instructor! Joyce studied other techniques and attended workshops herself by an accomplished rugger in Reeth, Heather Richie and in all developed approximately ten different techniques.

Joyce has used natural dying methods such as using daffodil heads, onion skin and red cabbage to plain woollen blankets and only ever uses pure wool out of choice for natural authenticity and its hard wearing nature without attracting the dirt as man made fibres tend to do.

Joyce was kind enough to show me all her frames, tools, yarns and fabrics and explain the main processes of hooky and proddy rugging giving me her workshop handouts to enable me to learn the techniques. 

Tools of the trade!