Braided Rugs are available in a wide range of styles that will provide a statement to your décor. Colors are brighter, from soft pastels to more jewel tones, and sizes can range from small scatter sizes up to full Room Size rugs. New introductions of braided rugs in various shapes, offer a completely new twist to the traditional look. A perfect example is an elongated octagon braided rug, placed under a dining room table. This new look is a braided rug reborn for today’s times.

And for those looking for a more authentic styled braided rug that replicates the ones that someone’s grandmother might have made at one time, would most likely be interested in a Cloth braided rugs. This category of braided rugs are made from all material and do not contain any filler. Braided rugs made from cloth look the most like an actual hand made rug.

Braided Rugs are versatile in many different settings and motifs. Whether “your style” is country, traditional, cottage, shabby chic, colonial, and now even bordering contemporary, a braided rug adds a unique charm to your décor.

About The Author

Karen Garabedian is a 3rd generation family member of Thorndike Mills Braided Rugs. She is very proud that quality has remained to be of utmost importance, as it was when her Grandfather started the company in 1925. Visit http://www.thorndikemills.com to find an authentic braided rug for your home.

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All about rugs

As the winter wore on, the rug got bigger and bigger until she seemed to be dwarfed by her Braided Rug creation! I have tried my hand a rug braiding but I … Read More…

New gift shop to fill special niche in Proctorville

The shop also offers country curtains and braided rugs out of Jute that are earthy friendly. “You take them out and spray them off,” she said. … Read More…

Calendar listings for week beginning Jan. 7

23 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Participants can change their old wool blankets, skirts and coats into a beautiful braided rug. Bring wool materials or make a … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

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ITHACA, N.Y. – I saw them almost as soon as I walked into the Ithaca Farmers Market: Baskets of apples with odd shapes, strange hues and exotic names like Zabergau Reinette, Red Northern Spy and Calville Blanc d’Hiver.

Containers on a shelf offered slices, some from well-known varieties like Jonagold and McIntosh, others the rarer kinds increasingly popular among connoisseurs turned off by the vapid taste of mass-produced fruit.

These spectacular-tasting apples, many of them heirloom varieties, were grown on a local farm by Cornell horticulture professor Ian Merwin and his wife, Jackie. Nearby another Cornell scientist and his wife sold their bumper crop of squash and pumpkins in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow.

No more proof was needed of the relationship between Cornell and local farmers in the lush, rolling farmland of the Finger Lakes district in west-central New York.

The Cornell brainiacs also lend a nerdy charm to this college town at the southern end of Cayuga Lake. In two visits to the area last fall, my husband and I returned to Ithaca again and again for the terrific used bookstores, unusual crafts and vibrant ethnic restaurants. Events this fall include Apple Harvest Fest, Sept. 27-30, and Ithaca’s annual used book sales, Oct. 6-8, 13-15 and 20-23, with a quarter-million books for sale.

Ithaca also serves as a good jumping-off point to explore the countryside around the Finger Lakes, so named for the 11 long, slender bodies of water that divide the region from north to south, making any east-west journey a time-consuming operation.

The landscape was formed 2 million years ago, when a series of glacial advances and retreats scooped out north-south river valleys to form the deep basins that became the lakes. That left the east-west streams nowhere to go but down, down, down, creating dramatic gorges and waterfalls and inspiring the popular “Ithaca is Gorges” T-shirt.

One of the best ways to explore the region is by bike. We brought ours along after reading the excellent “Backroad Bicycling in the Finger Lakes Region” by Mark Roth and Sally Walters, which is crammed with useful information and entertaining history.

I won’t soon forget the acrid, eye-stinging smell of freshly fertilized fields as we pedaled past neat dairy farms on the east side of Cayuga Lake. Or the first glimpse from a high ridge of its vast and serene blue waters, glimmering in the late autumn sunlight.

Whether biking or driving, you won’t want to miss the scores of wineries clustered largely along the shores of the three largest lakes: Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga. Even if you’re not a drinker, you’ll be amazed by the sheer beauty of the vineyards, some planted on slopes pitched precipitously toward the water.

One evening around sunset, as we drove along the western shore of Cayuga after a brief rain shower, we saw the biggest, brightest rainbow we’ve ever seen arcing over the eastern side of the lake. Drivers pulled over to take pictures. Another evening, at dusk, driving along Seneca Lake, we passed the ghostly outline of a horse and buggy driven by one of the region’s Mennonite farmers.

The Finger Lakes region also offers quaint villages and towns full of colonial-era and 19th century American history.

If you’ve ever fantasized about owning a sprawling, old house with gables or turrets, take a drive on Route 20 along the northern edge of the lakes, through towns like Skaneateles, Auburn and Seneca Falls, where the women’s suffrage movement was born.

Virtually forgotten by the rest of the country, and a bit down at the heels, many of these towns or their heritage-minded residents have preserved handsome specimens of 19th century architecture, from the classical lines of Federal and Greek Revival styles to ornate Victorian confections. The imposing mansions are a reminder of the region’s wealth and importance during the heyday of the Erie Canal, when the farmland south of Lake Ontario was some of the most productive in the nation.

In Auburn, you can tour of the home of William H. Seward, secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, the man blamed, but ultimately vindicated, for the “folly” of buying Alaska from Russia. And you can see the bloody remnants of Seward’s bed sheets from the night of April 14, 1865, when an associate of John Wilkes Booth burst into his Washington home and tried, but failed, to assassinate him as part of a larger plot to bring down the Union government.

Moving from history to ornithology, we were equally enthralled by the world-famous bird lab at Cornell, which operates an excellent visitor center. The low-slung building is worth seeing for the architecture alone. Constructed of cedar siding and rough, locally quarried stone, it’s designed to blend into the marshes and ponds of the surrounding Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. Visitors can borrow binoculars and meander along four miles of trails that wind over streams and past marshy stands of cattails. Or you can go into a sound lab and listen to hundreds of wild animal calls, then record your own voice attempting to imitate them.

The gift shop is crammed with bird-themed products, including singing clocks.

Enthusiasm at the lab for bird-watching was so infectious we signed up to become members. That entitled us to a discount when we decided to buy better binoculars. Plus, they threw in a stuffed yellow-bellied sapsucker, which makes its distinctive drumming sound when you press its belly.

The ultimate nerdfest was the annual Rutabaga Curl – http://www.rutabagacurl.com, Dec. 22 – where costumed contestants hurl the yellowish-orange root vegetable down planks at a target. The competition is preceded by the arrival of a flaming rutabaga torch from “Mount Cruciferous,” held aloft by the Rutabaga Goddess who leads a “parade of athletes” past cheering crowds. Amid the faux-Olympian silliness, I spied a woman selling handmade Rag Rugs and snatched up one in bright colors for my bathroom.

The next day, we stuck our yellow-bellied sapsucker on our dashboard and began the five-hour drive back to New York City. Since we had only managed to see four of the Finger Lakes, we returned home with the knowledge that there were seven more to visit.

___

If You Go:

ITHACA AND THE FINGER LAKES: http://www.fingerlakes.org or 800-548-4386, and http://www.visitithaca.com or 607-272-1313.

GETTING THERE: Ithaca is about 90 miles from Rochester, 60 miles from Syracuse and 225 miles from New York City.

EVENTS: Apple Harvest Fest, Sept. 27-30, downtown Ithaca; Insectapalooza, Oct. 20, at Cornell; Ithaca Used Book Sale, Oct. 6-8, 13-15, 20-23, http://www.booksale.org/; JuggleFest, Nov. 9-10; Rutabaga Curling Championship, Dec. 22.

ATTRACTIONS: Cayuga Scenic Byway (fall foliage drive): http://www.cayugalake.com. Auburn: http://www.tourauburnny.com. Seward House: http://www.sewardhouse.org or 315-252-1283. Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.birds.cornell.edu or 800-843-2473. Ithaca Farmers Market: http://www.ithacamarket.com or 607-273-7109.

FOOD & WINE: Northside Wine & Spirits carries many Finger Lakes wines, Ithaca Shopping Plaza, http://www.northsidewine.com or 800-281-1291. Ithaca’s many inexpensive restaurants include New Delhi Diamond’s, 106 W. Green St., $6.99 all-you-can-eat Indian buffet.

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It’s all over! Yes, woe is the Apple fan! This will long be remembered as the week the iPhone-killing Google phone and the iTablet/iSlate/iGuide/iWhatever-killing Microsoft slate computer were announced!

Sob!

On Earth 697a, of course.

Here on our Earth, both Apple product-killers were modest devices that failed to stand out in any particular way. Who saw that coming?

You can’t say “Philip K. Dick” on the Internet!

After months of breathless reporting about Google releasing an iPhone killer, the company revealed the Nexus One this week.

Aside from the questionable marketing choice of naming your phone after a line of androids that went on to kill its creator, the Nexus One is nothing that’s going to reshape the smartphone market on its own.

Frankly, Google, the Macalope is quite put out that you've put him in the uncomfortable position of being forced to agree with Microsoft’s Robbie Bach:

Robbie Bach, the President of [Microsoft]’s entertainment and devices division, said that so long as Google makes its own handsets, such as the new Nexus One, other phone manufacturers would hesitate to work with the Android mobile software platform because they would fear that they would never be a top priority for the search company.

At the same time, what else are they going to do? Make Windows Mobile devices? Ha-ha! Right.

Don’t get the Macalope wrong. The Nexus One seems like a nice enough phone, but it’s nothing revolutionary (it’s got a trackball, for God’s sake). Everyone is still operating inside the same box that Apple defined three years ago. Wake the Macalope when someone figures out how to do the same thing for a fraction of the price or invents a new box.

Read more…

Groundhog day

In the lead-up to its CES keynote, Microsoft was rumored to be revealing a tablet device that would cause Steve Jobs to lay down and, in a gesture of his submission to Steve Ballmer, allow him to rub his belly.

Long story short, that didn’t happen. (Surprise!)

Instead, Ballmer introduced an unremarkable “slate” computer from HP running Windows 7 in a keynote Engadget called “Incredibly boring. Incredibly incredibly boring. Really.”

John Gruber thinks they named it a slate assuming Apple really is going to name its tablet the iSlate. The Macalope certainly wouldn’t put it past them, but he thinks it might just be because Microsoft has introduced tablet computing before.

Twice, really. So this isn’t “tablet” computing, it’s “slate” computing. Which is totally different. Like, not even comparable. Psh. Pwah. Pff. C’mon. Completely different. [Eye roll]

One does wonder what Courier—Microsoft’s next-generation tablet computing experience—will be when it gets introduced? They’ve already used up surface, tablet and slate. They’re running out of flat things.

And how about that mixed message? Microsoft introduced a tablet technology this week that’s not the next-generation tablet technology they’ve already revealed. Way to inspire confidence in your customers and partners! Not that Microsoft would ever pull the rug out from anyone.

Microsoft’s tablet “strategy” is like an Escher painting, full of staircases leading in every direction that all ultimately just go round in circles. The company so badly wants to be Prometheus, bringing fire to the mortals. Instead it’s like some drunk dude flicking matches at us.

Sorry, the horny one like both those metaphors too much to cut one of them.

Step right up! Guess your tablet features or win some crap!

Enough about posers. Let’s get back to the not-yet-real-deal we love to speculate about. Assuming Apple’s laying it on us on the 27th, we’ve got just over two weeks to get all of our wild guessing in. Is it irresponsible to wildly guess? No! It is irresponsible not to! Here are some of the guesses the Macalope likes.

Chris Breen (aka “The Bouffant of Knowledge”) suggests that Apple’s purchase of mobile ad firm Quattro Wireless might mean that Apple’s going to tell content producers “You bring the content, we’ll supply the ads.” The only fly in this ointment the Macalope sees is timing. Apple just bought Quattro and a launch in three weeks doesn’t leave much time to sort out the kinks.

Jim Dalrymple suggests the tablet will come in a Wi-Fi-only version and a Wi-Fi and 3G version. This makes sense but the Macalope suspects Jim misspoke when he said “AT&T’s 3G data network.” This is the data network that’s too fragile to handle tethering. If the tablet does come with 3G, it won’t be through AT&T.

Further afield, Neven Mrgan hopes the tablet doesn’t just allow giants like the New York Times to publish to the device, but brings publishing to “the rest of us.” Great idea. And on the latest edition of MacBreak Weekly, Alex Lindsay ran with the iGuide rumor and suggested a tablet feature that would be like a help system on the go. Baking a cake? Prop your tablet up in the kitchen and watch a video from Paula Deen (the Macalope suggests the tablet’s screen be not only oleophobic, but also butterphobic). Working on your motorcycle? Prop the tablet up in your garage and watch a video from Paul Teutul Sr. and Jr. (and promptly get beaten up by some real bikers, tablet nerd).

Remember, it’s less the specs and more the ecosystem that will determine whether or not the tablet will be a success. The ecosystem failed the Apple TV. The Macalope’s betting Apple won’t let that happen this time.

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The easiest and the cheapest way is to go through your old clothing first and save back all of the knitted and jersey articles to use for your rug. These types of fabrics do not “shred” when scissored and also tend to have a “give” to the fabric that allows for easy braiding.

The first step is to cut all of the fabric into one and a half inch wide strips. Pick out the three strips you want for the first “braiding strip” and pin them together at the top with a large safety pin. (It doesn’t matter if they are of different lengths.) Then just begin to braid. You may want to tie the beginning braid to the back of a chair or some other sort of anchor to start with but you don’t have to. Once you have gotten to within three inches of the end of any of the strips you are braiding, simply add in a new strip by placing it neatly inside of the remaining piece, rolling the two pieces together, and simply continuing on the braid. Note: the “end” of the rug braid is NOT DONE yet, simply use a safety pin at the end of the braid you are working on and leave the braiding strips hanging out so that you can continue the rug to the size you are wanting.

After you have braided a piece that is around six to eight feet in length, you will want to decide whether you want a round rug or an Oval Rug. The only equipment you need for this step is a large five or six inch long straight “doll” needle (this has a slightly “duller” point and is a sturdy non bendable needle) and waxed beading cord. Simply take the long braided piece and lay it around into a circle or an oval shape and sew this braid together by taking each of the inside loops and weaving your beading cord in and out of the loops. Pull each loop together snugly and shape the rug as you go. It is easier to start this first part of the rug by laying it out onto a large table top to begin stitching the braiding around itself, once you build it up a bit, you no longer need to use the table. Just sit with it in your lap and you can work on it.

All you do to complete your rug is continue to braid your continuous braid and continue to stitch it around itself until you get to the desire size and shape. At the end, sew your last pieces of the braid back into the rug individually with your waxed beading cord for about 10 inches. You will be proud of the colorful area rug and of the work you yourself have put into it, and best of all, you haven’t spent anything and yet you have a easy to wash area rug!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Area Rug [http://area-rug-guides.com]

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Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.

Have a great day!

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Creating a braided wool rug is an arduous task that involves a number of processes. The first step comprises of dying the finest wool blend yarns in vibrant colors. The rugs produced comprise of at least 80% wool. The rugs are created using a ‘Double Braid’ system, which results in creating the most durable product possible. First the wool yarn is braided into one-inch wide strips. Three of these strips are then braided together to produce different patterns. In the final step, the rugs are sewn together with a short, taut stitch, using a strong, color coordinated thread. Each Rug Made carries along the family tradition for handcrafted excellence and quality.

It is recommended that the braided rugs be cleaned periodically using the power spray extraction cleaning method. This method of cleaning virtually removes all of the moisture thereby reducing the saturation of the rug. It is generally advisable to apply only moderate hot tap water along with mild liquid solutions to the Braided Rug as high temperature solutions can adversely affect the wool’s durability. Steam cleaning the woolen rug is also not advisable. After cleaning, the rug should be dried by laying it flat on the floor. While using a Professional Rug Cleaning service, care should be taken to inform the cleaning agency what fiber the rug is made from.

Wool Rugs provides detailed information on Braided Wool Rugs, Contemporary Wool Rugs, Discount Wool Rugs, Hand Tufted Wool Rugs and more. Wool Rugs is affiliated with Cheap Area Rugs.

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Of course, there are many rugs available in the market to adorn the look of a house. But, selecting Special Rugs according to the home décor is very important. Cotton rugs, Wool Rugs and other braided rugs are some of the commonly used area rugs that augment the overall interior of each room like kitchen, living area and bathroom.

But, for bedroom, a unique and classy rug that adds softness and romance should be considered. A soft furry area rug under your bare feet will make you feel quixotic.

The soft furry rugs are generally available from sheepskin, alpaca and Tibetan lamb’s wool. Faux fur rugs can also deliver softness as they are artificially made.

Sheepskin Rugs are made of the hide of a sheep by skinning and drying. These are one of the beautiful, luxurious rugs available with several inches of thickness. In addition, they are naturally comfortable and can withstand stain, soil and flame. Well, no manufacturer makes them resistant as they can naturally endure harmful effects. Thus, they are very expensive. You can even opt for custom sheepskin rugs and add elegance to your bedroom’s décor. You can even personalization them with a dye and style them depending on your desire. They are easily maintained by washing them in a standard washing machine. The beauty of the product will not be damaged. So, never overlook or under-estimate these rugs, when you are thinking of including a special feel to your bedroom.

Alpaca is also one of resources that are commonly used for soft rugs. It acts as an alternative to sheep’s wool. Alpaca furs are even used for wall hangings, bedspreads and pillows suitable for beautifying your bedroom. It has no odor and is soft and excellent in quality. Available in an array of designs; be it in animal designs, southwestern designs, geometric designs and many more. Even these rugs are highly priced.

Tibetan lamb wool is one more source for soft fur rugs. The handmade rugs made of this fur are the softest, silkiest and the most luxurious. Though they are extremely heavy, they are backed by a strong fabric. They are long and possess a unique f
1000
lowing, silky pattern. Many colors like white, Dark Brown and black are available to add more beauty to your bedroom.

If you wish to add luxury without the use of animal products, then you can choose the Faux fur rugs for your bedroom decor. These Fake Fur rugs ensure soft feel, 100 % synthetic non-animal fibers, machine washable and easy care. As it is artificially made, there are many shades, designs and patterns available for a very affordable price.

So have you imagined the interiors of your bedroom? You bedroom décor is all set to accept these soft furry rugs. Place them under the furniture, outside bathroom or just besides your bed. You can even make a pillow out of these furs for more softness while sleeping.

By: Hollywood Rug Man

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Frank Conn is author of this article on Cowhide Rugs.
Find more information about Animal Print Rugs here.

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