Guest Author - Iris ten Holder

One way of designing a round rug is to choose harmonious colors and arrange them in a pattern of alternating bands and triangles.

Rugs made in this fashion, either end up having solid segments in several colors, or striped segments.

Another way of approaching design is to have a theme. The first time I did this, I was amazed to discover that this "made" me arrange the segments in a different way. When designing with a theme, there almost automatically is the idea of top and bottom.

Since it is autumn and leaves are falling in an abundance of colors - in Canada at least, although maybe not so much in southern regions - a rug in this colors seemed an obvious choice. Actually I was at first inspired by the colors orange, yellow, and white, which made me think of the sun going down.
Then I wanted to combine this theme with the sunset.

So much for the idea. The end result was as follows:

Take as many colors as you find necessary to work for your image. In this case the colors are: brown, orange, yellow, some green for the ground, and red, orange, mauve and white for the sky part of the scene.

Realize that this is not going to be a pictorial image. It is a flowing of colors from segment to segment around the rug with the bottom part predominantly in fall colors and the top part representing the sky and the sunset. Since this is about falling leaves, separating the colors with solid bands in brown can represent the trees.

Work from the bottom center up to the right. At the top reverse the pattern and on the way down, copy what was done on the way up.

In segments 1, 2 and 3, alternate orange, brown and yellow.
In segments 4,5 work with bands of brown between the red, orange, mauve and white. the bands representing the trees.
In segments 6 and 7 mirror the colors in 5 and 4.
In segments 8, 9 and 10, copy the colors in 3, 2 and 1.

This will result in more ground than sky. It also looks good when there is more sky then ground. If that is to your liking, start earlier with the lighter colors.

To design on paper, draw a pie shape with 12 segments. Divide each segment in three or four sections by making lines from the outside along the side of the triangle. The lines will get shorter as they approach the other segment.

When that is done apply the colors until you have found a good balance between the sky with the trees, and the ground with the leaves.

Dangling leaves
You may of course choose to make the whole rug with the ground pattern, separating each colored section with a row of a darker color. Keep the brightest color for the smaller sections at the end of each segment. They will look like dangling leaves around the rug.

With thinner yarn it is possible to have more muted colors and greater color variation by combining two colors in some or all areas: brown and orange, brown and yellow, orange and yellow. For the solid colors, double the thread of that color.

For a heavier rug, and speedier work, combine up to four threads and adjust the needle size accordingly.