darning over a jam jar

This morning the weather was kind as I travelled to a Nursing Home in Taunton to do a Rag Rug Demo/Reminiscence session. I find these sessions thrilling for the images that rise to the surface as individuals begin to recall either making rag rugs themselves or having watched them being made.
One woman recalled her carpenter grandfather fashioning a rag rug cutting gauge from a piece of wood and slicing a groove along its length with a sharp razor. Another woman remembered using a jam jar in place of a darning mushroom. There used to be competitions for darning, she said, you could win prizes for it! And then there were those who remembered the carpet beater by its other name: "bottom spanker"!