Monday, June 28, 2010

Rag Rugs

Ok, sometime back I had one of my "brilliant" spur of the moment ideas and I decided I was gonna get into braided rug making. I bought all the books and tools... Except that I soon found out that the wool fabric cost a bazillion dollars and it was a LOT of work besides. So it never happened. Then at the WV folk festival a couple weeks ago, I saw these crocheted rugs. Cool, right? And I thought one might be neat to have.. till I asked how much...


$75. Each. *cough* For a kitchen rug. Heck I can crochet. So i bought the most gigantic hook I could find, and I have begun. It started with tearing up old pillowcases but soon learned it's gonna take more than that.. but it's ok.. I have a lot of stuff marked for goodwill that I'll sort through. Obviously the rugs in the picture are done with fresh, nicely cut strips, but my torn and tattered is lookin' pretty cool too. I only have the "middle" section done so far and it's kind of hard getting started cuz I'm using two strips held together, but as soon as I cut some more strips and it gets a little bigger. I'll show you. It makes a very heavy, sturdy rug that will last for years. I'm not using any particular pattern... I just browsed around the internet and started and it shows *grin*. But By God, that is the first time I've picked up any kind of knitting or crochet hook for anything other than a dishcloth in a few years. And I consider that a great success, no matter how the rug turns out :) For instructions to try one sort of like the one I'm making, go here.

6 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

I have been telling myself that I was going to make a rug for the bathroom for five years now. I look forward to seeing what you come up with so I can shamelessly copy it! :)

Carpet Rug Cleaners said...

Go for it! I know you can do it. Keep us updated when you finished the rug. I can't wait to see it.

Kath said...

I took a knitting with fabric strips class a couple years ago and I never went forward with it. But it was very cool and we did learn how to cut up a fabric to get one long strip and how to join two strips together well and it was fun. Can't wait to see what you do!

Mia said...

Oh how funny, spam comments. I'll make sure and let those rug cleaners know when I finish :)

Unknown said...

When you are finished with your rug, you should give the rug cleaners a call and ask them how much it would cost to have them come out from Los Angeles and clean it for you.

Harbor Hon said...

I, like you, bought all the fabric shredders, needles, braiders and books that go with rug making but haven't done any of them yet. Waiting for retirement so I can go at my own pace. I have crocheted some bathroom rugs though and two went into a 'silent' auction at work. They brought in a whopping $5 a piece. :) That was 15 years ago. They would probably go for more now.

Have also been collecting plastic bags as they can be cut up and crocheted into outdoor rugs that can be hosed off. Someone gave me a lot of pink bags last year. Those will be pretty when they're worked up.

Good luck on crocheting yours, and let us see what you come up with. xxoo