We just repainted the living room/dining room area and I was cleaning and putting all the furniture back yesterday. So about 8:00 last night I finish moving the living room furniture (I can never put it back in the same spot...I'm always rearranging) and it hits me that a rug would be nice. None of the rugs I have on hand are the right colors so I get this wild hair to make a new one. And that wild hair was demanding...it said NOW!

I was up until 2am working on it. And when I woke up at 10am I started working on it some more. It's done. Well, as done as it can be (I want it to be a bit bigger but I need to buy more fabric to do that).

Now I can eat...and finish putting the dining room back together. I'm sick, I tell ya. I need a 12 step program or something. :rolleyes:

Wow i love that, its great!!!!! I want one for the babies room hehe....

Dannielle that looks great! I can't believe how fast you made that. What yarn did you use to make it? Great job.

It's beautiful. I can't believe you worked it up so quickly. :)

thanks...it's actually kind of embarrassing admitting how freakishly obsessed I get when inspiration hits.

it's not yarn. it's fabric that I ripped into 2" strips and crocheted with some big hook (smaller than a Q...a P or S maybe-it's not marked). Crocheting with fabric strips works up really fast. Although the 12 pack of mountain dew that somehow disappeared yesterday may have had something to do with it. LOL!

12-pack!?! I drink one and I am bouncing off the walls for days.

I love the rug. Maybe I need to re-learn to crochet.

Danielle,
That rug is beautiful!!! Do you sew the end of your strips, or how do you do that???

Warm wishes,

very nice!

and seriously, a 12 pack??!?! You must still be bouncing off the walls, LOL!

oh care to do a crochet-a-long? i need rugs badly!

LOL...in my defense I don't normally drink that much soda. :) I had a cold Sat and water tasted like metal. And 2 of my fibro meds give me dry mouth. Combined with the sudafed I took for the head cold I was beyond thirsty all day. And the bubbles of soda felt soooo good on my sore throat.

The strips aren't sewn (I"m FAR too lazy for that lol!). I took pics of how they're joined.

1. cut a hole near the end of both strips (I join a few strips...crochet them...then add more as I go so I can control where the colors change)

2. insert the uncut end of the new strip through the slit in the old strip then the slit in itself

3. pull the uncut end all the way through and it makes a sort of sloppy knot. Most of the sloppy knots end up on the back of the rug and the ones that do show on the front just look "raggy" (this pic in reply)

as for how to crochet it...it's all done in single crochet. A rectangle would be the easiest. I've done a circle and oval. I just increase when it starts to look like it's curling. When the rug is done I "block" it by spritzing it with water and pulling on it and walking on it and forcing it to lie flat and assume it's proper shape.

and a close-up that shows a few of the raggy knots...

oh, and it does use a LOT of fabric. Good if you have a stash that needs thinning....not so good if you need to purchase fabric to make it. Color matters more than the print on the fabric...larger prints won't even be distinguishable once it's ripped into strips.

and a close-up that shows a few of the raggy knots...

oh, and it does use a LOT of fabric. Good if you have a stash that needs thinning....not so good if you need to purchase fabric to make it. Color matters more than the print on the fabric...larger prints won't even be distinguishable once it's ripped into strips.


oh man i have so much fabric - i have about 15 bolts of halloween cottons that this would be perfect for! thank you so much, i will be finishing dhs star wars quilt and trying one of these!

oh and a question about the crocheting - do you chain some first and then single crochet in the chain?

yes....for the oval I chained 12-15" or so....sc in the chains....4 or so sc in the last chain...and then sc in the free loops of the original chain (the loop of the chain left at the bottom). When I got back to where I started I did 3 sc in the last free loop then started spiralling.

When I made a round rug I chained 4 or 5 stitches and joined to make a circle.

It is beautiful Danielle! Very impressive. Especially with how quickly you made it. A few of those in the next stash game and you'll kick butt! LOL

Wow, that is beautiful, I just read some book from 1957 on braiding rugs and decided it would take me until 2057 to make one, I really might have to try one of your rugs, I think I could handle that and I really want one in my son's room made of navy, light blue, and red.

oh and a question about the crocheting - do you chain some first and then single crochet in the chain?

hey-when you figure this out can you show me how? I'm a visual kind of gal...gotta see you do it, then i need to do it myself...

I NEED RUGS.

Danielle, very very nice!

hey-when you figure this out can you show me how? I'm a visual kind of gal...gotta see you do it, then i need to do it myself...

I NEED RUGS.

Danielle, very very nice!


come on over, i am working on one right now :)

how's it going? :happy:

I was at hobby lobby last night and noticed that the Q hooks I saw for sale (either Lion brand or Balene) were the size of the hook I used. Different brands must be different sizes or something because the Q hook I have is HUGE. Their Q hooks were a bit larger than the P and were about the size of the hook I used.

I'm cracking myself up...it just occurred to me when I caught a glimpse of the first pic in my OP how incredibly small my living room is. Both of those couches are touching walls LOL! Could you imagine if I had a coffee table? rofl!

OMG, can I say, I just LOVE that rug. I am moving to a much larger house in a few weeks and NEED some rugs. I want to make some like this to help me declutter my fabric stash....way to be resourceful!!!!

it looks great! I might have to collect some fabric for a new rug. Although I have made one before and when I washed it it didn't look as pretty. I think it would be a bit cleaner (not so frazzly after you washed it) if you folded the edges in like bias tape and ironed. but phew, who's got time for that?

I have a rug I made about a year ago that's been washed/dried several times and doesn't look frazzly. I mean, it does a *tiny* bit but only if you're really looking for it. Actually it didn't get nearly as raggy as I thought it would when I washed it.

Did you cut your strips or tear them? I'm trying to think of what could have made the difference. I tore my strips. I'm wondering if tearing with the grain leaves it less prone to shagginess than cutting (if that's what you did).

hmm. i can't recall. maybe I did cut them? Sadly it has been, umm, well, 10 years! But I keep thinking a nice flannel one might be nice for the bathroom.....