Making :: Crocheted Baskets

Using the material I prepare for rag rugs, and roughly the same process, I have crocheted a few fabric baskets in recent weeks. They are sturdy and functional and, in my mind, pretty charming. The round one that holds (about one third of) Scotty's block collection was made using a pile of crib sheets I'd been saving. I'm not much of a home decorator, so 5 or 6 well-loved sheets were exactly the inventory that got me through both sets of crib years. No matching crib bumpers, no themed bedroom sets, just whatever few had been given to me by thoughtful, more stylish friends than I, and they made an adorable basket in the end.

I made the rectangular basket for wood next to the fireplace. Our San Francisco springs are so mild that the fireplace mostly sleeps from now until mid-November or so.....but the weather here is just unpredictable enough that you'd be a fool not to keep something to burn close at hand. So the ugly yellow-wrapped fire logs are cute as a button cozied into their new home.

Another basket, the first one I made, was started on Easter, watching the kids run around Aunt Barbara's backyard. Originally intended to hold my mom's traditional Easter presents (the vegetable starts I give her for her garden every year), I couldn't quite finish the basket in the few hours we were there. She took her plants home in the cardboard boxes they came in, and I took the basket home and ended up using it every day since. As you do.

It's amazing how much this basket holds! Camera and extra lenses, lunches and snacks for school/work/baseball field, veggies from the farmers market, a family set of water bottles, my (empty) wallet and keys (somewhere buried in there, i swear, give me a second minute and I'll find them), my ever-present notebook(s), at least three baseballs, my mitt, and random squirt guns and sticks I'm holding onto for The Things. 


Seriously sturdy.

Crochet Rag Rugs

... the multi-media version, I guess!  I had written about making crocheted rag rugs several times over the last couple of years.  Here, originally; then  here for a chair pad I made.  Plus all the ones I've documented giving away as gifts.  Even placemats!

I've been thinking for awhile it might be fun to turn that one blog post into a small video series.  My goal was to have a set of 2-minute videos that showed some of the basics...how to choose materials, prep the sheets into one long piece of fabric (fitted and flat sheets), how to change colors, increase, decrease, etc.  (I'm also creating a series of very specific posts that have pictures and patterns for some of the favorite ones I've made...but that's not done yet.  Soon!)

Here are those videos...but they aren't two minutes long!  And I filmed them by myself, with a tripod, so every video is made without my head.  Ahem.  And I made some mistakes in what I was saying (I tried to note the mistakes under the video) and oh, basically, I don't even know why I'm posting these!  haha

But, I'm wondering if they are at all helpful....and if they are, I'd be willing to re-do them, a little more professionally.  It was kind of fun, actually, so any feedback and constructive criticism would be super helpful.

Like, for example, I like to watch really short videos...I can't commit to anything over 3 or 4 minutes!  Do you feel the same way?  Would you rather see the info in the longest video broken into several shorter segments?  Or do the fitted and flat sheet parts just go together?  Am I talking to much or not enough?  There are a couple spots where you can't see EXACTLY what my hands are doing, so if that's troublesome, I could redo the videos.

Lookit, basically, if you look at these videos, and find them either helpful or troublesome, would you mind letting me know either way?  Thanks!  :)

I apologize in advance that I'm all "Boobs McBooberson" in these.  I watched them fairly critically (as you do ;) and I'm pretty sure that my hair is long enough to make these "Safe For Work and Small Children"... *cough* I promise a wardrobe change if these get redone.


Choosing Materials ~ click to see video on types of sheets and materials. (about 3 minutes)
Preparing Materials ~ click to see video on how to turn fitted and flat sheets into one continuous strip of material.  (about 9 minutes)
Simple Stitches for Working a Rag Rug ~ click to see video on decreasing and increasing stitches, for crocheting in the round. (about 4 minutes)
Changing Colors ~ click to see video on how to change colors using a slip stitch (about 8 minutes).

(In the last two videos, I make a couple of mistakes, which I think could ultimately be good to sort of show that you can make mistakes and your rug will still turn out just fine!  Lovely, even.)

Mistake number one:  I keep saying that you start the next round, when you're moving up in a round rug, with a single crochet.  I'm actually making a "chain one", which is correct, but saying "single crochet".  Oops!  So, in short, to begin the next 'round' in the single crochet circular rug I am making on the video, slip stitch into the first stitch of the round you are ending, to close the circle, then CHAIN ONE, then begin making SINGLE CROCHET STITCHES to create the next round.  On the video, I then go on to forget to do the chain one, and just begin single crocheting!  heh.  What you'll notice is, that it just doesn't matter.  It doesn't have to be anything like perfect! 

As I get the patterns finished/pictures to go with them, I'll include those here, too.
Good luck and have fun making the rugs...they are addicting!

Video ~ Crochet Rag Rug Choosing Material

Video ~ Crochet Rag Rug Preparing Sheets

Video ~ Crochet Rag Rug Increase and Decrease Stitches

Video ~ Crochet Rag Rugs Changing Colors

Paper-less Towels

I was talking to my friend Kristie on the phone the other day (hi! *waves at Kristie*) and it was so wonderful.  I love friends who call, because I'm such a hermit that, even when I think about picking up the phone and calling all the time, I just can't bring myself to do it.  But then, somebody calls me, or like I randomly phoned my friend Kate the other day, and it's so much fun to chat and catch up.  And then I always think, you know, what the hell is wrong with me?  Thank you friends, who accept me for how I am, and somehow don't hold that against me.

Anyway, one of the things that came up was the idea of cutting back (or making more responsible choices, at any rate) and she was asking about saving money on paper products and I am happy to report that one area that saves money and feels good, is in saying goodbye to paper products.

I used to buy and use a dozen rolls of paper towels every month, but now we use about two rolls during the same time period.   And look, it definitely falls under the "little things add up" column of things, I won't lie to you.  It sounds so silly to say, "I used to spend $12 on paper towels, and now I only spend $2 on paper towels."  But then over a year, you've saved $120 and that buys a lot of wine.  Just saying.

I live with a cat, a puppy, two young boys, and a man-child... we need paper towels.  But instead of using them, I've taken to cutting up old t-shirts and having an ever-ready, ever-growing, stash of scrap materials has been a real lifesaver.  Here's a stack I just made for my mom, using the leftover materials from the t-shirts I used when I made the blanket for Marie. 

And here's my collection.  I keep them in this basket on the counter, so they are as convenient and easy to grab as the paper towels sitting next to them.   Still, no matter how convenient I make the cloths, Erik seems to always grab for the paper towels. I bet if I just stopped buying paper towels altogether, he'd use the cloths more often, except I'm almost certain that the whole time, he'd be thinking, "Man, I wish I had a paper towel for this."   This falls under the category of "marriage maintenance" in my house... as in, I'm not going to go pecking at his neck about something this (ultimately) trivial. I'd rather he use cloths.  He goes for the paper.  We'll live.

They're so small, I just toss them in the washer with whatever load needs to be done; they don't take up hardly any room at all.  And when they're really good and gone, they just get tossed into the composting. 
If you're not already using this system, I highly recommend it!

Before Christmas: My apples, gifted from my friend Monica's tree, were lazing about the counter. They are so hideous! Look at them! Utterly lacking charm, don't you agree?





After Christmas: Behold the glory of my apples, nestled into the light-aqua enamel colander**! These apples are practically art.






I was going to preserve these apples as more apple pie filling, but then I found this Apple puff pancake recipe...and I think we all know how this story ends. Twice.

Although Erik and I decided many weeks ago that we would not exchange presents (we somehow managed to treat ourselves to the very few things we already wanted, and we have to admit that there was nothing else that we needed, so the decision was drama-free), my parents were inspired to pick up a bag of kitchen joy from Williams-Sonoma, a pair of plaid canvas high tops (a la Converse), and this beautiful Le Creuset piece. (My mom, knowing it would be a crucial part of my ability to enjoy this present, immediately reassured me that it was half off!).

Well, obviously, it's beautiful just the way it is! BUT, filled with Apple Puff Pancake? It's a real showstopper! (Kitchen tip: Whenever you have a baking/casserole/pot/pan whatever that feels unredeemable after a particularly raucous meal (burnt on? no problem!) just set it to "soak" and pop a dryer sheet into it. You know, like 'bounce'? It can even be previously used in the dryer, and this still works. Let it soak for a bit, then use it to wipe down the offensive dish. Go ahead and try it, then tell me if it's not a miracle!)

** My mom was totally riding my ass about this colander. "Who cares what color is?!? It's just a colander! It's nothing! You act like it matters! It doesn't matter!" So, picture all that, all screechy and naggy. Super fun, right? The whole time I'm debating (light-aqua? or red? one each? hmm....now we're talking!) she's talking herself out of the cutest dang cake plate I've ever seen. Creamy ceramic, with brown toille-styled roosters painted on it? Swoon! She can't pay 50 bucks for it though (but you can bet if it started at 60 dollars but was marked down by 10, she would have seen it differently...that woman loves a sale! You should see her when I whip out my 15% off educator's discount card at Joann's.) So I said, that's okay ma, I have two cake plates at home, and you can have one...and we'll just see how much 'looks matter' when you're choosing between the smokey-purple sleek glass plate versus the sweet, clear glass, flower-embossed plate. Of course she picked the beautiful flower-embossed! Who wouldn't! (And of course I let her!) Two days later? I teased her about picking the cutest plate, and her response was, "Oh, who cares? It doesn't matter what it looks like; it's just a cake plate." Seriously? My cake plate is "just" a cake plate; yours, officially, is adorable.

Hateful. Grateful. Full of Love.

Last Sunday, my mom and I went up to Healdsburg to visit her best friend (my godmother), Marie (Mimi, to friends and fam). I wasn't sure what to expect. A phone call from Mimi's granddaughter to my mom just a few days before that let us know that she has "4th stage lung cancer".

I hate cancer. Cancer took my Grandma Dot and my Aunt Patty. It took my Grandpa George before I even got to meet him. Cancer took my Grandma Mary's mom, when Gram was just 11 years old. Cancer took my childhood friend, Anthony. Cancer takes siblings and husbands and wives and sisters. Cancer takes what cancer wants, and I hate cancer.

On Sunday, I took 200 pictures and an hour of video, tucked in the corner while Mimi and my mom laughed, hugged, teared, and shared. She's still Mimi. Cancer can't take love, or hope, or memories, or the touch of a hand.

When we left last weekend, Mimi sent me home with a suitcase full of her own memories, in the form of clothing...worn by her husband (my godfather) who past last November from diabetic complications. (I hate diabetes, too. I am hateful.) She and Glenn had been living in Hawaii for many years, and these were, I dare say, the happiest of her life. As she pulled out the typical Hawaiian shirts (think Magnum, PI!), she had a story for each one. I couldn't quite watch, as my mental images were all around my mom having to leave the room just days after Glenn's funeral (of course she got on a plane and flew to Mimi's side) because she couldn't bear to watch Mimi packing these shirts, pausing on each one, and here we were, a year later, his smell and her tears forever part of that fabric, and I pasted a small smile on my face and nodded and hmmed over each story, because who would it serve for me to break and down and cry (the way I really wanted to) to leave the room (the way I really wanted to) and so instead, I started mentally cataloguing the stories....sorting them into piles as she passed them over to me...the creative process taking over and soothing my heart, because what she wanted was a blanket, made from these clothes, and this I can do.

(ps...I'm sorry, you'll just have to to deal with the above paragraph! I cannot bear to re-read it for editing, so if it's raw and rambling and disjointed...so it must be because that's what I am right now, too.)

On Monday night, I lugged in that suitcase from my Mommy-Van and I spent several late hours (after putting my kids to bed) cutting and ripping seams and arranging and re-arranging and cutting some more and ironing. I dragged the sewing machine, a folding table, and the iron out into the living room and set up a make-shift sweat shop for one. By Tuesday night, my living room looked like this.

And I had a crying hangover and my nerves were jagged and I called my mom and told her I didn't think I had the emotional strength to do this.





My original plan was to spend all my non-working, non-kid-caretaking hours on this project, so my mom could take it back to Mimi when she went up to visit today. But then there was the birthday party Tuesday night and a last minute Zoo Date with my own childhood friend and her three kids (and they live 5 hours away, and I NEVER get to see them, and hello, perspective, I'll not be missing that) on Wednesday...

And by Wednesday morning, I'd 'only' gotten this far. And I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. I'm a total novice sewer in the first place, and I have absolutely NO design background at all. I'm using cotton jerseys and linens and rayons with total abandon and no regard for my sewing machine or my sanity.

Emotionally and physically spent, I forged on.

Mimi's daughter Jenny emailed me a couple of photos, including this one. Could you just swoon?! Mimi and Glenn, I'm guessing they are about 20 years old in this photo. I printed this picture (and another, taken just a few years ago) onto photo fabric, and then used them both as blocks in the quilt.



This center block section (all outlined with the black fabric from one tank top and parts of two Hawaiian shirts ~ plus subsidized by a pair of black pants that no longer fit Tommy) includes t-shirts from their daughter and their son, plus a t-shirt from Jenny's first husband (and, therefore, with the same name as their two grandchildren) an "everyone loves an Italian girl" t-shirt my mom sent Marie some years ago, and a pair of shorts that Glenn LIVED in.

The shorts are these crazy tropical fish, and I was able to use the pocket of the shorts (which sit in the very center of the quilt top) to tuck in a tiny picture of them.





The picture is printed on fabric paper and then attached with a ribbon. I made it interchangeable, as I was hoping to get a third picture from Jenny, but in the end had to use one of the two that are also their own blocks. Someday, I may get a proper third photo, and this can be changed out when I do.



At some point, and I can't remember exactly when this happen, the entire project went from "my worst emotional nightmare" to "pleasant preoccupation". Something about putting it all back together, about using the cult of get it done, released me and I really began to enjoy this. I was thinking a lot about my cousin Kelly's Thanksgiving idea during the making of this quilt, and though I couldn't bring myself to say that she'll be thankful for me doing this (I'm just too humble for that!), I was able to think of it as a service project, something that I would turn over to it's rightful owner in due time, and that must go with a spirit of love and giving, not burden and angst. I wanted to embue this cloth with the proper energy, and soon I was really enjoying the project. (I am grateful.)


On Thanksgiving, after supper, I made the backing on my mom's sewing machine. I used green flannel (her favorite color) and some fabric she sent with me that she had brought with her from the island. I zig-zagged (the logo portion of) three t-shirts that Glenn loved to wear down the strip of tropical fabric.


Then I printed (also onto fabric) "Glenn and Marie A Love Story" and sewed that onto the backing as well. And it is! Married young, they had two children. They divorced, and Glenn had another child and Marie also had two more. Other marriages and relationships took place, but they were always (despite the divorce) the best of friends and totally devoted to their children. When Mimi and my mom turned 50, they visited Glenn in Kauai. And, with new eyes, it may well have been the start of the new beginning that became their RE-marriage several years later. True love, always.

I kept the 'theme' on the back by using a particular three t-shirts. These shirts, to me, represent the TRUE LOVE of a real marriage...one that travels across time and space and endures... one that doesn't judge...that revels in the differences between a man and a woman, and doesn't care what anybody on the outside, looking in, might have to say about what goes on between any two people who have made a commitment... these are what Mimi called "Glenn's booby shirts" and one is a wife-beater style tank from a local bar/crab shack, and the other two are from a surfboard company, featuring buxom island babes, with such catchy phrases as "nice papayas" and "ride a woody" (board brand) and I'm sorry, but only true love makes you save those in a box for 12 months and 3000 miles.

After coming home from Thanksgiving dinner, I basted the three layers of the quilt, and bound the edges in basic black. I just machine sewed the binding. (I was so happy with the outcome! The blanket isn't too thick, with Warm and Natural batting on the inside, so it didn't pucker or purse at all (which totally happened when I tried to machine stitch both sides of a binding on a crocheted blanket I did before, because it was just too thick). I've machine stitched the underside, then hand stitched the blind hem to finish off projects before, which I like, so I wasn't sure about machine stitching BOTH sides of the binding. I only did it for time (I finished this thing at two thirty this morning!) and I was very very pleased with the finished look. Yay!

Here we go. There's the center block, and the photo blocks, and all the other blocks are made up from Hawaiian race running t-shirts and Hawaiian opera t-shirts, and Hawaiian sports bars, and honu-Hawaiian shirts, all of which represented ~ to Mimi ~ their wonderful life in paradise, and I used the cut-up Magnum PI shirts (plus one dressier outfit Marie loved that Glenn bought her while they lived there) to make all sashings and borders.


I carefully folded the blanket (secretly, how shocked was I when all the edges matched and the corners squared up, even during folding?) and strapped it back into the suitcase that she had used to pack up all the clothing. My mom picked it up on her way to Mimi's house just a few hours ago. (I am full of love.)



I hope she likes it, as much as I liked making it for her.

Patched

Erik and I moved into our house in July, 1999. In fact, after six years of drifting (through jobs, rentals, and our twenties) we married in 1998, bought a home in 1999, and had a baby in 2000. Fortunately, we didn't keep that pace up, as we are essentially underachievers and it was getting quite nerve-racking.

Where was I?

Oh yes. When we were moving into our new home, we bought two new couches at a proper schmancy furniture store. Although they were half off, the couches were still pricey, or so I remember thinking at the time...maybe $3500 for both? I mean, we weren't at Ethan Allen, obviously, but we were two people who were using their childhood dressers and the only other furniture we owned that we had actually purchased was an unfinished pine cabinet for our television. Oh, did I not mention that? We bought tvs, computers, cell phones, laptops, and every video game known to man, but we couldn't be bothered with a bed or a kitchen table.

Those couches were butter yellow denim. I mean, really? Even looking back I have no idea how that happened. We didn't have kids back then, but we had two dogs and three cats, and sometime before Scotty was born (2005) it became beyond clear that we had destroyed these couches.

By this time, I had already begun my shift from consumerism to conservatism, and although it would have been cheaper to just purchase a different set of couches (especially since my current tastes have come full circle back to hand-me-downs and retreads!), I didn't want to just chuck the old ones into the landfill. They were in absolutely no condition to donate, or pass along. It was a real conundrum! The only responsible thing to do, was to go through the expense of having them reupholstered. The couches, it turned out, were worth recovering, as they were sturdy and well - made (so there's that for spending a bit extra, in the beginning) but it wasn't cheap. I don't remember exactly, but maybe it was about $1500 to have them both done. We could have replaced them for less, but, again, I just couldn't bring myself to add them to landfill.

Because we are nothing if not dense, we covered them in chic chocolate brown crushed velvet. Everything held up for a time, but come on, the barrage of dog hair, spilt milk from sippy cups, yogurts...there's only so much crushed velvet can take. On any given day, the cookie and cracker crumbs alone nearly doubled the weight of either couch.

For some time (read: three years) we've known that we need to do something about the couches. We have one room in our house, and we have two couches to sit on. We've done just about the least we can, over the years, by draping the couches with throw blankets, or using those generic slipcovers. We've even had them steam cleaned!

It occurred to me last night, as I sat picking at...uh, something that was stuck to the cushion, that I could probably just take off the cushion covers and toss them in the washing machine. (Yes. I'm that smart.) So I did. I didn't want them to shrink, so I hung them on the clothesline this morning. It was just warm enough today and dry them through by early afternoon. Thank you, sun!



While the covers were drying, Scotty was busy making an indoor snowball arrangement.








Cleverly made from cushion batting.








I got the cushions put back together (and have you ever noticed, that things like that never seem to go back together quite right? You know it came out of there. Why won't it go back in there?) and I was just kicking myself, because yes, it did solve the biggest problem, which was that you just didn't even want to sit on these things. In fact, one of the couches was officially fine at this point. Three years isn't too long to figure this out, is it? Lie to me.

But the back of the other couch is pretty destroyed. I took this picture, which looks about 300% better than real-life, so I hope you can understand the full breadth of the horror. I can't just toss the whole couch in the washer!




I did have this slip cover, which I had purchased for around $30, but it never did fit right, and it was just very ordinary, for me. My personal style (and I think even the word "style" here connotes a level of intentionality far greater than anything I can claim to have) is a bit more...bohemian, I guess, if I had to pick an adjective. And this cover was just very pedestrian. And, as I stated, ill-fitting. (It was too small, actually.)


I cut it apart, and used some ultra suede patches in blue, red, and green (doesn't everybody have ultra suede patches lying around, waiting for just such an occasion?) that fairly well match (or at least accent) the colors in the material that I used for the throw pillows and the curtains.




I sewed them onto the reclaimed material in a patchwork-y fashion, rather randomly. Then I used some warm and natural batting, and made a little 'custom throw' for the back of the couch. It worked! Clean cushions to sit on, funky throw to lean against... crisis averted!





I used the same three-layer technique to create these grandma-esque throws for the arms of the couch, and we were officially cozied up on both couches tonight! (And secretly...how much do I love those grandma-arm-cozies?)




We also have some new rules in effect...all snacks, meals, and drinks can happen at the kitchen table, the kitchen island, or the living room....floor. Let's see how long that lasts!

And now that I'm here, I do realize that the title to this post could very well have been Much Ado About Nothing! But I am very happy with my work-around, and it was well-worth the effort if we can eek out a few more years with these old couches.

Tea Time

Over the weekend, I found this cupcake...holder. Thingy. What are these called? Hold on. Okay, I'm back! These are known by the following aliases: Cupcake stand, cupcake tree, cupcake holder. Possibly others.

This one is white and very girly. I happen to love cupcakes. And muffins. I like round, baked goods that live in their own wee little cup. Period. I prefer them topped with frosting and sprinkles, but I'm open.

So, in some ways, it pains me to see this tree with no treats, but I have been wanting to find a way to display by my Grandma Dot's tea cups, and it seems this little perch suits me just fine! (I had been looking for shadowboxes, at the suggestion of a dear, unnamed commenter right here at Mia's Boys, but hadn't yet stumbled upon a cost-effective version!)

Being that we live in earthquake country, I need to make a decision ~ coming right up, because you never know! ~ about how to secure these. I'll need to use double sided stickies (what is up? why can't I remember what anything is called?) to keep the cups in their nests, and I'll need to use some earthquake tack to keep the tree on top of Gram's hoosier, but I think I will go through the trouble, afterall. I wasn't sure, but the more I look at it, the more it makes me happy!

(I think maybe I like to imagine these are cupcake trees. I must...because I managed to work in tree, perch, and nest, in just these few paragraphs!)

Edited to add: You know, in the picture, it looks like I have another glass cupcake tree, but no, that there is actually two CAKE stands stacked on top of each other. I think I need to go do some baking.

How to Crochet a Rag Rug

I've had this rocking chair for months. I bought it for five bucks at a yard sale. I love it. Erik says I bought it because I'm "a very old woman". Hater.

It's well-loved, but it needs a pad. You'd think that, uh, nature's padding would be enough. *ahem* But no. So I took the balls of fabric that I have rolling around that I use to crochet rag rugs. These are upcycled sheets. I wrote about how to prepare them here.




I came home from work tonight and decided a quick round rag rug would be just the ticket. The right size would make a perfect pad for the rocker! I took a red flannel sheet material, and I chained four using my S-Hook and then slip stitched to make a ring.





When you're creating a round shape that starts with a ring, you want to make your first single crochets into the center of the ring, instead of into the individual stitches that make the ring shape. Here, I just put my hook right through the center, where the single crochets will go, so you can see what I'm talking about.




Why, yes, I did come home tonight and get into my pajamas at 6:30. This is the start of my round rug. Six single crochets went into the center of the ring, then I slip stitched the last sc to the first on. Chain one, don't turn, and make the second round by putting 2 sc into each of the 6 sc (12 sc total). Slip stitch at the end to finish the round, chain one, and don't turn.



Round Three: * 2sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat * to * 6 times. (18 sc total) Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.
Round Four: *2sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next two stitches* repeat * to * 6 times (24 sc total) Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

Here I decided to switch colors. I'm going to do it during the slip stitch. I put the hook through the chain one that starts my row. Normally, I would grab the red wrapped around my left index finger and pull it through.


But because I want to switch colors, I make a slip knot with the new material, and pass it onto the hook. I pull that through the chain one.






Now I need to pull the new material straight through the red loop that remains on my hook (that red loop ended the last sc in the row).






Why, yes, we did have cheerios for dinner. Isn't Scotty helpful? Now my new material is ready and positioned to start my new row. First I have to chain one.






Round Five: *2 sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next 3 stitches* repeat * to * 6 times. (30 sc total) Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

Oh, after I change colors, I usually tie the tail of the new color to the tail of the old color. I just cut off the old color from the ball of material, then literally tie a knot.



Nothing could be easier! No sewing, no measuring, just tie and go.








Round 6: *2 sc in the first stitch, 1sc in each of next 4 stitches* repeat * to * 6 times (36 sc total). Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

For some reason (probably because I was interrupted roughly 3 dozen times in the past 10 minutes) I feel like when I got to what should have been the end of this row (at 36 sc total), I still had this empty stitch from the row below. If I just ignored and slip stitched to the chain one at the start of the row, it would start to pucker. That chain was just too far away! So, I tore the whole thing out and...ha! haha!....I kid! What I did was I said, huh, and then I went ahead and put that extra sc right on in there. And I had an extra single crochet as I went around in subsequent rows. And the earth kept spinning, so clearly that funny little miscount was not the end of the world.

Let's give it a tester. I got my mad measuring skillz from my mom. Looks like I need more rounds.







At the end of each of the next three rounds slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

Round 7: *2sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next 5 stitches* repeat * to * 6 times (42 sc total)
Round 8: *2sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next 6 stitches* repeat * to * 6 t imes (48 sc total)
Round 9: *2sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next 7 stitches* repeat * to * 6 times (54 sc total)

Sometime in this blue and white round, I lost track again and was off by a stitch or two somewhere, and again, I just sc into them and moved on. It made my total stitch count for the row and subsequent rows off a bit, but it was laying nice and flat and there is no prize for perfection. A crocheted rag rug is a very forgiving little project.

Round 10: *2sc in first stitch, 1sc in each of next 8 stitches (60 sc total) Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

Another tester. This might be just about right. Nah.

Round 11: *2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in each of next 9 stitches (66 sc total) Slip stitch into the chain one at the beginning of the round, do not turn, chain one.

And now I know it's done. How can I be so sure? Well, that tail I'm holding in my hand? It's the end of the fabric roll. Just enough to slip stitch and tie it off!






Yep, definitely done.








When you flip it over, you can see all the knots from where I just tied on a new color. I trimmed them down a little, but left them.

I wanted this to be pad sized, but I could have kept growing the rounds, using the same pattern above. (Divide the total number of sc in the previous row by 6; whatever that number is becomes your "repeat". The repeat is made with 2sc in the first stitch, and sc in the remaining stitches. For example, for round 12, I would take the 66 stitches in round 11 and divide by 6 to get 11. For every 11 stitches, I would put 2sc into the first one and 1sc into each of the next 10. Those 11 stitches would make 12 sc in the new round. I'd repeat that for 6 times and end up with 72 sc. All total sc counts at the end of the rounds are multiples of 6. There are other number patterns in there, feel free to use the one that's comfy for you.

And now I'm going to go relax, in my comfy rocking chair!

How to Crochet a 'Rag Rug'

March 6, 2011:  I've been wanting to add some "quick" videos to show the process for using flat and fitted sheets to make continuous balls of materials to crochet rag rugs, and show some basic techniques around increasing, decreasing, and changing colors, too.  I finally did the "first draft" of these videos.  I had hoped they would be just 2 or 3 minutes each (I have the attention span of a gnat!) so if you watch the videos (found here) please do let me know in the comments if it was worthwhile, too much, too little, etc. as I would like to make another more 'polished' round of videos, or eliminate anything that doesn't work.  Making crocheted rag rugs is SO FUN!!! Enjoy...

The original post I wrote about crocheting rag rugs can be found in its entirety, below. 

Edited to add: Quite a few people have found this page searching for 'how to crochet a rag rug', so I went back and saw that I could add a few clarifying things that I hope make it helpful to use. If you're considering making a rag rug this way, I highly recommend it! They are beautiful, homey, and so practical. I make mine out of repurposed bed sheets, and so they easily just pop into the washer and dryer for speedy clean up! Here is my favorite one that I've ever made; I made it for my friend, and, I should add here, they make great 'race tracks' for little boys to play cars on! :) If there are any questions/clarifications that would be helpful, let me know!

Another round rag rug I made as a rocking chair pad here.

I mentioned last week that I had crocheted a bath mat for our bathroom (tiny, tiny little bathroom!) and even though I had to take it apart twice, it was still finished by the next day. I made it too big twice, but third time was a charm. Here it is in action.





At the time that I had crocheted my very first rag rug, I had written about how to do it using repurposed sheets, so I thought I'd include that here too. Here it is, from my old blog:

I made it over three days, and it's actually almost four feet in diameter, though I think in the picture it could be misconstrued as a placemat. It's big and thick and so homely. It's exactly what it's supposed to be.





It started out as a bunch of thrifted sheets. I think I used 6 sheets, that cost anywhere from 2 to 4 dollars each. It was probably about $15 worth of material. (Though there was lots left over! I've actually made 3 rugs using this material.) Grams's favorite color is blue. She loves it. She hates yellow.




I was way not looking forward to cutting all these sheets up into long strips (you can see how I had to roll the strips up into balls in the photo above. hehe I said "balls" hehe). You have to cut almost all the way to the end, move over an inch or more, then cut almost all the way back to the other end, over and over. Ugh. But, like paper, material has directionality, and it turned out, with maximum annoyance to my husband but minimum output by me, that I could cut a starter and then just RIP the sheet all the way to the other end. Awesome. Edited to add: Two things:

First: See in the picture, how at this end I tore all the way to wear the fold/hem is? That's great! Sometimes on the other end, where there is no thick hem like that, you fly right off the edge with overzealous tearing. That's okay, you'll just have to 'reattach' all the bits before you roll them into a ball. By 'reattach' I mean 'tie together'. Some people might sew them together, but I like the rustic look, and when you're crocheting it all just gets wrapped in together anyway so you don't even know. Sometimes, the hem is so deep that stopping there leaves a way too big 'flap' at the end. I just keep scissors handy when I'm crocheting it together, and when I get to a spot that's way too thick, I just trim it down as I go along.

Second: Flat sheets are best, but you can use fitted sheets. The biggest problem I've had with fitted sheets, is that the weave is 'unpredictable'. This means that the 'directionality' I mentioned above is sometimes hard to find, or changes in the middle of the action. If you have a great pattern or color on a fitted sheet (or, for example, are already using the matching flat sheet) I would still say it's fine to use them. I cut away the elastic parts and then pretend like I can figure out which direction to start by scrutinizing the weave pattern. I cannot. Eventually, I just start a cut and tear as far as I can (stop one inch from the end, if you get that far!). If I get to the other end, I move over about an inch and start a new cut then tear back, leave about an inch at the end, move over about an inch, start a cut and tear back (stop at within 1 inch of the end), etc. If the tear goes wonky (veers off or dead ends) then I just pick a new spot and make a small cut and tear again. There's a little bit of material waste this way (sometimes I've ended up with scraps that just aren't worth tearing further), but it's quick and easy, so that's your trade off.

Then I just used those strips ~ along with this ENORMOUS crochet hook (Edited to add: S Hook) ~ and used a simple increasing-rounds pattern and a simple double-crochet stitch, around and around and around, changing colors as I ran out, mostly, but for asthetic, occasionally. I later found out through some research that "traditional" crochet rag rugs mostly use a single crochet, but really, I love it just the way it is. Edited to add: To 'change' colors, I just tie the new end to the old end and keep crocheting! So simple.

I left all the stringy-parts and rough edges and tied pieces (which you can only see on the back side) because I thought it was all part of its charm.







Adding the Technical Part, assumes basic crochet ability

Basic increasing round pattern: I just started with a chain 4, and slip stitch to make a ring. Then, either sc, hdc, or dc (pick your poison) 8 stitches into the ring. Always slip-stitch the last one to the first one that started that round (do not count this slip stitch in any stitch counts), then chain 1 (for sc) or 2 (for hdc or dc) and start the next round, without turning. Increases are made: 2 stitches in each of the 8 stitches. Next round increases are made: two stitches in one, one in the next one, two stitches in one, one in the next one, all the way around. Don’t forget the slip stitch (and don't count it as a stitch)! Make your chain (for sc) or two chains (for double or half double crochet) and do not turn. Next round increases made: two stitches in one, one in each of the next two, two stitches in one, one in each of the next two, all the way around (sl st to end and don't count it as a stitch). Make your chain (for sc) or two chains (for double or half double crochet) and do not turn. Next round increases made: two stitches in one, one in each of the next three. Etc. The pattern grows just like that, until you’re at the size you prefer. Can of corn!
For the shape of the rug in our bathroom: I sort of wing it on this one, so you’re better off searching for one online. You can also usually use any rug pattern in an oval shape, just use the fabric strips and the huge hook, but the pattern will usually be the same. Edited to add: I think you could use Futuregirl's Starling Handbag pattern, just the part for the bottom of the purse, to make a rug roughly this shape. Isn't that funny? But it's basically what I did, except I'm sure with mistakes, since I was just fooling with it. But that's good, because you can see that even with mistakes, it's a smashing little rug! The only problem is that you have to experiment with the number of chains you start with. For example, in the rug in my bathroom (picture at the top) I wanted it to be about 24" long by 18" wide. When I first did it, I made 30 chains to start. Wayyyyyy wrong! (It made a huge rug.) Tore it out. Then I made 22 chains to start. Still sooooo wrong. Tore it out. I think I ended up with about 14 or 15 chains to start, and it was just right. The good news? The crocheting goes incredibly fast on these things, so tearing out a few rounds or starting over is not the same drama as when you are using a size D with cotton thread.

Any rug pattern can be followed ~ just use the S Hook and the materials you prepared. Here are a bunch of free rug patterns. I got started with an old rug pattern book my aunt had, and I just used my material instead of yarn. All good!
Best advice: Don’t be a stickler! If the rug is not laying flat, or not shaping properly, do not be afraid to break from the pattern and put in extra stitches (or take out others by stitching two together as one (known as a ‘decrease’)) and you’ll be very happy indeed with your finished rug!