4.13.2013

DIY project :: crochet rug

photo by ChiWei of blog: 1dogwoof.com

I have been trying my hand at crochet lately, and I think I like it better than knitting... or maybe it's just newer to me! This rug is one of the DIY projects I found that drove me to it. I haven't made it yet myself (it's on my LIST) but I wanted to pass it on - if anyone makes it please shoot me off a photo! I have found that sometimes if I blog about a project it helps me to do it quicker... and at least it's easier for me to find where the instructions for the project ARE!!  (on my BLOG!)

It looks super easy and really fun and I think the result is super cute! If you can get your kids turned onto crochet I think it's a great talent that they will never loose. So here are the instructions and the link to the full posting on 1dogwoof.com

click here to go to onedogwoof to see full instructions ::

Step 1.  Acquire fabric.  In this case, I used XXL men's t-shirts from Goodwill.  Choose t-shirts that are mostly or 100% cotton, and have no or very little print on them, preferably, only above the arm line.  You'll also want the fabric weight to be fairly consistent, so don't try to pair up a Hanes t-shirt with a paper thin cotton shirt from BR.
Step 2. Create your yarn.  There are oodles of t-shirt yarn tutorials out on the internet.  Feel free to choose any one of them, or try this one on for size.  The basic idea is that the shirt is already in the round, so you're cutting a continuous strip from the bottom hem up to the armpit.  Actually, remove the hem before cutting - it doesn't curl well (or, at all). Once you have the big strip, stretch the strip and allow the knit in the t-shirt to curl in on itself, thus creating the yarn.
 
 
Step 3. Ball up your yarn.  This is actually pretty important, but once I started to crochet, I realized I twisted the yarn as I balled it, so there was a lot of tension.  I ended up unraveling the whole darn thing before crocheting, which kind of defeats the purpose of balling it up in the first place.  C'est la vie.


Thank you 1dogwoof for such a great project!!