Feeling Crafty

Feeling Crafty

     I've been feeling crafty lately. Now that the big kids are back in school I have the time to spend on something other than not losing my mind. I've been planning on making a braided rag rug out of all of the torn jeans I've been collecting for years, but then I ran across a picture of a crochet rag rug made out of old t shirts. I have 4 kids and a husband who works construction, so you can imagine that I have lots of old, ripped, outgrown, stained, and otherwise unwearable t-shirts, I have a big ass crochet hook, I can totally do this!

     I started by cleaning out closets and drawers to get some shirts. I tore them into strips. They turned out uneven and lumpy, but I began crocheting. The first attempt was not great, but it makes a great hot pad for the table.

My first try at t yarn crocheting

     Since I wasn't thrilled with the results I found instructions online to easily cut the shirt into continuous strips that would be more even and easier to work with. I cut the shirts, stretched the resulting strips to make them curl up, and rolled them into balls. Aislyn helped me and had a great time.

Starting to cut

Strips cut

Strips cut

Cutting into one long strip

Aislyn helped me stretch the yarn

Before and after stretching

Finished yarn

Ball of yarn (it's football shaped so it doesn't roll away too easily)

     Then I started crocheting. This yarn worked much better. Since it's so thick it goes really fast and makes a nice, cushy rug.

Much easier to work with

Starting on the third ball of yarn

     I'd just like to tell you that this the first oval I've done, so it's not perfect. Following a pattern is not my strong suit and I think I added too many stitches on the ends, so it's a little hourglass shaped, but I'm still happy with it. It works perfectly in front of my kitchen sink.

Finished product

Be sure to check out this week's Barn Hop.