Need a Rug, Make a Rug

I need a rug for the entry way to the apartment. I tried to buy one, but I got it home only to find out it was too small for the space and much too thick. The problem with this seemingly small entry is that three doors open on it. Any rug put here has to be fairly thin to allow these doors to open with interfering.

When my store bought option failed, I decided to crochet a rug with a cone of cotton that I have had laying around for far too long. I’m determined to decreased the yarn in my stash this year. Since most of it is back at the house and not here with me, I have no excuses for getting the small amount I do have made into projects.

I decided to improvise a pattern. I wanted something that would crochet up quickly but still give me enough cushion to wipe your feet and shield away some of the cold. And by making it, I have guaranteed that it is washable! That’s the most important bit. Store bought rugs are often too big and stiff to allow you to wash them or they have that rubber backing that eventually starts to peel off and can cause a bit of a headache in the washer when too much comes off.

I started with a chain of 160 and repeated this row pattern.

1 row sc

1 row dc

2 rows sc

1 row dc

The double crochets give you a stitch with some height that helps the progress move more quickly. The single crochets give you a tighter stitch that lends to the absorbency and warmth of the rug. I have forgotten the brand of the yarn, but it’s just a standard kitchen cotton that can be bought at the craft store.

Like so many of my larger cotton projects, I crocheted till the end of the yarn.

In the end, it was a little too small for the space I intended, and since the goal was to get rid of yarn, I didn’t want to buy more. So, I started moving it around the apartment to see where else it could go. My choices are the entry way, kitchen or bathroom. These places made the most sense.

After weaving in the ends and adding adhesive rug gripper to the bottom, this nice little homemade rug found it’s home in the kitchen.

I still need a rug for the entry way, but that has now become another project for another day.

Frog or Finish Friday-Cotton Bag

I started knitting this cotton shopping bag back in March of 2008. I love this yarn but it’s thick/thin nature and the fact that it is cotton made it difficult to maneuver on the needles. The start of a round moves on this pattern and at some point I made a mistake and couldn’t figure out exactly where or how to recover the travel on the pattern. So, it sat unfinished for 4 years! I’m so terrible.



Fast forward to now and I don’t need another shopping bag. So I frogged it and started over.



What I do need is another cotton mat to lie under my dish rack. If you are still using those plastic mats that come with the dish racks, I urge you to get rid of it. Those things do nothing but hold on to water attracting bugs, mold and smells. Not to mention the feet of the dish rack start to rust. I threw mine out last year after crocheting a mat to go under it and I have not looked back.



This is very simple. It’s wide enough to cover a good amount of the counter front to back and I’ll go until I run out of yarn. I’m not using particular pattern but I do find it better to alternate between single and double crochet rows. Having the single crochet gives much needed structure and the double crochet allows the piece to grow in size without being too bulky. Because of the thick/thin nature of the yarn, the piece still looks thick and substantial which is needed to soak up the water from dripping dishes. Every home should have 2 to 3 of these at all times.

Another Finished Project

Using this Hot Pad Pattern, I crocheted this little ditty to use as a soap sack. I took all the little bits of left over soap pieces and stitched them in the middle of the double thick pad. I will use this in the shower until all the soap is gone and then wash it and use in the kitchen as a hot pad. I like the idea of getting two uses out of this item. This is much more practical than the first one (Ravelry Link) I made. It is much too small to comfortably use. But I will add it to the hand knit scrubbie collection in the kitchen.