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Friday, July 2, 2010

Crochet 'Stuart' Tartan Rug


Just a little bit of a diversion from cards.....I've been wanting to try one of these crochet tartan rugs for years and finally made the time to have a go with the cooler weather.  My 'grandmother-in-law' had one that I always admired sitting on the end of the spare bed.  The book is on the right of my blog.  It was a great project and the midnight oil was burnt on quite a few occasions when DH was away with work, but it looks fabulous and sits proudly on the back of our loungeroom chair.  It took me longer than I originally thought to complete - being a simple design I thought "Oh I'll wiz through this...no worries", but I have learnt patience over the years. The rug is very simple to make and so very warm due to the threaded chain through the lattice style design.  Just a tip though, when making your chain lengths, measure them with a tape measure and not by number of chain.  I made this mistake and most of mine were too short, needless to say I had a lot of joins and ends to darn in...grrr....we all learn from experience!  I started with a green chain length which was the right length and continued to do the same number of chains with each of the other 129!  not realizing that my tension at times was a little different and also the wool at times was a little thinner in spots than in other parts and also with other colours used, hence most of my chains were different lengths.....oh well that's life.....I've made one and will definitely make another in coming years as there are so many beautiful patterns and colour combinations and I really like the ones with the light blue in them too.  I have had the wool for this one  for over 4 years so needed to use it first.  Hope you like it and it inspires you to have a go.  It has been cold in our part of the
world so if your neck of the woods is the same I hope you're keeping warm and making the most of each day.  Take care and keep smiling.....Ann
I've been asked how I stopped the woven chains from pulling out - I hope this additional photo helps to explain. Once I had completed the rug, inclusive of threading the chains I cut my lengths of fringe in the various colours. I inserted my hook through the loop at the end of the rug as well as through the end stitch (chain) of the woven chain, I pulled through the 'halved fringe' with my crochet hook and then pulled the tail through the loop thus securing it by pulling the fringe through and finishing off.  I hope this makes sense.  I would love to see any finished projects.