Rug, rug, rug...sweater?

After I made the first rug, I decided that although it was time consuming, it was fun and pretty easy. So I decided to make more. But where to find the amount of fabric that I needed? I thought about buying clothes at goodwill, but lately they've been increasing their prices and I couldn't afford to spend $2-3 dollars for a shirt just to chop it up. I thought there must be another way. So I went door to door asking at the thrift shops about what they did with the clothes that didn't sell. I found out that most of them either turn them to rags or send them overseas. I did find one small shop though that threw the clothes away. I made arrangements to go their next sorting day and pick through what they had. That day it was a blizzard out. Luckily my husband had the day off, so I didn't have to take the kids out with me. I stood on a loading dock in sub-zero temps sorting through carts of snowcovered clothes. After a few minutes I couldn't feel my fingers any more, but I came home with a trunk full of soaking wet rug making materials.

First I had to haul them in basketful by basketful and run them through the dryer. Then I started to sort them into piles of like textures. I really had no clue what I was doing when I had been going through the carts in the snow storm and I really wouldn't learn until I started working on the rugs. Next time I make rugs I won't mix t-shirts with sweatshirts with old cotton pants. While the colors might look good together, it is hard to make all the different textures work together.

I also learned that using scissors to make the strips was long, hard work and horrible on my hand. I borrowed a rotary cutting wheel and bought a big cutting mat and that made the job easier on my hands although it was still very labor intensive and I could only do it late at night after the kids were in bed since I didn't trust a 2 year old near the sharp blade.

The first rug I hand knotted each piece to the next. I knew that if I was going to make 2 rugs before Christmas (it was now the beginning of December) I had to find a faster, easier way. My friend had given me an old sewing machine, but not having touched one since junior high and it needing some work to be functional (there was a 3wk wait just to get it cleaned and serviced), it just wasn't going to work for me to get the rugs done. Luckily, I happened upon a brand new sewing machine for about the same price as it was going to cost to clean and tune up the old one. Soon the assembly line was started. Strips were sewn and huge balls were wound up. In the end I had 2 more rugs. One for my brother for his shop office and one for my mother in law for her living room.

At this same time I was also worried about what to make my mom for Christmas. I had made her a felted purse, a shelf out of books, and woven scarf in previous years and I just didn't feel like I had a good idea for her this time. After I realized that crochet made sense to me, I started searching for something to make her. I took out more crochet books from the library (I love inter-library loan!!) I found a sweater pattern that I liked. I was really scared to try making such a big project and something so different than anything I'd ever done before. Plus it was ambitious to think that I could finish 2 rugs and a sweater in less than a month. I was determined to do it though and ordered the yarn for the sweater the first week of December.

Next up...adventures in sweater making...otherwise known as "What the heck was I thinking?!?"