A few weeks (months?) ago I was looking closely at this rug, which resides in my kids' bathroom. I love the scrappiness of it, but it never was quite right. (Kinda like me, ha!) Anyway, the rug was shaped like a trapezoid rather than a rectangle. It always kind of bugged me and folding it in half only disguised the oddball shape a little bit. I decided to a take a stab at making it right. The worst that could happen would be that I had a big ball of fabric 'yarn' to knit again. Right? So I pulled out the cast off edge, picked up the stitches to the best of my ability and started knitting again.
I'm happy to say that it worked! I finished the rug (again) this afternoon. It's about double the size that it was....now measuring about 33" x 41". It feels soooooooo good to step on it. Truth be told, the new and improved shape doesn't make the texture any better, but my obsessive nature sure feels better about it!
So, my question to you is, have you ever done anything like this? Please tell me that I'm not the only (crazy)one who has to go back and fix things after they are finished...even if it is years later.
A bit more detail on the rug....
This rug is knit with a single strand of fabric 'yarn' on size 17 needles. More details in this post.
I've also made a bulkier version using size 35 needles and the tutorial for that is here.
I'd also like to mention (because I get asked this all the time) that they are machine washable and go through the dryer just fine and dandy. They wear very well, too!
I'm so glad it's fixed and you're loving it now! I love how cute and scrappy (and square) it is. :)
ReplyDeleteOh lord yes! I did a rug similar to this after seeing your post a while back...I crochet it and lost count of my stitches somewhere :) it is an "odd" shape to say the least and I keep debating about taking it apart and redoing...so you are NOT alone...for now it is in the bathroom and if I push it "just right" under the counter you can't tell is is not too wonky. : )
ReplyDeleteit looks wonderful!!! I once took the whole, finished quilt that we were using for a few months already, apart. I just could not stand the backing. So, I ripped out the quilting, took it apart, made another backing, basted, quilted, and bound it all over and it FELT SOOOO GOOD!!!!
ReplyDeletevery cool rug
ReplyDeleteI jsut went back to a wall hanging for Halloween that I made a couple of YRS ago and added a hanging fabric "hook" to the top so I could hang it on my front door. I still cann't get it to lay flat on my front door it keep bowing inward:/ What to do what to do....so yeah obsessing over it a bit-lol
ReplyDeleteI love,love,love your rug and I am going to make one soon I hope in this lifetime!!
You and Svetlana could start a support group, I think. Yes when things bug me, it is just better to fix them, and then breathe a little easier. I'm SO going to make this out of my selvages!
ReplyDeleteCool rug and a very recourcefull way.
ReplyDeleteOh no, you're not alone!
ReplyDeleteYears ago good old Martha showed how to take towels, cut them into strips, and crochet them into a bath mat.
3 towels and enough terrycloth fluff and fuzz to mimic a blizzard, I threw the whole thing in the garbage and wanted to sue for damages.
I have however crocheted a rug out of yarn scraps, with much more success :)
I have to admit, rather than make it right, if it's bugging me, I tend to chuck it. ;-) But your rug is too cute to do that to!
ReplyDeleteYes, that happens to me somethimes!
ReplyDeleteOnce I ripped all of the handquilting stitches of one of my singlebed quilts.
I just couldn´t stand to se my ugly stitches!!!
After a couple of hours in the sewingmachine it´s one of the quilts that I´m proudest of.
ohhh, a friend just asked me how to make a rag rug (she is sweet: she thinks I know how to make ALL THINGS CRAFTY...) and now I do!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
But is it slippery or do you have a rubber mat under it? I like this look.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I will totally mostly finish a project and go back years later and then finish it to where I am really happy with it.
Still loving your rug before and after it's makeover. I'll be posting soon about a "fix" I just made to a quilt - not of my own desire, but at my daughter's request!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog ! and all this beautyfull quilts you make !
ReplyDeleteI wish you many inspiration for your work :-)
Have a good day,
Ilona from poland
Воспоминание детства...меня учили такие ткать..
ReplyDeleteYou are not the only nut out there. When I started quilting, I did this beginners course. First of all a number of blocks did NOT end up in the sampler...(not happy with them, to much mistakes even for me). I quilted it....thought it was supposed to look like that. After two years I unpicked all the quilting stitches I had put in and quilted the whole thing again. I unpick quite a lot....I also have quite a few WIP's living on shelves (well, I say WIP, but I mean N(ever) E(ver)F(inishing) T(hat)!. So you see, there are more of us out there. Love the idea of a knit fabric rug! It looks amazing (and yes, I thought it looked amazing in the before picture too!)
ReplyDeleteNo I do.not fix nor throw it away. I use many imperfect creations as a reminder life is not perfect and how I need to learn from that mistake. Later I can use it to judge how far I've come in that area. Or perhaps this isonly a justification for laziness? :)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. I knit and have taken apart sweaters after wearing them for a season b/c something just wasn't sitting right. If you're going to put all that time & effort into it, might as well make it just like you want it!
ReplyDeleteWhile you MAY not be alone, "Done is better that perfect" sums up my attitude!
ReplyDeleteI crochet. I had been working on an Afghan for almost a month. It was just not laying right. I was half way done with it and pulled the whole thing apart!
ReplyDeleteDo again and Do right, that is me!
ReplyDeleteI crochet, learned from my grandmother, small leftover will be great rugs.
Karin på Ösäter
I am the queen of ripping out and redoing projects that are finished because I know me. If I don't love it, love it, love it, it will sit unused. My feeling is that it's better to spend the time fixing it or get rid of it. (But then, if it's not up to snuff, I don't want others to have it either.) Crazy, I know.
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, I have a serious love affair going on with this(ese) rug(s)... :D
ReplyDeleteBeautiful rug. I live in Pendleton, adn they sell the selvage edges of their wool blankets in the gift shop by the pound, and include instructions how to make a crocheted rug. I don't know how to crochet, but do know (sort-of) how to knit... I may have to try this out! I think it would be a little crazy to unravel the whole thing, but since you just added on to it, I don't think that's crazy at all!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful I can't knit or crochet so I braided a rug, literally! It's on my blog on September 11 if you want to take a peek!
ReplyDeleteI´m still working on my rug, which I started when I saw your post about knitting a rug :)
ReplyDeleteGun, Sweden
Brilliant! I've been wondering what to do with selveges/thin stringy scraps. I hate to throw them away. And I already knit. A perfect solution!
ReplyDeleteHa! I just finished turning a collar on one of my hubby's shirts....I love this shirt so much that when this collar wears out it will have to go in a quilt!;)
ReplyDeleteI usually redo it before I use it, but there was once a hat I wore for a while and then ripped out and started all over. As you found, the second time is a charm.
ReplyDeleteI've done two. And I actually love how springy they are!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ravelry.com/projects/Rosie1925/rug1
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Rosie1925/rug2