More detail on my crochet rag rug

For those of you who are interested

I cut up the cotton fabric into inch wide strips - and wound then into balls of yarn for easier handling.

Most of my tee shirts are not tubular round the middle section, so I could not use the "continuous spiral method" described in this link ( kindly given to me by Blue Witch ). They have seams up each side, so I had to cut them into long continuous strips, with a thicker section where I turn around and cut back down again.

As I also used the arms of some long sleeved tee shirts this gave me shorter lengths which have more knots in the ball of yarn.
 
So, having cut and joined the strips of tee shirt,  I then made a foundation chain of about 75 stitches using a 15 mm hook - I just made the chain as large as I wanted the width of the rug to be (about three feet)   and then I used (UK, not called the same in US!)  double crochet in rows, back and forth, - the rug is about 4 feet long now and VERY colourful :-)

The knots merge in with the holes in the crochet loops and it feels fine under foot, and I am very pleased with it :-)

Hope this helps you to get started.

Flannel shirts would work for this I think, as would fleece (spun polyester type) blankets - they can be found very cheaply in charity shops here so I am going to make one of these as a cat bed, next.

Frugal gifts...and shopping

I do not like "shopping for basics" in "real life" - I much prefer to spend my precious shopping time wandering around browsing in small shops, chatting to shop staff, tasting, smelling, looking and maybe buying and then going to visit somewhere like a small museum, a book shop, a church - in short I love browsing but I do not like "shopping"

So I am really pleased with my latest bulk purchasing experiences on line for both store cupboard essentials and some gifts.

I shop, in bulk, at Natural Collection. I get points and every now and then they send me a voucher by email for money off my next shop. I also get sent various discount codes and alerts about discount days.

So I have just done a load of bulk buying on their excellent website,  of bread and baking flour, dishwasher tablets, shampoo, hand wash, cleaner, various canned food items and lots of other store cupboard essentials, all at 20% off AND I used a voucher to reduce the bill ( got from my previous shops with them ) AND I got free delivery AND I got another £20 evoucher to spend on my next shop AND several  free gifts ( which will be added to the gift stash I keep hidden away, so I always have a little something ready to give to someone)

And it is all organic, cruelty free, ethically produced etc etc  - and delivered to my door.

I paid for the orders with my Amazon credit card , who give me a £10 voucher when I reach a certain level of spend. ) Thery have also just given me a gift voucher for £50 because I subscribed to Audible, their audio book scheme (which I was going to do, anyway)- and gave me a £10 voucher because I purchased an item of clothing as a gift ( which I was going to do, anyway) and have given me a £ 2 voucher for mp3 downloads (which I was going to do, anyway)

So I have just bought from them a major electrical item ( which I wanted to buy, anyway) for free

Win, win in my book. I bought the things I wanted AND got some vouchers to use now, or later  It really DOES pay to "shop around" 

Am feeling good, as I have sorted all my Christmas/Yule shopping out before the end of November. Just got to write and send the (few) cards to people who don't get e-cards from us!

Opening my 2012 "sealed pot"

 I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I have a small change purse in my handbag and I periodically place all the contents in a special pot, leaving just a £1 , 50p, 2 x 20p and a 10 p coin in the purse.

Once a year I open this out, count it up and spent the money on something  - usually for me, sometimes a gift or a treat for all of us but very occasionally it has come in very handy in a month where there have been lots of expenses.

I have got into the habit of opening my "sealed pot" in end November or at the very latest Dec 1st, mainly because my car is due MOT testing and service at the end of Nov, Compostgirl was born at the end of November and Christmas/Yule is on the horizon. So extra money in my hand is ALWAYS welcome, especially at this time of year.

I don't actually have a sealed pot - I use an old hot chocolate container with a slot cut in the lid - so in theory I could " dip in" to this pot during the year, but I don't .

This year I opened the pot today and I counted out £234.55. I was very pleased with this result :-)

I hadn't actually realised that there were people who do this as a challenge in the blogosphere so I was delighted to come across Saving for Travels blog and challenge 2013.

So I have signed up for 2013. I want to buy a better apple press for making cider :-)

Life, now the nights are drawing in.

I must admit I really do not much like this time of year. It is not light until nearly 8 am and it is dark before  4pm  ish - and often it has been damp and dull.

I don't mind if it is cold and sunny - I like this sort of day as I can still do stuff outside, but the dull damp days really get to me.

I am still not back to full activity from my back injury so this, the soggy ground underfoot making it impossible to do anything much outside and the shortened days means I have been generally taking it a lot easier during the day than I would wish.

One thing I have been doing a lot of recently is crochet and fabric and yarn related "things".  I love crochet, knitting, sewing and embroidery. I am not that skilled at it but I really enjoy it:  :-) I also like making paper and papercasting and  love using "waste" materials to make cards, notebooks, and small gifts.

I have also been doing a lot of decluttering and tidying up (not that you would think so if you came round to Compost Mansions!) and taking stuff to the Charity Shops in Ledbury or to the HWS.


So I have been quite busy making "things" for Christmas/Yule. I have also been spending a lot of time reading and listening to music and audiobooks, in front of the woodburner with one or more cats to keep me company  :-) Compostman and I have also been catching up with a lot of TV programmes which have been sitting on the hard drive for many months, waiting for us to have the time to watch them ;-)

What do you all like doing in the winter months?

What I have been up to recently

  As you may recall, I have been slowly learning to crochet. Recently I decided to crochet a rag rug.

I have loads of old, worn or holed cotton tee shirts, which are no good for charity donation, so I keep for making rags. I had a look and sorted out some in bright colours to make into cotton yarn
 

 I cut strips about an inch wide and tied them together.

because the fabric is 100% cotton all the trimmings can go in the compost!

And then I started to crochet... using a 15 mm crochet hook

As you can see, it is going to be a good sized rug! It keeps me occupied during these dull wet days where I can't do much in the garden.

I will keep you all posted as to how I get on :-)