My great grandmother was a craft maven. She knit clothes for her family, crocheted lace, made rugs and (much to my eternal childhood envy) sewed each of my grandmother's dolls an entirely new outfit (knickers to hat) each year. She may well have sewn clothes for her family, too, I don't know. I was mostly fixated on the doll clothes as a kid, and on the knitting as an adult.
Lately, tho, I've been fixating on her rugs. They are made of wool (oh yes, my family still has them and they are in excellent shape! That's craftswomanship for you. And heirloom quality. Go handmade!) strips of fabric, knotted/woven/crocheted into rugs. Some are smallish, some quite huge.
And I like rugs! Love them, in fact. Two of my favorite home furnishing items (there are 6 on the list, if you're curious) are these amazing antique rugs I've inherited. I believe they came originally from my great-great-great aunt, who never married but did travel quite a bit. I've been told they appear to have come from Iran/Turkey. They are silk and wool and slightly over 100 years old (and again...Go handmade!) and totally gorgeous. Sadly, one of them is really falling apart. All the knotted colorwork is coming apart and coming off in little tufts of yarn and it's breaking my heart. I finally faced the facts a few weeks ago and had Robert take it out of the living room and move it to the basement for storage. Maybe someday we'll have an extra 5-10k laying around and can get it re-worked.
But I'm trying not to dwell on my rug, but instead concentrate on how to bring new (and also totally kickass) rugs into my life. And a thread on Ravelry has led me back again to my great-grandmother. I will make rugs. Or at least rug. This online tutorial was totally inspiring because my G-d, who knew it was so easy?? Now I can hardly wait to get started. I just need a giant crochet hook (mine are all in the tiny to medium range) and miles and miles of fabric. Sheets, I'm thinking.
Give me your sheets! Your tired, your...well, not dirty, but used, your sheets which bore you! With me they shall have a new life! (Or make your own rug! We can all be in a cool rug making gang together!)
1 comment:
If you truly desire sheets, I can bring some when I come. Let me know.
I think it is terrific that you wish to make your own rugs. (You would have fit right in during the hippie era.) Come to think of it, I'd say I did a pretty good job instilling some of those values. (cough, cough)
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