I've been thinking about knitting or crocheting a rug for my bathroom and would like to ask your advice on a couple of things.
I was thinking of using bulky cotton yarn or fabric strips. I'd rather the yarn because I don't want to have to cut up all that fabric. However, I think the fabric strips would make a sturdier rug.
I am proficient in either knitting or crochet, but does anyone think one method is superior to the other in this instance.
If I use cotton yarn does anyone have suggestions on brands or weight? I'd like it to be on the heavy side and absorbancy and minimum slippage are important. If you have a yarn you like for this kind of project, where did you get it? I will have to order mine on line (no LYS).
Lastly, I would like a good choice of colors, as I am trying to coordinate with my decor.
This is what is did to make a scatter rug,I filet crochet a piece.then I and took the strips of cloth that was in those scatter rugs you buy at Walmart ,and I weaved the strips over under till the whole piece was filled with strips. The reason for using the strips from those rugs the cotton threads had broken and the rug was getting out of shape.So I just redid it.
That sounds beautiful, Stella. Do you have a pic you could post?
Hesira
This is what is did to make a scatter rug,I filet crochet a piece.then I and took the strips of cloth that was in those scatter rugs you buy at Walmart ,and I weaved the strips over under till the whole piece was filled with strips. The reason for using the strips from those rugs the cotton threads had broken and the rug was getting out of shape.So I just redid it.
Guess what? I just finished knitting a rug for my bathroom last week. I used Red Heart and Caron acrylic yarns (didn't think of using fabric strips) because they were the only ones I found with the right colors. If you hop over to Yarners, you can see a picture there. I had done both knitted and crocheted swatches and liked the appearance of the knitted better. But I think crocheting might give you a firmer fabric.
That's really beautiful, Jan. Would you mind sharing needle size and how many you cast on? DId you work from the short side or long side? Is it garter stitch? Does it go on a tile floor, or carpeted, which leads to my next question, any problems with slipperinees?
Questions, questions. LOL. If you don't ask, you won't learn.
Try double or triple strands of Sugar n Cream or Peaches n cream with large needles - size 15 or 17. Very absorbent (acrylic isn't) and it softens up a lot when washed. Lots of colors...
HESIRA Many ages ago i made a Bathroom rug from cut up Nylon stockings [now it would be tights] i cut them like you peel a potato,,, and used not only a great hook but worked the dc over a Ruler which made for BIG dcs ,,,, this rug lived for over 40 years and only lately sort of finished it`s usability ,,, mirjam
Sounds good Mirjam, I've used cut up Tshirts before now, but wove them on a loom, I now have a peg loom too, well have had it for a few years now, so these 'rag rugs' are quickly made on these, infact I've got another one going to fit my wooden garden bench seat..
But T shirts cut in strips would crochet up too, ask a Charity shop for any donations of the ones they throw away, they get loads that aren't suitable for putting out for resale and only bin them, so you'll be doing them a favour by recycling them.
Try cutting up old Tshirts and crocheting or knitting these strips, get the local charity/thrift shop to save the ones they throw away, for you. You'll be doing them a favour as you will be recycling for them, you can always give a small donation for them. All colours cut off arms and hems and neck hemmed areaa till you have a tube, then just cut spiral fashion so's you have one long strip from each Tshirt. Being as it is a knitted andsoft fabric it'll naturally curl as you work with it, and be strong, and soft and bright, it'll wash well, and knitted or crocheted will give quite a good fabric. Cut the fabric about three quarters of an inch or so wide. The wider you cut it the thicker it will be, but too fine and it'll be floppy.
I found when doing a flat rectangular piece that knitting is thinner than crochet. Advantages in a bathroom are that it would dry quicker. Disadvantages are that it may not absorb as much water as you are hoping. If you have a thicker rug and are in a humid area, mildew might become an issue if your bathroom gets a lot of use and stays moist, meaning you'd have to wash the rug more often.
You can use bulky cotton and knit it and end up doing a rather substantial piece if you don't want to work a flat back and forth piece. Make long lengths of I-cord in knitting in any color scheme you want and sew them together into the desired shape after. It's similar to a fabric braided rug. You can switch colors randomly as you work or go with a definite color sequence in mind. You can make round, oval, and square rugs depending on how you sew the completed lengths together. I suppose you could do the same thing with long crochet strips. I'd do it using DC stitches, since my sc tends to curl into spirals if I do it tightly, and I'd want my rug stitches to be tight if I made a rug for the bathroom.
Can't help you with brands and weights of yarn or fabric. It really depends on what you want the finished product to look like texture wise. For having a non-slip back, you can sew rubber rug backing to it or use Saf-T-Bak which is brush on rug backing.
FWIW, a store by me sold out its supply of sturdy rug yarn as they went out of business. I bought nearly all their remaining stock in a variety of colors. However, I used it for colorful indoor summer sandals I designed myself. They slid around on the non-carpeted floors (so a rug made of it would, too) until I put non-slip backing on, so if I made a rug out of the rug yarn, I'd want to back it with something so it would stay in place on my uncarpeted floors.
Thanks, Hesira. It's 27" wide and 54" long all garter stitch worked on 2 strands. I used 4 different yarns to produce the varied color stripes. It's 85 stitches wide, 304 rows long and done on size 10 1/2 needles. Although the photo was taken on the living room carpet, I have it on a tile floor in the bathroom. There is some slipperiness which hasn't been a problem for me yet but I may need to put something under it.
Thanks, Hesira. It's 27" wide and 54" long all garter stitch worked on 2 strands. I used 4 different yarns to produce the varied color stripes. It's 85 stitches wide, 304 rows long and done on size 10 1/2 needles. Although the photo was taken on the living room carpet, I have it on a tile floor in the bathroom. There is some slipperiness which hasn't been a problem for me yet but I may need to put something under it.
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