Saturday, September 27, 2008

"Mason Dixon Knitting" Knitted Rug

I am proud to post that I have completed my knitted "Superfancy Potholder Rug." I got the pattern from the book "Mason-Dixon Knitting" by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. If you don't have this book in your knitting library, you need to get it! It is so cool - lots of wonderful patterns that you can customize for your taste or stash! And the rug is awesome. I am currently working on a "Log Cabin" blanket from this book for son number three.

For the runner, I used approximately 50 bags of cotton potholder loops from Hearthsong. I tied the potholder loops together bag by bag as I went along. I used size 35 circular needles and cast on 30 stitches then knit in popcorn stitch until it was the length I wanted.

This rug feels so good under your feet! It is thick and cushiony. It does tend to stretch a bit so I washed it on hot and dried it on high and now it is the perfect size for my kitchen along the sink and dishwasher where it can catch all the drips - it turned out to be 30 x 80 inches after washing. It was a little big at first but the hot water really tightened up the fabric. If you choose to make one of these rugs, definitely get one of those non-slip rug things for underneath so that you do not break your neck making coffee in the morning.

It took me quite a few months to complete because I do most of my knitting sitting at my sons' baseball, football, basketball and swim team practices and games. This rug gets really heavy and difficult to turn as you go along so it is not very portable. It is totally worth the time and most of us knitters have several projects going at once anyway, right?

I think I'll make another smaller one for the back door!