Knitting Fabric Rugs by Karen Tiede

Buying supplies to feed my continual crafting addiction gets expensive at times. I’m always excited when I come across a good upcycling project –  reconstructing items that would normally be discarded into something artsy and wonderful. When I opened Knitting Fabric Rugs by Karen Tiede, I was delighted to recognize just that sort of satisfying crafting opportunity – transforming discarded clothing into pretty, scrappy colorful rag rugs.

It isn’t that I haven’t thought of the idea before. I’ve seen tutorials on how to cut up a tee shirt into strips to make yarn. But certain kinds of shirts were always required – no seams on the sides. Apparently, we wear those kinds of shirts into total rags in this family because I could never find the correct kind in my own discarded clothing. “Knitting Fabric Rugs” gives excellent directions on how to cut up all kinds of clothing, (not just certain kinds of t-shirts).  You also find yourself introduced to topics such as what types of fabric work best, estimating how much you’ll need and how to store your fabric stash.

I was especially impressed with the large amount of information on color. This is a subject that often puzzles me in scrappy projects. The author gives just the sort of guidelines I’m always searching for – such as how to sort colors into shades, and how to select accent colors. She even recommends which colors play best with others. Good stuff.

You’ll need to be a knitter to use this book on its’ own. It doesn’t fill space with lots of elementary knitting how to’s, but it does give good basic instruction on working with fabric and the best knitting techniques and stitches to create your rug, including assembling strips when necessary. 

If you’re as inspired as I am, you’ll surely find the perfect rug to knit within the pages of this book. You’ll have 18 different rug recipes to choose from, each more adorable than the last. The book ends with an inspiring section on making free form designs. 

Can’t wait to convert some lucky thrift store discards into thick and squishy, garter stitch accent rugs!