SNUG AS A BUG IN A RUG

Rag rugs have been shaped by enterprising folks since before the first immigrants arrived on the shores of North America.  Making a fabric rug sounded like a complicated procedure to me, but as I learned from seventh grader Miguel, a rug is “easy to crochet and easy to fix if you mess it up.”  Miguel is seen in the photo below and his fingers are flying so quickly between fabric and hook, I should have used a sport setting to capture his photo.

One of the 8^th period activity options in Middle School is a group which gathers for the creation of t-shirt rugs.  

Middle School art teacher Mrs. Keppley instructs her students to collect a small bag of colorful t-shirts they no longer need.

She shows them how to cut a ball of “t-shirt yarn” from the shirt.

Meg is just beginning the cutting process with a bright red shirt.

Katelin tells me these rugs are fun to make because they “don’t require much concentration.”  Multitasking Miguel adds that it is something a person can do “even while watching television.”

Huge crochet hooks are employed in the process.  I've never seen a crochet hook so large.  Seriously Costco-sized. 

Elizabeth and Alyssa have done this before and are getting down to work while Mrs. Keppley gives instructions to the "newbies."

It is important to try to get the rug to lay flat.  “If your rug is lumpy-bumpy, people will trip over it”, Mrs. Keppley warns.  Apparently if you add too many stitches, the finished product gets “ruffled.” One of the students wondered aloud if ironing is a possibility.  

Their practical teacher had a different approach.  “I’ve never tried to iron one, I just stomp on them.”

The only crochet skills needed are the simple chain stitch and the single crochet stitch.  I think even I could manage this if I could part with any of the t-shirts in my very sentimental collection.  

(I can’t).

Hannah is experienced in the ways of t-shirt rug making and shows us her fabulous vibrant creation here.

I am humbled by the finished products these students manage to coax from a bag of old t-shirts. 

A little side story on the art of crochet.... My brother-in-law worked for an electrician when we were barely out of our adolescent years.  He somehow attached a regular household lightbulb to the 

roof of his car, transforming his broken interior auto light into beams so bright I could not bear to sit in his car. When the door of the car was open, the light was positively blinding.  I used my less-than proficient crochet skills to make him a lightbulb cover, not just because I love my brother-in-law, but because I preferred my retinas to remain intact when he drove me from one place to another.  Wish I still had a photo of that....

With a very solemn expression, dear Alyssa asked her teacher “Why does mine look like a peanut?”  Ever the diplomat, Mrs. Keppley had the answer.  “It’s a free-form rug.” 

No worries Alyssa.  We think your peanut is beautiful. 

Some students end up with something quite unique.  Last quarter, Bryce created a fabulous bowl-shaped formation which apparently has more uses than one might imagine.  He took it with him on a recent family outing to Stowe, Vermont. The photos tell the story better than I can.

Here’s Bryce, snug as a bug in a RUG. 

So maybe you know the answer.... Is Bryce's awesome creation a rug?  Is it a French fry cozy?  Is it a prairie-style bonnet or perhaps a reggae-inspired ski helmet cover for sporting one's ingenuity while riding a gondola? 

Who knew?  And we thought t-shirts were just for wearing....