Please take off your shoes

I was horrified this week when I realised how many unfinished projects I've got on the back burner. I'm starting to work my way through them but then I find some gorgeous pattern or yarn and then I run off in the wrong direction again!!!

This kind of disorganisation means I've got so much yarn and I've even got it colour-sorted in an effort to kick start some action. This got me thinking how I could use it all up and still love what I've made. I've also got alot of short measures of fabric and then I really had a light-bulb moment. Rugs!!!
This got me exploring the virtual stratosphere and I found the familiar and the inspiring.

Let's start with inspiration and Paola Lenti in collaboration with Patricia Urquiola and Eliana Gerotto as collaborators she uses crochet as a design inspiration for a number of beautiful rugs. As described on bonluxat 'Crochet, produced with a wool rope, becomes a refined rug for indoor environments. Flowers and leaves are hand crocheted, assembled and sewn by hand to a support net.' and further on architonic, 'Crochet is a precious hand crocheted floral rug for indoor and outdoor. The flowers and leaves that form the rug are hand crocheted and then sewn by hand to a synthetic net backing which allows them to hold their shape and position on the floor. Crochet is produced with a wool braid for indoor use and with a Rope braid for the outdoors. Rope is a Paola Lenti’s signature material, conceived and developed to offer high performances in outdoor environments, in terms of endurance and resistance to atmospheric agents.'

I find these designs really exciting and imaginative. Their origins are very much in the craft area and this got me thinking about the homespun rather than manufactured. There's lots of inspiration to draw from and the free pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas still holds the strong simple colour palette of the designers.
To get a more log cabin feel then you can't go wrong with a bit of a tear-up and make a rag rug. There's alot of info out there and I knew that craftystylish would come to the rescue with a tutorial and I also found a really helpful resource with Vintage Chica. So grab that gigantic hook and a pair of scissors!!

If you're looking for patterns, I can only recommend the Vogue on the Go series and Felted Crochet with this beautiful rug by Simona Merchant-Dest.

Finally the Circle Motif Rug from Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution by Kim Werker from Interweave. I'll finish here but I think this subject is going to need some expansion so put your feet up and relax till I'm back!