This Easter break has just flown by! There was still time to start another holiday project though, in addition to the new blanket I started here. This time I’ve been busy up-cycling some old duvet covers in order to make a rug for my newly decorated bathroom. I have to do this when the weather is good as all the yarn ripping creates a fair amount of dust, which can have me sneezing my head off, not to mention doubling up the need for dusting down the shelves and nick-nacks, of which I have far too many in this house! Best to let all those tiny bits of rag fibre just float away into the sky. This is Pogo lying on the original rag rug I made for my cosy kitchen corner. The second rug is just getting going. I’ve done about 8 rounds here but as you can see, it’s a bit of a struggle as Pogo just loves to chew on the balls of cloth yarn!

Best to keep it out of his way by crocheting at the table. It’s too much temptation for him to have those lovely round cloth orbs skitting about the floor just asking to have claws and teeth dug into them. As you can see here, I’ve started with some blues and greens but I’m planning to  progress onto some more neutral tones of beige and grey as the rug gets bigger. The bathroom has been re-decorated with a sand and surf inspired color scheme, so I want to try to incorporate all those lovely seaside tones but with a nod to slightly more vibrant hues of bright turquoise and grass green. I think its working out quite well so far.

The whole idea of redecorating was to go all minimal this time but in the end I haven’t really managed to do that at all and, instead, have just as many things in the new scheme as I did in the old scheme – they’re just a different colour!  Maybe the whole concept of minimalism and plain white or neutral interiors is just not for me. Though I’m definitely attracted to the idea of cutting down on dusting fiddly ornaments and of taking a less materialistic and more Zen approach to life, I think I just get too much pleasure from looking at beautiful objects to follow the whole monastic cell kind of living!

This gorgeous log slice mirror bought in Cardiff a few months ago was the starting point for the bathroom’s new look and went so well the ammonites we have collected from Charmouth and Watchet beaches over the years. The only fossils we can’t lay claim to finding ourselves are the two nautilus on the far left which were bought from ebay and who’s origins are the somewhat more exotic Atlas mountains in Morocco!

Some of my bathroom bits and bobs include: A rag pot I crocheted myself and two tea light holders from a local charity shop.

More scavenged fossils and a driftwood branch (found on the beach),  a bunch of Greek ceramic plates and a Morrocan style mirror (from a local car boot sale).

So the for the final flourish I just need to finish this rug. I’m using half inch wide cotton/polyester mixed strips and a 10mm hook. I think the colours are a pretty good fit with the rest of my bathroom accessories.

A 10mm  hook size is also perfect for making bags . I love how fast everything crochets up at this scale. I crocheted this shoulder bag from start to finish on a long and lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon last August. I just made it up as I went along. It’s very liberating not following a pattern sometimes!

Rag crochet is fabulous for storage baskets too. (You’ll notice two of the green ones adorning my bathroom). These pots are double walled so they are super sturdy and keep their shape really well, I made a pattern for them, available in my Etsy Shop here if you’d like to have a go yourself. A tutorial for making your own cloth yarn (or ‘clarn) is included in all my rag patterns

Or maybe a fruity shoulder bag is more your thing. You can find my citrus wedge bag pattern here. These patterns should help to get you in the mood for the summer months to come. This citrus tote makes a fabulous beach bag. I’ll be taking mine with me next time I go to Watchet to collect even more fossils, pebbles, driftwood, shells and other beachy flotsam and jetsam to further embellish my now decidedly un-minimal bathroom!

With all the possibilities and practical uses for clarn goods It really is a case of from rags to riches. And although my bathroom make-over has cost me next to nothing, with the help of charity shops, car boot sales and thrifty up-cycling, I think it looks a million dollars!

Well, I’d be a lot closer to finishing this blanket if it wasn’t such a cat magnet. Mojo’s loves a little wooly tent. Perhaps I should make him one of his own!

A rare photo of my crochet covered lap without a cat on it. Here I am, opportunistically steaming ahead to finish joining all the motifs together.

A later crochet session was halted yet again by the usual problem of feline infiltration!  That’s the sort of face that says ‘move me at your peril’.

I do have nearly four rounds of border finished now though, so I’m not doing too badly, and there’s no hurry anyway. It’s good for me to stop rushing at everything sometimes. That’s certainly one of the main lessons my cat’s have taught me. Slow down and smell the catnip roses! They’re so good at relaxing for hours on end, as if relaxing itself was one of the higher art forms, which I suppose that for us humans in today’s hectic and distracting world, it really is. So no stressing, this blanket will quite simply be finished when it’s finished – and on a more practical but less philosophical note – will also need a good wash to get rid of all the cat hairs!

We’re off to Cardiff next weekend to pick up my oldest son from Uni, ready for the Easter holidays so I’m thinking with another 3-4 hours of car crochet time this blanket will surely be finished then, if not before.There’s a big bonus for working blankets in the car as it is, by necessity, a cat free zone. Consequently progress should be more than satisfactory for a change. Whizzing up and down the Motorway with my ever expanding blanket has it’s own challenges however. The main one being not to encroach on the drivers seat and all those boring things like handbrakes and accelerators and control panels that apparently shouldn’t be covered or obscured from view by anything, not even crochet!

Here it is with the last bit of the fourth row of border completed. Now it’s definitely being put away until the weekend. I really should be getting on with my new amigurumi patterns, after all.

Now that I’ve got the basic Granny Square under my belt and the finishing line for this project is within sight, I’m starting to think about my next blanket design. Maybe something floral or circle based this time. I can’t wait to have a houseful of these colorful snugglies. Next to being able to yarn bomb everything in the house that doesn’t move, (hubby is strangely against this idea, but then there’s no accounting for taste), this is the next best thing. Yarn bombs that can move around from room to room invading and spreading their crochet loveliness by stealth!

I’m also planning on making  some crochet bunting to liven up my bike basket now that the weather is milder and the River Severn has finally spit my favorite cycle route back out again. As I’ve just treated myself to this new book I’m in no immediate danger of being stuck for ideas. There’s even a whole chapter on triangles in here – total bunting heaven.

Looks like Mojo’s made his mind up and given this one the Cat’s Paw Seal of Approval. Good choice Mojo, I’m on it!

Slow down and smell the roses? I can do that while I crochet in the garden, cat’s permitting!