Wool Toothbrush Rug

I love frugal crafts, making something pretty or useful from something someone else threw away. It seems to add another layer of joy and satisfaction to the making.

So currently I'm trying my hand with a toothbrush rug, also called an Amish knotted rug. I saw it demonstrated at a quilt show recently and came home to figure out how to do it.

I've been saving cast-off wool yardage for a rug, ever since I knit one from cotton strips. That was slow going and hard on my hands, because there wasn't any stretch to the cotton fabric. I always thought I'd knit another one in wool when I discovered that the knotted rugs work up a lot faster.

It took several false starts and some trial and error, since I had to mentally adapt the instructions for my left-handedness, but I finally got the swing of it. I tend to move clock-wise on some things when right-handed instructions move counter-clockwise.

I had doubts about the way it was turning out, so I took it to my knitting and fiber group for advice. One of the members makes large-scaled crocheted bags and rugs and was very interested in this method. She encouraged me to keep going. "It's great, don't stop now!" Sometimes that's all it takes to push against the doubts.