Back at home

A lot of my focus lately has been away from home.

I finished a braided rug, and put it in the bedroom at the foot of the bed under a chest.  The laminate flooring has a tolerable color, and ordinarily I wouldn't think that a rug would add much to the room, especially since I was using up colors I don't like, but it does make the room feel more finished and grounded. 

The rug's colors are medium tones, as is the floor, so the rug adds pattern and softness without standing out.

I went on from there and leaned a long board against the opposite corner, and then draped a long section of quilt top over it.  It's a bit theatrical, and wouldn't have been practical when my children were smaller.  It also is pushing me to incorporate a little more green into the curtains.  That might be as simple as lacing some crochet cotton through the holes in the lace trim, except that I really should wash the curtains first.

Eldest child has been taking remnants of Christmas-themed fabrics and other fabrics, and making reusable gift bags.  Not only reusable, but also reversible, with one side Christmas-y and the other not.  They look very nice.

The yard has greened up, thanks to plantains covering most of the bare areas.  The corner of the yard where my husband's dried mustard? plant from his community garden plot ended up last fall is coming up all mustard.  The flower beds are becoming jungles.  Children have planted things in various places--potatoes, lemons, carrots, and probably also apples.  

Busy at home

I've been making progress on a lot of projects:  putting a new hanger on the back of a smaller mirror, braiding a rug, mending, knitting an oversized hat, yard work, organizing a closet; one thing after another.

I finally got an antique carpet runner that we were given months ago installed onto the stairs.  I didn't realize that it was going to noticeably brighten the space; the previous big-box-store landlord-special runner--which I left on the stairs as an underlayer--is very dark and it soaked up light instead of reflecting and diffusing it around the stairwell. 

I made progress on another project, ironically, by abandoning it:  making a lampshade for a small lamp.  It was complete except for figuring out how to make it sit securely on the lamp. 

Instead, I pulled out a cracked old lampshade that I had been balancing on an Ikea lamp, and tried it on this one.  The lampshade attached well, but it looked not so good, and was much too opaque.

There's little risk in maybe ruining something that is nearly ruined already.  I decided to poke a lot of holes in the lampshade with a sewing needle-after taking it off the lamp, of course.  Within one minute, that task was subcontracted to an enthusiastic tiny human, who did an excellent job.  Little pinpoints of light come through, and they are brighter or dimmer depending where you are in the room.

Later at a yard sale, I found an outdoorsy watercolor print that echoes the colors in our living room, and also the colors of the lamp and lampshade--and even of the frame of the mirror I fixed--and that exemplifies some of our family atmosphere.

I picked up a free pine bookcase headboard for a twin bed, which turned out to be the perfect size to become a header for two plywood shelf units, which were originally the "doors" of a closeable toy shelf that our church retired a few years ago.  The rest of the shelf is on the other side of our living room now.  The headboard is not as deep as the shelves, so there's a space behind it, and also it covers up the tops of the shelves by several inches, but it also lends them a lot more style than they had before, and it functions as a sort of mantel.   Although few mantels have a painted orange crate and a well-dressed half-mannequin preemptively parked on them.  

Outdoors, a child helped me install some garden edging that a departing neighbor didn't want to move to their new house.  Previously there was no delineation between yard and garden in that part of the yard.  It makes a lot more difference than I expected it would, and there's enough left over to replace some badly-deteriorated edging in another part of the yard.

Local writer James Lileks last week bid his beloved home Jasperwood goodbye.  It's homely-ness is something that I am now pondering, as a Christian and a renter and the mother of a large family.  I've seen Mr. Lileks in person at the State Fair a few times, and we've driven through that very expensive Minneapolis neighborhood once or twice.  

Shrunk wool

I have been saving any and all woolen items that shrunk in the wash, for mittens and maybe for a rug.  I did need new mittens, my old ones were from a shrunken lambswool sweater and were wearing right out.

The sweater I used this time had been shrunk three times, two when I first got it to de-oversize it, and then the one unintentional time.  I did the usual--tracing my hand, adding width for seams and for the thickness of my hand and wrist, sewing a zigzag stitch on the line with extra reinforcement at the thumb joint, and then cutting them out.

I found out that they were a little too thick to sew together on the sewing machine, and had to be sewed by hand.  There was about a week where I was wearing mismatched mittens because I hadn't yet sewn the second one.

I also found that it would be better and much easier to leave the seam edges on the outside, and just wear the mittens inside out.  

So, as usual, they came out looking odd, but they are very warm.

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I also went through my smaller and less usable odds and ends of wool, and made a quick mat for boots and shoes.

My idea, based on an entry rug in the store that I almost bought some time ago, was to attach wool "rocks" to a backing.  For the backing, I used some synthetic felt that I had.  It was black, so I was looking for something to go over it.

Having my fabrics sorted by size turned out to be a good idea.  I quickly found several in my medium-size drawer that could be used for a sort of shoreline, and quilted them over the backing.

Since it was to be a mat, I allowed some of the cut "raw" edges of the fabrics to show, and only made the mat's edges neat.  I also allowed the fabrics to not always lie flat on the backing, to simulate shallow water.

Cutting out the "rocks" from the different wools was fun.  Many of them looked a lot like rocks that I've collected.

For attaching them, I used some old craft glue I had.  It is water-based, but also fairly water-resistant when dry.  If it is not enough, I can sew things together later.

It seemed best to brush a layer of glue over the back of each "rock", and then add a few more dabs of glue to engage with the backing.

It turned out well enough, aside from me not noticing until it was finished that I had forgotten to cut the backing to the width I wanted--!!  The glue stiffened the mat a lot, but it bends enough to fit on the shelf I made it for.

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I have a running question in my head about how long I can go before my household starts to be afflicted with wool-eating moths, as seems to have been usual before synthetic fibers.

Mat loom

Never saw one like this before. 

Thread goes fast

I used up half a dozen spools of thread in making the coat, and almost three more since then in other sewing.

I cut fabric for two corduroy skirts, one of which is ready to assemble, once I finish doing some embroidery along the hem.  The handwork is delaying the skirt by only two days, and is visually striking.

I also turned a pile of old clothes into kitchen wipes and baby wipes and a pair of fitted leg warmers for me.  The leg warmers would have been easier if I had sewed the seams first, and then cut the fabric, because the edges of the knit fabric curled up a lot.  I use a zigzag stitch with knits.

I've been transitioning sock styles recently, from homemade knee-high tights with ankle sock feet, to wool blend hiking socks, because I'm not happy with the ankle socks.  The leg warmers are working well in conjunction with the hiking socks, and I will probably make more.  They are just tapered tubes with casings for elastic around the top.

I've also been transitioning my sleepwear toward clothes that resemble my daytime clothes, and I altered a few of my older skirts so they have just elastic at the waist, and not ties that are knotted, and they can be used for either purpose.

A few weeks ago we had a big snowfall of fluffy snow, just what I was waiting for for cleaning my old living room rug, since I never quite had the energy in the warm weather to haul it out and scrub it on a tarp.

Supposedly fluffy snow is best for rug cleaning.  I've read that if you spread a cold rug over the snow, and sweep snow across it, and perhaps dance on it, that the snow will melt slightly and release just enough water and ammonia into the rug to loosen soil.

In practice, I've found that the rug will not get clean, but it will get a little less dirty.  In this case, the rug started out fully dirty, because I didn't clean it at all before I put it in the garage.  Lots of sand came off, and the snow underneath it definitely got dirty.  I moved the rug to fresh snow to do the other side.

We made two large bowls of clean snow into snow ice cream, by adding sugar, cream, and vanilla, and they didn't last long.  I noticed just a slight ammonia taste, so it seems the source of my rug cleaning information was correct.

Braided rug repairs

Both of my braided rugs had spots where the lacing was breaking.  Not surprising in the larger one, which spent most of winter outdoors a few years ago, while I was deciding if I wanted to keep it.  The wool in the braids came through that fine, but the cotton rug warp yarn that I used to lace them together didn't.

The repairs were simple, but tedious:  pull out the lacing back to where it is good enough, tie on a new piece, thread the other end into a blunt yarn needle, and re-lace until the other end can be tied.

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We have a door where the doorknob assembly has a loose plate that won't stay up against the door like it is supposed to.  There are no screw holes, just two tiny spikes on the back, which won't hold at all, unless I pound on it.  I figured out a way of winding leather lacing around the doorknob shaft so the plate can't slide.

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I also began working on the edge of the living room rug.  I'm doing a row of whip stitches along the worn edge, using crewel-weight wool yarn, to cover and protect the bare threads. I happened to have yarn that goes well with the rug.  A lot of our things are survivors from the '80s when country blue was a trend, and they coordinate well.

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We had a good Thanksgiving, just ourselves, and then on Saturday Grandma came in with ten dozen homemade sugar cookies and everything needed to decorate them in a well-planned operation. Those cookies are in her garage in tins now, waiting for Christmas. It will be fun to see them again and recognize who decorated what. She also brought some cookies just for eating on the spot--store-bought cookies that she mostly bought for the tins.

Mostly forward progress

I made myself a ruana-style cloak from a tablecloth.  I like it, although I am not as gracefully proportioned as my children are and I look rather clunky in it.  I may add a bit more length to it with a fringe, and I am looking for something better than a clothespin to fasten it with.

I pulled some other items out of storage and found good places in the house for them, such as an old table top that is now leaning against a wall to protect the internet cable, and a little cabinet that fit nicely into the bathroom.

This summer I braided up a few of the corn husks that the children left lying around.  These braids dried and faded in the kitchen.  I then took them, played around a bit, and eventually braided the braids and tied them with a piece of wire to make a mini-wreath for the front door.

I also made a quick visit to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which has tripled and re-arranged their retail space since the last time I was in there.  I found a flat-woven wool rug for $45, which turned out to still have the tag from the rug cleaners on it.  I've been thinking of getting a rug to unify our three rows of seating around the family computers, and if this rug doesn't work there, there are other places in the house that I can try it in.

The reason I was at the store was to find a new light fixture glass thingy for the ceiling fan in our library, to replace the one that broke just as I was finishing up washing it.

I had another mishap with glass, which involved a glass jar unbalancing the recycling bag and tipping it over.  The jar then rolled out, and down onto the step at the back door.  At that point it took a right turn, and proceeded majestically down the basement stairs, ending with a smash on the rug at the bottom.

Putting the rug (dry) through the dryer on Air Dry to get the little tiny shards out worked well, and got most of the wood shavings out of it as well.  I left the dryer lint from an earlier load in the dryer's lint filter to help capture these bits.

I also found that our reel mower not only needed several missing handle bolts replaced (children are suspected in the loss of two of them), but also needed to be re-aligned and oiled. And of course there was one adjustment screw out of the four that I can barely budge, but most of the adjusting needed to be done on the other side, so I managed.

Cleaning van carpet

We were finally able to buy a van, but some assembly was required, as the seats, carpet, and plastic panelling had been removed from the back and stored in a garage, where they got musty and mildewed.

We also had time constraints, as our planned road trip was coming up, so we didn't have time to order new carpet, have it shipped, and install it. My husband found a guy who cleans auto carpets, but he was too busy to take on ours.

He did advise my husband to use a solution of Pine Sol to clean the carpet, and to use a scrub brush, with lots and lots of scrubbing. He also sold him some automotive carpet padding.

The new padding is very nice stuff, more substantial than the original, and very pleasing to walk on. It cost $12 per yard, and we needed seven yards. There are enough scraps left over for some kind of rug project for the house, and I would consider buying more of it.

With supplies on hand, the next step was to remove the old padding. Most of it pulled off, but there was a lot of glue and fibrous lint left over.

I found that the best way to get that off was to lay the carpet upside down out in the sun, which warmed and softened the glue, and then use my fingertips to drag the lint and glue off. Scrapers didn't work as well, probably because they weren't as warm, and they tended to dig into the rubber backing of the carpet. I had a number of helpers, and they did a lot of the work, but even so, it took a long time and raised blisters. When we ran out of sunlight, I tried our steam cleaner. This worked, but the steam tended to make the backing crack, when used in the quantities needed.

For cleaning the top of the carpet, I used the Pine Sol and scrub brush, which worked fairly well, but didn't take out the rust stains. Pine Sol also doesn't rinse out very well, I found. We also learned that it now contains pine oil only for fragrance, as pine oil has become scarcer. I don't normally use it.

Drying the carpet went all right. I hung it over the deck railing overnight, and the next day my husband set it up in the garage with a dehumidifier.

Putting the new padding on required some cutting and piecing, but was straightforward. My husband found some spray adhesive from 3M that was appropriate for the materials. It was nice stuff, but we really needed a second can of it. Wood glue did not make a good substitute, probably because the rubber and padding didn't absorb water from the glue the way that wood would.

In the van, the quality of the padding isn't really noticeable. But I am planning to reuse it, once we replace the carpet.

EDITED TO ADD:  There were also some hardboard panels that we had to replace.

Punching up plain carpeting

I've been reading a series of magazines from a nearby sidewalk library, and I noticed that many of the rugs pictured were two-color designs, with one color predominating.

That got me thinking about how to take a solid-color rug, and add yarn to it to make a design. Eventually, I remembered that I have a punch needle (which pushes loops of yarn through a fabric from the back), and I wondered if it could be used on commercially-made carpet.

I tried it on two different carpet remnants. I found with the first one that the carpet backing was too strong to push the needle through; I would need to pre-punch each hole with an awl.

With the second, the needle went through more easily, and I was able to punch in a line of loops all the way down the length in only a few minutes. My hand was tired at the end.

I found that I had to set the needle at almost the longest loop length setting to get the loops to show in the carpet pile. (Longer loops than that would require pulling by hand, and it would probably be better to work from the front with a rug hook.) Putting a loop through every other square of the backing mesh made a line that looks just like a line of paint drips. For a more solid color, I would have to punch every square, and more than one row, and even then the original pile would still be mixed in.

Punch needles

I've had the book Hooking Rugs:  New materials, new techniques, by Gloria E. Crouse for a while. It is an older book,  and it is interesting not only for the punch needle techniques that she used, but also for the ways that she used adhesives and other materials to make mixed-media rugs and wall hangings--she's tried everything--and for her tips on how to design, start, and finish a project.

There are basically two ways to make a hooked rug.  One is to use some sort of a hook to pull yarn or fabric strips up through the backing material.  The other is to use a tool to push the yarn or fabric strips down through the backing (from the back to the front)...usually this tool is a punch needle.  This needle is a slit tube with a hole near the pointy end, set in a handle. The speed needle version is mounted on a set-up like a non-electric egg beater, which moves the needle up and down as the handle is turned.

I went to an estate sale recently, and I found a little box of punch needles for $3. When I got it home, I found that it contained three:

First, an inexpensive basic needle, non-adjustable. I had one of these once, but it didn't last long before it broke, because of how the needle and handle were joined.

Second, a similar needle with several depth-of-loop adjustment notches. The needle is mounted inside the handle instead of outside, which makes it much sturdier.

Third, a Columbia Minerva needle just like the one in the book (besides her trusty speed needle), with two sizes of needle tip. It has ten depth settings and a little slide to keep the needle where it has been set. In the book, she tells how she modified hers to get three more possible settings out of it.

I've been playing with it a bit--with something like one hundred hours of work left to do on my other rug projects, I'm not starting another right now--and it is indeed fun to stab through the fabric over and over to lay down lines of loops. The needle is a little tricky to thread, but there are some hints in the book. I used a small embroidery hoop to hold the fabric taut; for a rug, I'd want to build a frame.

Direction

I've been thinking about the runner some more, and looking at the materials that we have.

Eventually, it occurred to me that I could pray and ask for one.

The answer that came back immediately was that I already had everything I needed to make it.

I take that as meaning that I should go with the best option that I have on hand, the repurposed jute, and for coloring it use acrylic paints that I have.

As I mentioned previously, knitting it will use the quantity of jute that I have most economically.  This knit rug will be going over the existing bits of carpet.

Earlier I researched possible knitting patterns, and did a test swatch. I think I can get away with using multiple knitting needles across the width, so I won't have to make longer needles.

The reason I was hesitating to use the jute is that it is not really a very strong or durable fiber.  But if I color it with diluted acrylic paint, that will help it a bit.

In a previous attempt to use paint as dye, I had problems with it not dissolving evenly, so this time I am going to thin it down more gradually, and it will probably help that I have better-quality paint than I did then.

Coming together

I am a bit amazed at how the bench and the table fit so well up against each other.

I've been brainstorming a list of runner possibilities. I have studied making homemade rugs for quite a few years, so I have plenty of ideas.  Here are some of them:

Use the jute from my crocheted bedroom rug to make a rug that goes over the carpet remnants. I've already unraveled it. To make it cover the area that I want probably requires knitting or weaving; crochet uses much more fiber to cover a given area. Then I would dye it to the color I want.

Overdye the carpet remnants.  Did you know that dyeing your old wall-to-wall carpet was possible? The internet says that it only works for nylon or wool, though. The way to tell if it's nylon is to take a little bit of the fiber off, and burn it (under controlled conditions, of course).  Supposedly burning nylon should melt and form a small, clear bead on the burnt end. The other way is to immerse it in a little chlorine bleach overnight; if it is nylon, the bleach will eat it away entirely within 12 hours. So the internet says. Wool will smell like burning hair when it is burnt.

When I tried the burn test, however, it didn't look like nylon to me--I think it is probably acrylic--and in any case, it is dirty and probably wouldn't take dye very well.

Make a braided rug, probably from wool yarns. This would be somewhat time-consuming, and definitely expensive. The advantage of using yarns over fabrics is that you don't need to fold the raw edges in, so it goes much faster.

Weave a rug.  That requires finishing my current weaving project, which is currently stalled at 25% complete.

Flip the carpet remnants over and paint the backing, which is woven plastic. I'm not sure how well the paint will adhere, though, and I would consider this a temporary solution at best. The painted texture is not going to sit well with some family members.

Find a used runner and overdye it.

Use my drawer full of shrunken wool clothing, which could be cut up and applied to a backing and dyed. I did a bit of searching for local sources of industrial felt, and haven't really found any.

Buy enough yarn to get started, and knit a rug in a loop stitch.

Buy a length of canvas, and make a floorcloth.

Walls almost done, and thinking about a runner

I filled the empty space on the wall with my elf house (which has acquired a few more elvish furnishings over the years). That puts it in a much more visible place than it was before. I also put the rope that I was hanging kid's artworks on back up. 

With those done, the walls are just about done.  There is one more area that seems to need filling.

I also backed up a step or two in the process and thought about what to do with the entry runner. We've had the landlord's carpet remnants there continuously, and I would like to do something different and better, in a very dark green color.

I remembered that we had some fake grass (aka Astroturf) in the garage. I never used it before because I didn't like the plastic texture, and because it sheds little bits around the edges.

But I pulled it out, and found that we have two pieces of it, one of which is almost exactly the size I want.  In color, it was quite a bit brighter than I wanted, although not as bright as I remembered it being.

Family opinion was deeply divided on the texture. Several of the children thought it was a perfect place for a picnic, and for scattering toy "flowers".  Another one joined me in hating the feel of the plastic.

One problem was discovered:  spills go straight down through it.  Since the runner is the place where most of the snowy boots get parked, it needs to have absorbency.  A second problem is that the bright color makes the rest of the room look faded and worn.

So I decided to put the fake grass in the bedroom of the children who love it--the carpet in there is a hideous greige--and keep using the carpet remnants until I find something better.

Braided rug repairs

My little homemade denim braided rug needed some repairs to the lacing that holds the braids together...again.  It sits right between the back door and the most popular hot-air register in the house, so it gets some hard wear.

The original lacing was just acrylic yarn, which I wouldn't have recommended for anyone else to use, as it is not particularly durable.

The last time I repaired the rug, I used a linen yarn, almost like string. That wore out, too--and much more quickly than I would have expected.

This time, I was in a hurry, and used acrylic yarn again. It occurred to me that the acrylic yarn has some elasticity that the linen yarn does not, and that may be helping the lacing last longer than it otherwise would--it can take a certain amount of strain before the fibers begin to be damaged.

The repairs themselves were straightforward:  unlace enough to be able to tie on a new piece of lacing, use a big yarn needle (tapestry needle) to lace the braids together, and then tie the lacing at the other end, trying to hide the knots. I find it best to do the repairs from the center of the rug outward--as the rug was originally made.

With the lacing repaired as needed, a braided rug can last a very long time.

Next step: placing the rugs

As I continued in my living room, having arranged the main pieces of furniture, the next step was to place the rugs.  According to "Cozy Minimalism", it's a common mistake to have rugs that are too small, but our main rug is plenty big for the furniture and the room, and it seems like it was made to be there--in the Eighties!

I had to layer rugs a bit, where some edges are getting worn, and I had to do a few small repairs to the lacing of the braided rug that is in front of the door to the back yard.  Not surprising, since that rug spent most of last winter hanging outdoors, while I tried to figure out how to get Cheerio Vomit Glue off it.  Wool really is rot-resistant; that's why the sheep aren't naked until they are sheared.

Anyway, repairing a braided rug is MUCH less laborious and tedious than making one is, so it is almost always worth doing.  With occasional maintenance, they can last a very long time.

The rugs also needed some spot-cleaning, which only took a few minutes.

Another thing I did was to get over to the Habitat to Humanity ReStore.  After two or three searches, I finally found a piece of crown molding to replace the bit that was missing in my living room; different color, but same profile (shape).  There's a lamp right under that spot that lights it right up, and it has been a definite eyesore ever since we moved in.

While I was there, I looked over their furniture section, to see which pieces had "presence"; most of them didn't, and the few that did were chairs that didn't look sturdy enough for my household.

When I got home, I was able to get the crown molding cut and put up, with some work. The problem was in measuring it accurately enough, with a bendy tape measure and a somewhat uneven wall surface. Cutting accurately was no problem; a few months ago the heirs of some old guy were happy to unload his very nice miter box and saw on us, for only $20.  But even a simple miter box would do.  You do have to account for the width of the cut that the saw makes.

With the molding piece up, it looks much better now. I might faux paint it later on, to match the rest of the crown molding, but I don't have all the paint colors that I would need for that yet.

Washing a wool rug at home

While I did try taking my big wool rug outdoors last winter to clean it with snow, the time had come for a more thorough cleaning.

(The rug is 8 feet by 10 feet, flat woven, and not worth taking to be cleaned professionally.)

First I vacuumed the rug, and did some spot cleaning by hand.

Then I took a tarp out in the backyard, hosed it down, mopped it, and rinsed it off again. I put in on a slight slope, for drainage.

I spread the rug out over the tarp, hosed it down until it was quite wet, and then mopped it with a laundry detergent made for woolens, diluted in water, trying to scrub the detergent down into the fibers firmly and evenly.

I went over the rug again for another scrub, and then gave it a thorough hosing.  At this point there was visibly dirty water draining off at the lower edge. Then I flipped the rug over, hosed the back side thoroughly, flipped it again, and hosed the top one last time.

The hard part of washing a large wool rug isn't in washing it, but in drying it more or less flat. To dry it, I let it sit for a while on the slope, then I brought it down to the basement, and draped it carefully over a futon frame (minus the mattress!) and some other furniture--with the dehumidifier running.  After a day, I flipped it over, and let it dry for a couple days more.

Back on the floor, it looks a bit wrinkled, but it is settling in, and certainly looks a lot cleaner than it did, although there are still some spots that could use special attention.

Cleaning a rug with snow

Supposedly rugs were cleaned out in the snow in the old days. This is what I have learned about it, having tried it a few times:

1.  Wait for a good snow; several inches at least.

2.  Vacuum the rug first (or at least give it a good shaking out), and chill it, at least 30 minutes.  You want frozen snow, not melted snow.

3.  Wool fibers are weaker when they are wet.  That means being a bit careful with the rug, especially a flat-woven rug.  Braided rugs are weak in a different way, in the lacing that holds the braids together, so be careful with these as well.

4.  Spread the rug out on the snow, throw some snow over it, and sweep it off with a clean broom.  Alternately, lay the rug out dirty side down, and dance all over it (if you think the rug can stand it).  Either way, there is some agitation of the fibers, and some action that helps carry dirt off the rug.

5.  I have read that snow contains a small amount of ammonia, which helps get greasy particles out of the rug.  The cold also helps grease solidify and fall out.

6.  The hard part about washing rugs isn't washing them, it is drying them.  Especially for a very large rug. What I have done in that case was to carefully fold the rug after cleaning, bring it inside, and then gradually unfold it, moving it with each unfolding to a different part of the floor, so that nothing underneath it was damp for long. This method did leave some visible creases in the rug, though.

All that said, I did take our big living room rug (flat-woven wool) out into the snow and clean it recently, and I can't say that it made much of a difference. The rug does look about half a shade brighter, and sweeping it with snow probably did remove some surface dust, but this method will not take out visible spots or grubbiness. Still, I feel that it was worth the effort, just not by very much. Likely sweeping it indoors and then vacuuming it again (I always vacuum it without the beater brush) would accomplish almost as much.

Carpet remnant

A while back, my husband brought home a long strip of new carpeting that he had scavenged from somewhere. It fits very nicely down the length of our utility room. The floor in there is painted, supposedly with an epoxy paint that is intended for garage floors, but the paint has not been holding up well, especially by the sink where it sometimes gets wet; I suspect that the floor was not cleaned thoroughly enough before painting.

Anyway, the floor looks much better with the carpet, and I am thankful for it.

A rug of sorts

I had been thinking for a while about where and how to get a rug for the family room.  The main considerations were that it had to be colorful, without an overly busy design, and non-scratchy. I decided that I wanted to make a rug, and I worked out a color scheme--based on some of our wedding pictures that were taken at the beach--and a general design.  I even started pricing materials.

Then my husband came home with at least two yards' worth of Ikea decorating fabric (heavy cotton).  The design, from a few years ago, is modernist with Alpine motifs; I call it the "drowning goats" fabric because there are two swimming goats in the design, and I am not fond of goats.

I noticed that the fabric colors were almost exactly the same as the colors I had chosen for the rug.  So I started using it as a rug.  Later on, before its first washing, I stitched around the edges with a zigzag stitch, to keep it from fraying.

Since it is cotton, and I am terrible at stain removal, it has picked up some dirt that didn't wash out.  But I like it anyway, for the color that it adds to the room.