About a month ago Tara brought home an Afghan rug she had found at an Op Shop. She said that as she'd missed out on laying claim to one of the two Afghan rugs I'd crocheted in my prime, she had to get one for herself. If I repaired and restored it for her it would have my input as well as the unknown hand/s who had made it. Sound reasoning, I thought! I can never resist a challenge.The rug was in a somewhat sorry state. The squares were joined on the diagonal and there had never been a stabilising border crocheted around the outside. Whether it was sun damage, old age or insects, (though I suspect it was mainly the first) it would require much unpicking and reworking. She also brought me a bag of left over wools she'd got from the Tip Shop. The black edging on the quilt was crocheted in what appeared to be Bluebell 5 ply which is rather thin on the ground these days.
The problem with the unpicking was that the very neat lady who'd done the bulk of the crochet had carefully and thoroughly sewn in all the ends of each colour round instead of just crocheting over them like a nice sensible woman. When it wasn't necessary to hoard a particular colour, I just had to carefully cut it away instead of unpicking. Certain wools were very fragile - what looked like 4 ply crepes in pale pink, blue, lemon and mauve. I had very limited colour to replace them - a red, a blue which was rather too bright, a tealy colour and a saxe blue tweedy mix. The centre and one side were particularly rotten. I repaired nearly 40 squares and then crocheted two rounds around the outside in black 8 ply (one ball of which turned out to be indigo - colour blind in my old age!)
Then I carefully washed it.
Alas, more squares collapsed and the edge waved and lumped. I set about unpicking and repairing again. Twelve squares later I set off around the outside again. but it was no good - the 8 ply was too thick. Then in Devonport I found a bin with some odd 5 ply wools - and there was definitely some black. So I unpicked the border on did it properly this time. Above is the finished result!
And to finish, here's Shannon's cat Leon, making use of one of my creations!
4 comments:
Thought I recognised that bum in the air... :)
It has a couple of new holes in it sadly. We've taken it away from the cats and put it out of reach. Needs gentle care!
*giggle* great photo of Leon!
Wow Mum you've done incredible work! Maybe I'll have to find a challenge for you too ;)
Of course if I ever get to Canada, I'll have to fix that one too! Meanwhile, I'll take on any challenge that appeals ...:o
Thanks!!! wow, can't wait to 'put it in the good cupboard', a la Gran!!! tee hee...no, it'll get used, respectfully and with much appreciation...so apart from the oolong pop fancy tea from Paris, would you like any other treats as thanks? The bags are full already though there's always room for a treat or two! xxxxxxxT
Post a Comment