Expert: Marla - 4/6/2009

Question
I want to crochet my first rag rug and i have 2 questions. What is the difference if you use material cut on bias and does it really matter? How do you start one I have a little experience but cannot read patterns.Thank you crystal

Answer
Hi Crystal!
I’m sorry about the delay. Has anyone answered you yet? I am not very good at fabrics, but I understand that cutting on the bias reduces the chance of unraveling. I went to a website that can give you a lot of information. http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa092599.htm It also has a pattern. It may even be a good idea to practice using a smaller crochet hook and yarn to see how it goes. What helps me in crocheting a lot when the instructions are crammed together and are hard to follow, is that I write the pattern out, line by line on paper in a way that it isn’t confusing and to prevent me from losing my place. If it helps, write out “single crochet” instead of “sc”. And if it says to repeat from *, write the repeat over again the number of times it asks you to. It takes time to write out the pattern, but from experience, after numerous interruptions and having to unravel a lot of stitches, it's worth the time. But look at this pattern, if it is what you might like to do. Or look at other websites that have crocheted rugs. If you see a pattern you like, and it has instructions that are hard to understand, let me know and I will walk you through it. Good luck. Hope to hear from you.

Marla