Rag rugs! My family had several of them – they were in virtually every room of the house and boy did they stand the test of time! My Mom just recently donated several of them to a local thrift shop – none of them were as fancy as this “Nine-Patch” one. Enjoy making it!
This rug is knitted of rags sewed hit-or-miss, the arrangement of the blocks giving the nine-patch effect.
Cut wool, cotton, or rayon materials into strips about 1/2 to 1 inch wide depending on the weight of the material. Overlap ends of strips, fold edges together, and sew ends of strips together. Sew hit-or-miss fashion, alternating dark with light strips, and bright with dull colors. Wind into balls. Choose two colors of which you have large amounts for the border and sew these into separate balls, having about 1 pound of each. Distribute the remainder of these colors through-out the sewing.
Use a pair of No. 8 plastic needles and knit closely. Decide upon the width you wish to make the rug. Allow about 8 inches for border (4 inches on each side). Divide the remainder of the width by 3 (3 blocks wide) to determine the size of the blocks, which are squares. The rug will be 5 blocks long plus the 8-inch allowance for border.
Cast on a number of sts to equal the measurement desired for block. Work back and forth in garter st (knit every row slipping the first st of each row) until block is a perfect square; bind off. Make 15 such blocks. Arrange blocks as shown in illustration. In the first row have the knit rows running from side to side in the blocks at corners. Place the center block of this row with the knit rows running up and down. In the next row have the knit rows running up and down in the blocks at the edge and crosswise in the center block. Arrange the 3rd row like the first row, 4th row like the 2nd row, and 5th row like the first row. Pin blocks together to form lengthwise strips. Using 2 strands of heavy thread, sew the blocks together with over and over stitches; sew strips together.
Border: use a wooden or steel crochet hook large enough to carry the material. Attach lighter border color at one corner of rug, ch 1, work 2 sc in corner; work a row of sc around entire rug working 3 sc in corners. Keep the blocks even by Working the same number of sc along each block; sc in corner at beginning of rnd with first 2 sc, si st in first sc of rnd. Rnd2: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc with si st, 1 sc in each sc of previous rnd, working 3 sc in middle sc of 3-sc at corners; work last sc in same place with first 2 sc of rnd, si st in first sc of rnd. Work 1 more rnd like Rnd 2; fasten off. Attach darker color in st with last si st, work 4 rnds with dark color like Rnd 2; fasten off after si st. Press rug on wrong side with a damp cloth.