What is your craft?

I think one of the good things about craft is that it can be very soothing and does not need to be pressured. Because of this WmKf I know quite a few - including me - who have got back into it because of illness.

I make jewellery and sell it online. I used to do craft fairs, but eventually gave that up to concentrate on my Etsy shop. I haven't been well enough to make much for a while, but will get back to it soon to earn some money towards the cost of Christmas. I do repairs and alterations for a few close friends and family, and give pieces as Birthday/Christmas gifts to friends and family who ask for them.

I always coveted a couple of rugs my friend has that were made by her Dad, so seeing the rugs on here has reminded me of them. My FiL used to make rugs but none are as nice as the ones on here.

My hands are too sweaty for knitting and crocheting, sewing too to a lesser extent.

There's so much talent on here.

This is the rug with a bit more light shone on it.

Here is the back. (Sorry previous photo is so dark.)

Here is my partly finished rag rug from t shirts. It looks nearly done but I will put up a picture of the back which shows how much I still have to do.

There seemed to be quite a few latched hooks on Ebay rubysong I put "Readicut Rugs" in and it came up with lots of bits and pieces. The same goes for "Proddy tool" which is what yours sounds like.

They're not that easy to come by these days - if you can get them they tend to be vintage ones, but I've seen them on e-bay. A lady on a craft stall at Bakewell market had a couple but she wanted £15 for each of them, which I wasn't tempted by.

I'm making my rag rug with a 'dolly' clothes peg with one leg broken off and the other one whittled to a blunt point. (Working from the back of the rug.) If I do another one I will treat myself to the pointed gripper tool, I think it would be quicker.

My parents used to make rag rugs and used the pointed tool - much better for pushing through the hessian.

jingl yes, I use a latch hook, probably of the same type that you use to make your lovely rugs, but my mother - and probably your mother too - used a proper rugging tool which was pointed and also had a latch. I get on OK with the latch tool but I seem to remember the other thing was better with hessian.

Yes - it was probably sheer hell but I have forgotten that part!

stillhere - that sounds a lovely thing to do. Happy memories, eh?

Crafting

For years, I made the children make all of our Christmas cards. I would come up with a simple idea and a rough sketch (one year it was a simple manger with a baby's arm waving out of it and a star up above, another, a christmas tree and presents, that sort of things) and they would make it - about 60 times over! I really miss those quiet afternoons of cutting and sticking and then having to vacuum up all the glitter and unglue the dog. I remembered it today when I found that I still have a pack of envelopes from back then. I used to cut all the card paper to size to fit the envelopes. Then we would have strings of cards all hanging up to dry, zig-zagging across the dining table. That was my favourite part of Chrstmas, looking back.

Crafting - thanks for the reminder re the inks. I could be in the kitchen having a go at the marbling now but I am too lazy and, anyway, I am stuck on GN. Tomorrow I will...........

DD has left boxes full of craft stuff at home, plus all the paints, boards, easels, brushes I have collected, yarn stashes, craft items for the DGDs etc
We should downsize but can't.

And a shelf full of 'How To .....' books, although in many cases I still can't.

I love crafts (hence the name) . Not very good at anything but that doesn't stop me trying. NotTooOld I have the marbelling inks for my DGC who love them. They can make such beautiful patterns. Be careful though, if they are the same as mine, they do not wash out so don't spill them.

Jings I love your rugs (that sounds a bit rude but I can't think why)

still here I like the idea of being able to change your personality to fit in with your GN name. I think perhaps I could be a little old shortsighted lady with glue stuck to her fingers and a cupboard full of Pom poms, paints, tissue paper, card making kits, lolly pop sticks, glitter........ Oh, that is me

We really need a 'like' button on Gransnet, don't we? All your craft pics are absolutely beautiful - I would 'like' them all. I'm a bit of an artist in acrylics and have even sold a few of my efforts. They tend to be seascapes - a bit like Rebecca Lardner's stuff (she says, modestly). Other than that, I knit for the grandchildren but writing (does that count as a craft?) is what I like doing. Having said that, I was in Hobbycraft today and they are selling off Kirstie Allsop (yes, I know) craft kits. I bought a marbling in ink kit as it was half price and is something I've not done before. I'll let you know how I get on when I get round to trying it.

I remember my mother making rugs like that greyduster. She even used to cut up bits of leather! Do you use a latch hook? (I can't remember how they were made)

Thank you, Indinana. As I think rubysong said in an earlier post, the only thing with rag rugs is that after a while, as they grow, they get quite heavy to handle. I started a bigger one and had to give it up while I had treatment for a frozen shoulder, but this winter I think I will have another go at it. And yes, I might even have another look at crochet - with all the doom and gloom about the impending winter weather, I might have to find extra things to do if confined to barracks!

I certainly wish you luck ginny. It's almost as if a generation has missed out on the mother to daughter, Granny to granddaughter teaching of these things.

I love that rug Greyduster, great design!
Why don't you have a go at learning to crochet using Youtube videos? Or online tutorials using photos? You could then do it at your own pace. I sometimes feel uncomfortable when someone is teaching me something, especially if I have to ask again and again about one of the stages which I didn't quite get. So in the end I just shut up and move on, and that's why it becomes difficult to learn. I think that is true of many people.

I have to say, I really wish I could crochet (I can knit), but all attempts anyone has made to teach me have ended in failure, sadly!

I do a bit of water colour painting, tie my own fishing flies, and when I can be bothered to cut up all the bits, which is a faff, I like to make rag rugs of the sort my mum used to make back in the day. I was prompted to take it up after seeing a very old example in the National Mining Museum. I'm not very good at it! Here is one I made:

I do! I bet it will be great fun, I love our classes.