New to Me Skill - Rug Making

My plan was simple to make a hooked rug, but all the instructions online specified a specific type of ribbon, a special hook and fabric.

I didn't want to spend additional money on a project I might not continue, much less complete. So I compromised creatively.

I had a crochet hook that fit a latch rug canvas and I had lots of fabric scraps that I could rip into ribbons. The canvas I purchased on the cheap from a yard sale for a buck.

Not having a clue what design to do or even where to start, I consulted My-Good-Friend-the-Internet and was overwhelmed. I couldn't find a simple design or instructions. Thinking the largess of the canvas was intimidating me, I cut out a mostly square section.

Because the grid pattern looked like that alphabet paper I used as a kid, I decided to do an "E". I probably chose that letter because it's the first initial of my fairy goddaughter's name, whose "this many" and holds up two curved fingers widely spread.

From the "E," I created a simple design that allowed me to experiment with different shapes like, squares, circles, and zigzags. I was pretty happy with the results and very, very, very glad I started small. I think I'll give this one to E and I've already started another one for my cars obsessed nephew.

I don't know if I have an innate skill or if its not as hard as the internet instructions made it seem, it seemed pretty easy to me but tedious. Basically, I used the crochet hook to pull a loop of fabric ribbon up through the canvas from the bottom. Then I moved on to the next square and repeated the action until the pattern ended or I ran out of ribbon, then I left a tail sticking up through the canvas and started again with a new ribbon. Once a section was complete, I trimmed all the tails down and they disappeared into the rug.

I like this style because I'm using scraps of fabric that would otherwise be thrown away. You see the blue area in the rug picture below. That's actually a mixture of two different fabrics. They both were dark blue with a light blue pattern. One pattern was floral and the other was waves. However, when ripped into strips you couldn't tell that they were different.

Like I said before, it's work. I definitely plan to stick with the small rugs right now, especially if I'm doing a pattern. I'll let you know if I decide to tackle something larger.