Crocheted Fringed Marn Rug Pattern

Here's an item that I recently came up with for two reasons - a mound of old shirts my daughter either stained or had holes in, and the need for a rug for by the back door!

This is nice for a couple of reasons - I couldn't use the shirts for anything else because of the stains, but with the rug and "crocheting", you can't even see any of the stains, plus it used up some of those shirts and turned out pretty cool!

I call it a "Marn" rug because I made a yarn out of the material. If you aren't sure how to do this, let me know and I'll be glad to direct you - basically it's the same concept as plastic bag yarn (plarn), which you will be seeing patterns for too! You lay the item flat, and cut it in strips - with Marn though, you want it a little thinner than Plarn because it is thicker and harder to work with - I went with approximately 1/2 inch. I don't use the straight across strip method though, I start at the bottom of the shirt, cut off the bottom ribbing, and then do it in the round - meaning that I go spirally around the item cutting until I am all the way up to the top - this leaves a LOT less loose ends to weave in!

So, here goes:

This was made using all t-shirt style shirts (the stretchy pull-over style tops). You could make this easily all in one color too! I also used a N size crochet hook.

**Special Note - this item is crocheted only working on the front side of the rug - there is no turning involved**

**Special Note 2 - the fringe is made at the beginning and end of each round. When you start a new row, you leave a "tail" for the fringe and when you end the row you leave another "tail" for the other side fringe**

1.Getting Started: Leaving a tail of approximately 3 inches (don't worry too much about exact size as you can trim them all to be even when you are done - also, if you want more or less fringe, use the length appropriate for you), Chain 36. *if you would like a larger or smaller rug, this would be where you could easily add or subtract any chain rows - this pattern is made to easily be adjusted to any size!*

2. Single Crochet (sc) in the 2nd Chain (ch) from hook and in each ch to the end. Cut Marn leaving a 3" tail.

3. Return back to the beginning sc stitch. Leaving a 3" tail, join your marn again, chain 1, sc in each sc across. End the row leaving a 3" tail.

4. Repeat this pattern until the rug is your desired size (approximately 25 rows).

5. Lay the rug down and trim any of the ends of the fringe that are not even.

6. Due to the stretching of the fabric and working with the rug for all the time, it may not lay flat instantly, but it definately will in time! If needed, wash the rug (or just get wet with water), lay it flat and lay a couple heavy items on top - it'll stay a nice flat rug for as long as you need!

This is such a nice, thick, and sturdy rug - I've actually had several people over to the house that saw it and wanted to know where I got it because they wanted one! I really like the way it turned out, and for those of us who have a short attention span, it worked up quick!