Another calm day/ braided rug
Today, we went fabric shopping. Another calm day, which is great. As I may have mentioned previously, we would like to make one of our rooms (because we have so many!) into a "tavern". To that end, I'm going to make a braided rug. We have different ideas about how to do that, but ultimately, thanks to some crayons, the internet, and a bunch of embroidery floss, we've come up with a good compromise. There was a time when this kind of problem would have caused a fight, but we've become a lot better at communicating over the years. In part, because we've realized that our goals in communication are very different: I want to be understood and come to consensus, and he wants to get to the end point. There is no "right way", of course. We are just different. So, anyway, our rug will have three shades of red, blue, and green and two shades of gray. When I asked at JoAnn's about tools to help with the rug, the poor salesperson had no idea what I was talking about. However, I remembered from a craft catalogue that I used to order stuff from 30 years ago that there were tools to help make the process easier, and ultimately, it seems that I was correct. I've ordered some metal tools that help fold the fabric so that the rough edges are hidden, another tool that helps you lace the various strands of braid together, a book of instructions for using these (written in 1946), and some linen cord for the actual lacing. They suggest making something really simple, like a chair pad, first, so I'll do that. The area next to the bed where I put my feet when I get up is small and could definitely use a small rug. I'll just have to keep it really clean so that it doesn't cause problems with my allergies. Because there is no way I'm going to use wool for this, I'm going to make the rugs out of cotton canvas, I think. We'll see if it works.