The Pioneer Rug is a guest post written by Abbey from The Firefly Hook. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

 

The Pioneer Rug

My kids and I recently listened to all the Little House on the Prairie books. I love connecting to that time in history when people lived off the land and depended on each other to survive.

My son Benjamin especially enjoyed listening to all of Laura’s adventures. He connected to her wild and free spirit and wishes he could be friends with her.

It’s truly special when you kids connect deeply with something you held so dear as a child.

I love simplicity. I find it difficult to achieve, but I envy the Ingalls’ small Christmas celebrations. Everyone adored each small part because that’s all there was! One small gift or one special dessert wasn’t taken for granted.

I remember when the Ingalls girls pooled their money together to buy a gift for Pa: store-bought suspenders. Many gifts were handmade: socks, dolls, crocheted collars.

Remember in The Long Winter when Laura and her friends would sit together in Pa’s shop while they knit and crocheted lace collars? The crochet-lover in me wished I could sit and crochet with Laura and her friends as they watched people passing by on the street. I wish I could find a pattern for the collars they made!

In the spirit of a handmade Christmas, let me introduce the Pioneer Rug. 

Crocheted with a 12mm hook and three strands held together, you can whip up one of these in a few hours. What’s more – I made this 28” rug for $7.00!

You can tailor the colors and size depending on who you are making the gift for and make it the perfect addition to any home, accommodating any style!

Enjoy!

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The Pioneer Rug

Yarn:

Any inexpensive worsted weight acrylic.

Size shown used 14 ounces.

Hook size: 12 mm

Completed Dimensions: 28″ diameter 

Gauge: 6 sts and 4 rnds = 4″ in dc

Abbreviations:

CA—color A

CB—color B

ch—chain

dc—double crochet

rep—repeat

rnd(s)—round(s)

sc—single crochet

sl st—slip stitch

st—stitch

Pattern:

Note: Hold three strands together; use 3 separate skeins or make 3 balls from 1 skein. Carry unused color on wrong side of work. Change color on the yarn over of the sl st when connecting rnds. 

Rnd 1: With CA, ch 4 (counts as 1 dc), 11 dc in fourth ch from hook. (12 dc)

Rnd 2: Sl st in first dc from rnd 1 and switch to CB, ch 3 (counts as 1 dc here and throughout pattern), dc in same st as ch, 2 dc in each st around. (24 dc)

Rnd 3: Sl st in first dc from previous rnd and switch to CA, ch 3, dc in same st as ch (place marker), [dc in next st, 2 dc in next st (place marker in second dc)] around, dc in last dc. (36 dc)

Rnd 4: Sl st in first dc from previous rnd and switch to next color, ch 3, dc in same st as ch (move marker), [dc in each st to marker, work 2 dc at marker (move marker to second dc)] rep around, dc in each st to end of rnd. (48 dc)

Rnds 5 – 13: Rep rnd 4 alternating colors on each rnd. (each rep adds 12 to the stitch count)

Rnd 14: Sl st in first dc from previous rnd and switch to CB, ch 1 (counts as 1 sc), sc in same st as ch, [sc in each st to marker, work 2 sc at marker] rep around, sc in each st to end of rnd.

Rnd 15: Sl st in first sc from previous rnd and switch to CA, sl st in each st around, sl st in first sl st, finish off.

Favorite or queue on Ravelry here.

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Happy crocheting,

Abbey