T-shirt Yarn Rug

Where to put those shoes when you come in from the snow? A T-shirt yarn rug.

We also use one as a bathroom rug. Because it's made with t-shirt yarn, it's absorbent, warm and very washable!

To make this knitted rug

I used The Addictive Baby Blanket pattern from Ribbed for Your Pleasure. (The pattern does make a beautiful baby blanket.)


Cut strips of 1in t-shirt yarn. The knitting needles that I used are 1/2in diameter.

Cast on 38 stitches (if using the Anne's Decorative Edge Edit). The pattern can be done in any multiple of 6 with an added stitch on each end.
About 80 rows total from the pattern.
Depending on the size of the t-shirts, one rug takes about 8 shirts.

Finished dimensions (after being walked on) approximately 25x20inches.

I feel like the photo shows more variance in the colors between the shirts than we see in natural light.

1 week post menu challenge

I declare the challenge a success!

So, we easily made it through the three weeks of the planned menu. Last week I was kind of bummed that I actually had to plan a menu again. I did a weeks worth and now I need to do that again. I think the longer range menu plan is worth the effort!

I have a few things that I will want to schedule into meals.
- Soup mix that was a Christmas gift - planned for tomorrow (Sunday) lunch. (I picked up some ground beef on sale and using homemade turkey broth instead of beef broth because that's what I have.)
- Wild Rice - after reading some recipes, I'm going to make some and add to one of our favorites - Cheddar Chowder
- Navy Beans - I will plan to make "picnic beans" soon

The freezer is still looking pretty full. I hate to plan frozen pizza unless I know it's going to be a crazy day. (If there's a plan, the less likely it will be crazy!)

The pantry is definitely looking emptier except for the baking corner. Baking challenge next?

Menu Plan
Sunday (15th) - Gift Soup, Salad, Banana Bread (from freezer)
Monday (16th) - Bean Burritos (pinto beans in frig)
Tuesday (17th) - Cheddar Chowder with Wild Rice
Wednesday (18th) - Chili with Meat (on the side) - will use black and garbanzo beans that i have in bulk
Thursday (19th) - Everyday Lentils with Naan (?attempt to make my own)
Friday (20th) - Spinach Artichoke Dip (spinach in freezer)
Saturday (21st) - Salmon Burgers, Balsamic Onions (cheap onions recently), Tater Tots, Lemon Cake (Mix)
Sunday (22nd) - Taquitos (freezer), stuffing (freezer)
Monday (23rd) - Mexican Spinach Lasagna
Tuesday (24th) - Pizza
Wednesday (25th) - Eggs
Thursday (26th) - Turkey (freezer), Green Bean Casserole, Potatoes
Friday (27th) - Fruit Salad for Spelling Bee Lunch, ?Dinner

Tuesday, 19th day of menu plan

Wow, I can't believe that it's been 19 days since I have menu planned!

Tonight's dinner is a combination stuff that was purchased for "sometime" or frozen for later and will come together tonight.

The meatballs were from a sale/coupon at Kroger at some point. We made vodka sauce (doctored from a jar) and froze what we didn't eat. The regular pasta was from some sale and the Gnocchi was given to me at some point. 

We are short on fresh vegetables because I've been trying to stay out of the grocery store, so I'll pull out a frozen one and maybe some 5 minute a day bread.

Looks like a pretty good meal for cleaning out the freezer/pantry!

Update on past days - 
Friday - we ended up eating leftover Tortilla Stew and did not make a new soup
Saturday - I didn't make a meal at all in the evening. We snacked through the day and my husband make pancakes in the morning
Sunday - For church we brought salad (from the neighbor), curried yellow split peas with potatoes and carrots with rice and cookies (which were both made by someone else but ended up at our house)
Monday - I gave my children the choice of Red Lentil Curry (on the menu) or potato curry soup and they chose potato curry. I had thawed a tenderloin and roasted it to go with the other vegetarian meals this week. (I had thought that we would eat this on Saturday, but didn't.)

I'm surprised at how some food supplies are lasting. The 10 pound bag of potatoes has now been used for multiple meals and there are still some there.

Yesterday the lack of left overs and some other convenience foods for lunch was evident, but no one went hungry! The pantry is definitely starting to look a little more bare which is good. The freezer still seems pretty full. We need to eat some more peaches. I need to not buy fresh fruit so we eat the peaches in the freezer and the applesauce in the pantry.