Get thee in the dog box

Autumn gets me in the the mood for all things rustic every time. I get the urge to learn to knit as soon as the evenings start to draw in, (never sustained as marshmallow toasting takes precedence) and take to drinking my tea from a thick walled mug in preference to a tea cup as soon as the leaves change colour. The epitome of rusticity for my husband is his wood fired pottery (he has an extensive collection), but for me it is the rag rug (i have none).
I'd like one in front of the open fire, and have coveted the rag rugs in the ads of country living uk magazine (super-expensive); have searched for diy instructions online (all i've seen look either garish or distorted); but never, ever, have i seen one down the oppy.
However, when we were last down in Oamaru a couple of months ago i spied the lady who runs Tiger Lily, the enticing vintage clothing-cum-doll house shop there, with the makings of the most beautiful rag rug i'd ever seen; muted tones, chunky, and though barely finished looking like it had existed for a century already.
My resisted urge to beg her to sell it to me was rewarded when said lady said she was planning to run a rag rug making course in autumn. So now i'm collecting up plain wool blankets, looking for greys, blues, red and pink, perhaps a beige.
I figured the best place to look was the 'dog box' where blankets and covers fit only for the dog basket are sold, since they're so cheap ($4 vs $20-30 for tidy looking ones) as staining and holes can be worked around on this project.
First i found a blood red one, covered in grass seed and dog hair, all ratty round the edges. A machine wool wash, an hour picking out grass seeds with a pair of tweezers and with how-to instructions on blanket stitch from the husband (he can crochet too!) it was too good for ruggery and so its on clauds bed, snuggling up with the pale blue one i subsequently found, as new, for a dollar!
Then this week i found another, larger, pale blue wool blanket-with holes, dog hair and copious (hopefully?!) tea stains. I tried to resist the urge, i mean it doesn't sound rescuable does it, but after a couple of applications of 'don't use this on wool' stain remover, a spin in the washing machine and 15 minutes of darning-according-to-google, and it's adorning our bed. It's lovely. When and where i grew up quilts were a novelty and blankets still pinned kids to their beds. i still find it easier and more pleasurable to fall asleep when the weight of my coverings hug me to the bed.
But pretty as it all is, it ain't going to get me a rag rug made...so i'll be head down and bum up in the dog box again this week

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