Easy to Crochet Tartan Rugs

by Mary Coleman

Incredible as it may seem, thousands of Australian women have found these intricate-looking rugs a breeze to make. Anyone who can do a double crochet stitch can make one - even while watching... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1863961275
• ISBN13: 9781863961271
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Australian Consolidated Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A good start for newbies

This is a great book for newbies just learning to crochet. Each tartan requires just two stitches, trebles and chains which are then weaved together. This book is 120 pages long and contains 140 tartan family patterns listed in alphabetical order. There is a coloured photo or grid chart for each tartan pattern. These afghans are so easy, even a newbie to crochet could create their own combination of colours or design a pattern from their traditional family tartan.

An afghan by another name . . . .

This is an excellent craft book, suitable for children and adults, novices and persons with much experience. If you think that crochet can't be a good medium for producing tartans, this book will change your mind.The book consists of 140 charts for tartan patterns, meticulous general instructions on following the charts, and useful information on kind and amount of materials, tensioning, sizing, and finishing. It includes easy to read colour charting and a substantial number of very good quality photographs showing finished work.The skills you need to bring to using this book are chaining and treble crochet - that's it! The weaving method (oh, no! I hear you groan. Don't worry, this is very simple and requires no great dexterity or arcane textile knowlege) that the authors describe produces the twill look that is the hallmark of good woven tartan fabric. Novices will want to start with one of the tartans as given in the book. People with a bit more experience will find it easy to resize projects, use different materials, and, using the book's charting methods, pull patterns from tartans found elsewhere. 140 patterns, including clan, family, district, and some occupational tartans, is a vast resource to begin with, but it doesn't begin to cover all the variants. The book shows modern tartan colours, so ancient and muted tartans will require some adjustment.The general instructions given in the front of the book are a little complicated because of the weaving technique, and require careful study. Children under about 13 will require help at first. There are six steps to follow (the foundation row through finishing techniques) which half an hour's study, and comparison with photos, should make clear. You'll feel the instructions click into place and be able to explain then to someone else in three minutes. At that point you'll have the theory necessary to attack any project in the book. The size of the projects makes them unsuitable to do while traveling, although they are easily transportable to work in another location.I'm medium poor at crochet, and just terrible with complicated patterns or stitches, but this book requires neither - it's all straight line work. With the two caveats mentioned above, I unhesitatingly recommend this book. Crochet on!!