My Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Veggie Rug Story

Well, it may be holiday Monday here, but with two turkey dinners behind me (thanks to both chefs, since I didn't prepare either one) and vainly attempting to exorcise some of the pumpkin pie calories, I have been working like a fiend. And not in the hooking capacity - but in the cleaning, switching over wardrobes and sorting capacities.

However, in midst of the kitchen cleaning frenzy (including removing the knobs from the stove to get to the yucky stuff behind there), my veggie rug was in the line of fire and destined to also get a good clean.

Here is a picture of the final result - and one of the "weapons of choice" - a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Back up a little ... when I designed this rug, I knew it was for in front of the kitchen sink, so I decided to hook it in yarn on rug warp, so that I could save it from spills - even soak it in case of a worst case "spaghetti-sauce-type" mishap. That was the thinking. And it was good.

Now, whenever I clean the kitchen, part of the routine is giving the rug a gentle vacuum and using one of those body scrubbie things from the dollar store to finish. Today's cleaning went a step further. With this soft-bristled toothbrush, slightly moistened, I brushed a few spots that looked like droplets of something or other (black background, not the brightest choice). And it worked like a charm. Not only did it coax out the food droplets, it fluffed up the loops and made everyone stand up clean and proud.

It did something else. The outer grey border is actually a thick yarn that has a little boucle in it and, just like in a boucle sweater, the longer hairs start to wear and grow. So, once the gentle toothbrush had done its duty, the sweater defuzzer followed. It felt suspiciously like what it must be to groom a dog, though I've never done that, nor owned a dog that required grooming.

The end result is that the rug looks fantastic (which I'm sure is the feeling of the above dog owner after the grooming). And the toothbrush trick worked so well, I decided it was the perfect tip to share today.

Now that the cleaning and organizing are done, I am free to sit and hook or knit for a while.

Something to be truly thankful for.