• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (84)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Good Press: Special Features, Freelance Projects, and Long-Term Clients
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after – transforming my first home
      • before + after, our current home
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

How to Knit a Sisal (Jute Twine) Rug

July 23, 2012

One time, I tried to make a knit rug I made using a piece of vintage fabric. It turned out great!

This time, I sought out a new material to construct with. While yarn would be an obvious choice, I knew I wanted something thicker. The placement of the runner I had in mind would lay in an area that gets a lot of daily traffic.

For a moment, I considered buying mass amounts of woven polyester rope at a marine store. Rope is colorful and sold in various thicknesses, but expensive: 60 cents to $1.25/ft.. Knowing already that I’d need more than 500 feet of thick material, the options at a local boating and fishing store and West Marine were just way out of my price range.

One common material was closer to my price range though: the much-loved woven carpet material Sisal. Sisal’s like Jute, but often a little coarser I think some would say. Home Depot had some affordable options for long lengths of sisal, but nothing compared to the pricing of 1/4″ sisal rope. (Editor’s Update 2023: Whoa, sisal on Amazon isn’t super cheap anymore.)

How Much Sisal/Jute Should You Order?

In 2012, 100-feet sold for $3.85. This meant I could save more than $7 per roll over what I saw at Home Depot, so I bought 6. Shipping for one roll was $7 (not Prime-eligible) but adding 5 more rolls to my order only bumped my total shipping to $11.72, making my total order (and my total to-be carpet runner) only $34.62. I purchased 600 feet in total.

Twisted sisal (600 feet) ordered from amazon.com.

Twisted sisal (600 feet)

Really, that’s a lot of rope. 600 feet, yo.

Twisted sisal (600 feet)

Twisted sisal (600 feet)

Cast On Oversized Knitting Needles

I started out this sisal knitting project with my handmade 24″ knitting needles. I began the same way you might begin any knitting venture, but used row after row of knit stitches (not purl).

Knitting a rug using sisal rope.

Casting the first few rows on oversized 24″ knitting needles made from dowels.

I remained focused on the first few rows to assess how the rope would stretch. The thing is: it didn’t.

The sisal, unlike most yarns, did not have a tendency to want to stretch width-wise. Only length-wise.

Finally seeing some substance while knitting the carpet runner.

As I worked from one spool to the next, I tied the ends of the ropes together using a square knot. The square knot is an easy but strong knot with little tendency to want to loosen. If you’re looking for a knot-tying tutorial, I validated my knot-tying know-how on this site. It has a square knot and many others nicely illustrated.

Making a square knot.

Making a square knot.

I was feeling pretty confident in how this project was going as I moved to the third spool of sisal. At 300 ft. of 1/4″ sisal rope, my carpet runner looked like this.

Woman holding a hand-knit sisal/jute carpet runner. Three hundred feet knit at this point.

300-feet of sisal yields a carpet running of this size.

It’s not easy to demonstrate how challenging it is to work with ginormous needles. It is a lot more manual than knitting with small needles. I spent about 6 hours finishing this rug (1 hour per hundred feet or one spool per hour).

See how bulky the needles are and how chunky the rope is? It was difficult to maneuver such large needles. To give you a better visual, I would pin the needles to either side of my waist, and then manually feed the rope to knit each piece by hand, loop by loop. There was not a lot of flailing needle movement necessary, in case you were curious as to how I wielded a set of 24″ needles on the couch comfortably.

Awkwardly knitting with huge needles.

Even before cast off, I knew the new runner was p-e-r-f-e-c-t for our home.

Cast Off and Enjoy Your New Sisal Rug

If you look really closely at this next picture, you’ll see one of the ends where the two spools of sisal are knotted together. It’s not obvious on its own at all, but also can be tucked right into the weave to be completely invisible.

No ropes were cut in the making of this rug, so those manufacturers’ taped ends will help to prevent fraying.

Close up on the sisal rug.

It started as a thick rug with a lot of texture, but it’s already started to compress a little bit just after a few days.

To dispel rumors of it being too rough to walk on, it’s perfectly comfortable. The knit texture, if nothing else, is amazingly like a foot massage.

And it has no tendency to want to unravel or snag either if you’re curious, even with the weave being as loose as it is. The color is neutral and as favorable as any woven rug you’d admire at the store.

Its finished dimensions are 24″x56″. If I had an extra roll, I’d definitely have extended it another 6″ to completely fill the space in front of the door; right now, it’s just a little short. If it still stands out to me after we live with it for a few weeks, I might pick up a 50′ length of sisal to finish it out.

Finished knit sisal rug.

Completed: A 24″x56″ handmade sisal rug.

The price ($34.62 + $4 wooden needles) can’t be beaten. (2012 pricing!)

Make anything inspired and fun with common rope lately?

Share

Decor  / DIY  / Entryway  / Flooring

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

6 Comments


Bri @ The Modern Parsonage
July 23, 2012 at 9:50 am
Reply

I would have never even thought to knit a rug – how clever! It looks fantastic and if I were a better knitter, I’d totally try it.



Blane
November 25, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Reply

Grassroots!!!!! And also a Rochesterian!



Tammy
October 10, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Reply

Thats really nice but didn’t your hands hurt a little from the rough sisal?



    Emily
    October 10, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    Not at all! Rougher than soft yarn, but no “rope burn” or anything probably because I was doing the knitting so manually, rather than wrapping it taut around my fingers.

Kathy Chamberlain
January 12, 2015 at 9:33 am
Reply

Looks like a great thing to do with leftover hay rope!



Johanna
August 16, 2022 at 8:42 pm
Reply

Bello!!! ese punto es Santa clara? o algún derivado?



Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad // Emily Fazio
    pumpkin patch is doing great✌️#year1 #squashbl pumpkin patch is doing great✌️#year1 #squashblossoms #pumpkinpatch
    I’ve overdone it. #2023gardennotes I’ve overdone it. #2023gardennotes
    I’m not great at weeding my mulched beds, but I I’m not great at weeding my mulched beds, but I am very good at transplanting thousands of pachysandra like little bouquets so within 3 years they’ll consume the entire area ✌️ #earnyourallowance #pachysandra #gardening #merrypadathome
    One magic blossom from the peony roots transplante One magic blossom from the peony roots transplanted in April ❤️
    IT’S SCAPE SZN! IT’S SCAPE SZN!
    The biggest learning from my first year of pumpkin The biggest learning from my first year of pumpkin farming: no need to start seeds weeks in advance. These sprouted in 3 days indoors, and I was able to easily move them to the farm with minimal disturbance before they outgrew their tiny little upcycled egg carton pods. The seedlings I started in April in larger containers were very lanky at transplant and do not seem as hearty. They THRIVE when transplanted at this size! 📓 #gardennotes #garden2023 #pumpkinfarming #gourdfarming
    #2023garden pathways sponsored by pine tree bark 👩‍🌾👍 

#repurposedwood #merrypadathome
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. The Easy Fix For Broken IKEA Drawers 74.2k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. 7 Steps for Restoring an Old Midcentury Sideboard Buffet 62.7k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 55.2k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 44.6k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Flagstone Patio in One Day 40.4k views
    • DIY driveway removal. How to Remove an Old Asphalt Driveway 36.9k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 35.7k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. How to Dye Pasta Different Colors (Halloween Recipe) 35.2k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 31.6k views
    • After: Custom wooden garden fence. Designing a Durable Wooden Fence For Our Beautiful Backyard Garden 29.6k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (84)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • HGTV
  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad