I feel like I’ve been remaking this rug over and over again.

I bought my first spool of 4mm macramé cotton cord back in August 2024… which, wow, I didn’t realize was that long ago. Time really does slip by when you’re lost in projects.

The original plan was an alpine stitch edge rug for my bedroom. I got pretty far until I ran out of cord. Turns out I actually needed six spools to make it work, so you can imagine how comically short that first version ended up being.

Then I moved apartments.

With a completely different bedroom layout, the rug needed adjusting again. So … I unraveled it. 

Again. I resized it. And yet again, even though the new version was meant to be much smaller, one spool of cotton cord was still nowhere near enough.

This week, I decided to start fresh – again – but this time with a clearer vision. The new design is 60 stitches across and 25 rows of alternating alpine stitches, making it the largest version I’ve attempted so far. I now have three spools in total… though realistically, I think I’ll need to buy four more before this rug is finished.

Why a rug?

Honestly? It’s the puppy’s fault.

No matter how often I groom Namilee or vacuum the apartment, dog hair always finds its way into my bedroom. Since I’m terribly allergic, I need a buffer – a collection point between our pet-friendly spaces and my more isolated areas – to catch as much fur as possible before it travels any further. Hence, the rug.

Cotton cord is a tough material to work with. It’s thick, textured, and creates a lot of friction while crocheting, which means this project demands patience and a lot of attention to consistency. It’s slow work, both physically and mentally.

I’m also juggling three crochet projects at the moment, so I’m not expecting this rug to be finished anytime soon. But maybe that’s the point. Some projects aren’t meant to be rushed – they just keep evolving alongside you.