Graph N' Latch Owl Rug Kit

I completed making the M.C.G. Textiles' Graph N' Latch Owl Rug Kit as a gift to my daughter on her birthday.

The finished size is 18.5" x 27".  The kit includes 3.75-mesh canvas, pre-cut acrylic yarn, a color chart and instructions.  I bought the latch hook tool separately.  I was torn on whether to make it a wall hanging or a floor rug.  I can always turn it into a wall hanging later.

As far as the latching of yarn goes, I made one mistake that multiplied because I chose the technique of using the previous row as a reference for what color to use where.  The problem with that method is that if you make a mistake, every row after that has a mistake in it as well.  In my case, I put one too many purple sections in the wing, but chose to leave it that way since it would just give the illusion that the owl is cold and fluffing up his feathers.  I did not make the same mistake in the owl's head, because I started counting rows once I caught the problem with the wing.

Cutting the excess mesh and applying rug binding was where I really struggled.  I've only made one rug like this before, and it was oval shaped.  The owl has many more curves that required notches to be cut out of the mesh in order for the hem to fold over smoothly.  I had to be careful not to cut so close that the yarn could fall off.  However, that left some sharp edges, so I had to try my best at covering the sharp edges with binding.

I basted the mesh hem over to make the binding process easier.  I ran out of iron-on rug binding before I made it all the way around the edge.  All I had on hand was sew-on rug binding.  I quickly discovered that it is very difficult to push a needle through the existing iron-on binding, and I was running out of time because my daughter was coming over to open her birthday presents the next day.  In the morning, I raced out to the crafts store and bought more iron-on binding to make a second row of coverage over the mesh hem.  Ironing the binding on is so much easier than sewing.  I was done in less than five minutes.

It turned out that I didn't have to hurry, because my daughter's birthday celebration had to be postponed because she was ill, but it sure feels good to be done.  Another project can be checked off my list.