Giant Octopus Rug!

Chunky crochet - it's something that I've only tried a couple of times, the main reason being that whenever I used a chunky crochet hook and some super chunky yarn, it always hurts my hand after a short while. Meaning that it can take ages to finish a project, and it makes it a lot less enjoyable than it should be. As it's my nieces first birthday in September, I wanted to make something special for her room. She loves a little toy octopus that I made for her a few months ago, and I'd just discovered the amazing patterns of IraRott. Huge animal rugs, cushions, and much more! I knew that an octopus rug would be perfect!

I was a little nervous that crocheting it would hurt my hand, but I bought a new crochet hook - a KnitPro hook with a soft grip handle. It turned out to work perfectly! 

To get these rugs super chunky, you use an Aran weight yarn and hold 3 strands together. This technique takes a bit of practise to get used to, but there is a great video on IraRott's website, where she shows you how to do this using only one ball of yarn. 

This was the end result! I am just so pleased with how this turned out, I had to wait to deliver it before I was able to take a picture as it is so big! It's so lovely and squishy too, using 3 strands of yarn held together works so well.