WIP Wednesday - I-Cord Rug

Do you remember this post on what I do with my yarn scraps?  Well, this project has been on hiatus for a while but now I'm back at it.  My intention is to make a rug out of felted I-cords made from all my scrap wool yarn.  All my super wash wool and cotton yarn scraps go to my son Sam for his creations.  Lately, he's making Popsicle stick "God's Eyes" as well as knitting bean bags. I just hate wasting such beautiful yarn you know?  But back to the rug.  Here are a few photographs of my 29 1/2 yards long I-cord wrapped up into a rug shape before felting.

 

 This is the shape I'm going for only a few feet bigger.  Yes, this will be a long term project.

 

 Here's a close up of all the pretty yarns.  I did a 5 stitch I-cord.

Now, I washed the yarn cord in my washing machine with soap (not detergent) and hot water agitating it for 30 minutes then I let it finish the full cycle. Well, it came out of the washer a tangled felted mess!  Ack!  I sat down and untangled it and noticed it felted rather erratically.  Where it was tightly tangled it did not felt well and where it was loose it felted just right.  Should I cry now?  All that time and effort and it looks a wreck.  I could have thrown it back in the washer again, but instead I decided to braid it hoping to even out the thicknesses and here is the result:

 Sorry for the fuzzy pics it's a very gray day today.  It measures about 15 inches in diameter.

 The braiding also evens out the colors giving them a more muted effect.

 I'm relived now that it isn't a total loss, just a different look.  Hopefully I can find a book at the library on how to sew braided rugs together.  Have any of you done that and if so do you have any tips?  But, in the meantime it's back to I-cord knitting my scraps.  60 more yards of cord should make a decent sized throw rug for besides a bed or in front of the kitchen sink.  I'll keep you posted!

What do you do with your yarn leftovers?