So Shawn says "I'm never climbing on THAT rope again!", so damn, what do I do with it now? I fart around with it, and it turns into this:
attachment=0]rope_rug.JPG[/attachment]
Kids, if you want to try this at home, here's the deal:
1) a 10.5 60m rope makes a 2'x 3' rug
2) place 2 screws into your bedroom floor 3' apart, and continue 7 more pairs at 3" intervals
3) with the rope bent in half, put the halfway mark around the last screw, then wrap the rope back and forth around all the screws. For a smooth look, be sure to fold the outside rope over the inside rope at each screw.
4) start weaving the paired rope ends (I taped them together) over and under the horizontals, but through the rope at the halfway mark (do this only once) as indicated in the rope_setup photo.
5) continue this until you run out of rope. But you'll have to tighten up all the strands as you work along. An old ice axe is the perfect tool for snugging down the weave. Do this at the quarter, half, and three quarter point, trying to keep all the vertical weaves parallel to each other.
6) finish by weaving the last bit of rope into the edge of the mat by a corner. I wove one rope horizontally and the other vertically.
I made 1 "prototype", took it all apart, but the second attempt was successful. Now my kids comment that it doesn't feel right to wipe their feet on a rope, but I remind them that uglier pieces of crap had been tied to it before.
Good luck, Joe.