Machias family knits a future in recycling
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 5, 2008
We’re supposed to take our own sacks to the grocery store these days, so we don’t pollute the environment with plastic bags.
If you take a recycled bag, that would be the ultimate in green living.
That is the idea behind Rag Tag Recycles in Granite Falls. Tom Muchoney, his wife Ann, and their daughter Theresa, were stationed at farmers markets last summer selling their creations.
Ann and Tom Muchoney, who live in Machias, have been involved with 4-H for decades. She learned how to make rag rugs about three years ago and adapted the idea to satchels.
Using their own techniques, they make sturdy rugs, pet beds and bags.
The got hooked on farmers markets.
“We didn’t do bad for our first summer,” Theresa Muchoney said. “We had such a great time.”
Their talents passed to Aili, 6, and Izabella, 3, who make jewelry for the markets.
The girls enjoyed meeting dogs that often accompanied masters who strolled through markets in Snohomish on Thursdays and Edmonds on Saturdays.
They make sure to have a dish of water for their doggy visitors.
Their mother said the girls are great at the booth because they’re so cute, they draw in customers.
Snohomish Farmers Market manager Karen Erickson said the market is like a small community.
“Everyone helps set up canopies,” Erickson said. “It’s very friendly.”
She said the rugs and bags are fantastic.
“Their stuff is lovely,” Erickson said. “There wasn’t another product like theirs.”
Designer Ann Muchoney, 61, is a letter carrier in Snohomish. Her husband works at the Boeing Co. Their daughter does inventory on a night shift.
Together, they search thrift stores and garage sales for old sheets that are shredded and used to crochet the sturdy rugs and bags.
Finding a good spot to set up on market day is Tom Muchoney’s job. They all said they learned about sitting in the weather, rain or shine, with products to sell.
Tom Muchoney was with his wife at the 4-H forum in Chelan when she got the crochet bug.
“Like she needs something else to do,” he said, laughing. “We stopped at a thrift store coming down the mountain.”
One of their daughters walks to the grocery store with her recycled rag bags.
“She can carry a gallon of milk and other groceries,” Ann Muchoney said. “There’s a lot of room in them.”
For some reason, she said, cats take right to the pet beds.
Another product they make is a European market bag, crocheted from cotton yarn, stretchy, strong enough to carry things from the store. It’s small enough to tuck in a pocket and sells for $10.
Their other grocery bags are $30, rugs go for $25 to $70 and they also make rug runners for $65.
The family agreed that folks at farmers markets are warm souls.
“There are really, really nice people,” Theresa Muchoney said. “You become a little family there.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
