Crochetted rug problem

[indiependant.livejournal.com]

I decided to make a crochetted area rug. And it's starting to piss me off. I mean, it started out at 24 inches, and about six inches later, it's about 22 inches wide. I'm using different fabric strips to make it, so that might be my problem. Does anyone know how to keep crochetted straight things the same width apart the whole way? Or possibly how to widen the middle once I'm all done?

PS: Starting over is one option, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet.