Cotton Pot Holder

If this cotton looks familiar, it is. It’s some of the cotton that remained after making my wooly hat.

I’ve sat staring at this cotton for a few days wondering what to do with it, and then this pattern came across my path. Considering that we always need new pot holders I thought to give it a go.

I’m happy with how it came out. It’s very thick, and solid. Crochet work often has holes or gaps in it, which wouldn’t be appropriate for a pot holder. This one is very practical, and I think quite beautiful too.

The pattern is really, really simple. It is basically a ring of chain (64), and then slip stitches done continually in a spiral until it is the shape of a square. Then lie it flat and close off the top and the bottom.

I used Elle Cotton On, 100% virgin cotton, double knit in peacock colour. The crochet hook is a 5.5mm. This particular one used 55g of yarn.

I crocheted a few chain in the last corner, before finishing off, to make a little loop to hang it in the kitchen.

Considering that similar one’s are sold for R110 each (or R220 for two), I feel rather pleased with my homemade one. The yarn cost me about R20 and it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours.

I’m going to check if I have enough cotton remaining to make a second one, then I’ll have a matching pair. You always need two.

EDIT: And then there were two. You may notice that the stitch looks quite different in this one. It’s the same pattern, but one is turned inside out. I rather like the two different textures together.

I expect I may make quite a few of these in the run up to Christmas. They make wonderful gifts, I think.

Thanks to Mama In A Stitch for the pattern.

Swaddling Cocoon

Aaah, my heart melts. Not just because this is the cutest baby cocoon ever, but because this is the cutest baby ever. Yes, we became grandparents a little while ago. Amazing.

But, this is a blog about crochet, so more about that…

Our daughter posted a picture on Pinterest of a cocoon that she wanted. It was a post entitled ‘20+ free crochet baby cocoon patterns’, so I scrolled through the 20+ patterns and none were remotely like the picture. So I had to try and work out the pattern myself.

Luckily I have made simple cocoons before, so I had a good idea how to start.

And this pattern from crochetvolution.com provided a helpful template, for which I am grateful.

I used Elle pure gold DK 100% acrylic yarn for this and….I can’t remember which size hook. Probably around 5mm.

I was delighted with the big wooden buttons I was able to find, but need to make sure I sew them on with sewing thread next time, as they fell off pretty quickly.

The top collar can fold down for teeny tiny babies, and stretch up for bigger or older babies. And because of the way it opens, it’s super easy to get your baby in and out.

I really love this design, and can see myself making it over and over again.

Wooly Hat

It’s another hat!

I said I’d try making my beach hat with a cotton that is not mercerised, and this is the result. It looks very wooly to me. Definitely much more of a winter’s day hat than a summery sunshiny day hat.

Having said that, I love this colour. It’s called peacock, and is a rich greenish kind of colour. The cotton itself is a lovely natural cotton. Delightful to work with.

The pattern I used was this one, but I made a round circle rather than a hexagon. The bucket section is 2 rows less, as my thread is thicker. And the brim is much narrower, just to do something different. I used a 4.5mm hook and crocheted quite tightly. I wish I had used a 4mm.

The cotton is Elle, Cotton on, double knit, which is 100% virgin cotton, and comes in 250g balls. I got mine from Pandora’s (no, I’m not being paid to say that, just doing my bit to support local).

Now I need to decide what to do with the remainder of the ball of peacock cotton….