Crocheted Kitchen Set

I created a set of kitchen accessories for my cousin's wedding gift.

Dish Scrubbies

I didn't follow a strict pattern for these, so I apologize for the vague tutorial here. All the tutorials I found online said to use 3" wide strips of tulle fabric to crochet with. The craft stores have rolls of 6" wide tulle in the bridal department. I'm too lazy to bother cutting tulle in half lengthwise, so I used the full 6" width of tulle. I don't recall what size hook I used, but it was probably a 5.5mm or larger. I'm afraid I don't recall exactly the stitches I used, but basically I started with a magic ring, crocheted 6 stitches into the ring (I think I did sc, though it may have been dc), then worked 2 more rounds with even increases in sc. One round of sc with no increases. Then ended with 3 rounds (I think) of even sc decreases, back to 6 sc, & finish off.

Next time I make these, I'll edit exactly how I made them.

I have some dish scrubbies someone got me that were made with the 3" wide strips of tulle, and while they work great, I think these made from 6" wide tulle will last much longer before breaking down.

Dish towel

Original Pattern

Made this one with blue & white cotton yarn, and changed up the striping pattern a bit.

This guy looked REALLY wonky when I finished stitching it up.

Prior to blocking.

So I went into my first attempt at blocking a project! (Yep, I've managed to avoid blocking for years.)

I don't have a blocking board, & my ironing board is smaller than the towel I made, so I laid the work on top of a pile of cushy bath towels on the guest bed, which had conveniently been stripped of sheets at the time. I then soaked another bath towel in water, wrung it out so that it was very wet, but not dripping, & laid it on top of my work.

After only having a wet bath towel laid on top of the work.

Just laying on the wet bath towel did wonders for reshaping the kitchen towel. It was still a touch wobbly on the edges, but much better.

Next step in my blocking was to use a hot iron to press the wet bath towel with the kitchen towel under it, finalizing its reshaping. 

After pressing, removing the wet bath towel, & letting the kitchen towel air-dry the rest of the day.

Et voila! After the blocking procedure, the kitchen towel had darn near perfect shaping! 

I'll probably still avoid blocking whenever I can, but now that I've had success with it, I'm no longer afraid to block when necessary. :)

Roxy Fox Hat

My husband found the Roxy Fox Hat on Etsy, & wanted me to make it for our friend for Christmas. I am thoroughly pleased with how it turned out--and so was our friend!

(Ignore the super-dorky poses. It was late & I was giddy from that I-just-finished-a-craft-project high.)

Now, I usually don’t buy patterns. But I was short on time, & couldn’t afford the trial & error this go round to figure out my own version. So I bought the pattern, and I honestly feel it was worth it! Comes with instructions, both written & in chart form, for both the fuzzy & non-fuzzy versions of the hat, in all sizes from baby to large adult. That’s a lot of patterns all in one! Extremely well written, also. I'm glad I invested in this one!

I didn’t swatch & dived right into making the largest size for an adult. Came out pretty darn big. Frogged & swatched. My guage worked up bigger than the pattern’s, using the same yarn & hook called for, which is a little strange since I tend to work pretty tightly. I loved the hook, though, so I just scaled down & made the Pre-Teen/Adult Small hat. Came out fitting an average-sized adult’s head perfectly.

If you can splurge for a paid pattern, I highly recommend this one!