I combined all the kitchen aids I’ve been making into a bundle to sell at a local craft fair. The produce bag is the packaging, and inside are two cotton washcloths, a dish scrubby, and a towel holder. I even did them in a variety of color combinations.
Here is a versatile little towel holder! It uses one metal ring, which is covered with single crochet stitches, a band that can be any pattern of stitches with a 2-4 repeat, and a soft loop made by making a chain long enough to go around the metal loop, then is also covered in single crochet stitches.
On the holder pictured, row 1 is a single crochet (sc), chain 2 (ch2), sc, ch2, sc. Then row 2 is ch2, double crochet (dc) in first sc, 3dc in next sc, 2dc in last sc. Row 1 and 2 are repeated. After making the soft loop, I like to sc across the top of the band as well, then tack the edge down to make the circle a little neater. These can be made with any yarn, and different bands. They are quick and useful!
I have a new favorite way of making washcloths. Although I love the diagonal knit cloths, I really am a slow knitter. It takes me literally hours to knit one washcloth. Crochet however takes half the time for the same size cloth, and a simple single crochet, chain one pattern is easy to remember and makes cloth with a nice texture that is not so thick that it takes days to dry.
I use a hook one size bigger than what is recommended on the label, then chain 30. In the second stitch from the hook, single crochet (sc), then chain (ch) 1. Skip a chain loop, and repeat the sc ch1 across. Turn the work, sc in the previous sc, ch1, repeat across. Continue rows until the fabric is square (test by folding it diagonally.) Sc around the outside, making a ch7 loop at one corner. I find 2sc in the other corners is sufficient to turn the corners.
Thor the technical kitten (seven months old) and Missy the dog still play on the living room rug. Here is the most recent video. Here is one where Thor was much smaller. He has grown a bit.
As long as Thor maintains a healthy weight, he shouldn’t ever outweigh Missy who weighs 20 pounds, but visually he is getting closer in size.
We get our pumpkins to carve jack-o-lanterns the day before Halloween, then the day after, put them out for the chickens. This is to limit mold growth and decay. I will leave the pumpkins in the runs until the chickens have pecked away what they want, then they go to the compost bin.
Critters and Craft 