Rectangular Felted Soap Cozy

The holidays are approaching, and one of the things on my list of things to make is felted soap cozies. Using a bit of wool, any bar of soap can easily be turned into a washcloth/soap combination gift. The soap lasts super long, and the wool makes a nice exfoliator all at once. Plus, the washcloth wrapped around the bar means no more dropped soap!

This pattern will fit a pretty typically size bar of artisanal soap: 4x4x8 cm.

Materials:
wool yarn, worsted weight
hook: 4.25mm/G

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
fsc = foundation single crochet
sc = single crochet
slst = slipstitch

1. 12 fsc.*
   *If you do not know foundation single crochet, you can instead: ch 13, sc into 2nd ch from hook, sc through rest of chain (12 sc).
2.-6. ch 1, turn, sc across (12 sc).
7. ch 7, turn, sc into 2nd ch from hook, sc across (18 sc).
8.-11. ch 1, turn, sc across (18 sc).
12. skip first sc, slst across next 5 sc. ch 1, sc across (12 sc).
13.-17. ch 1, turn, sc across (12 sc).
18. ch 7, sc into 2nd ch from hook and across (18 sc).
19-23. ch 2, turn, sc across (18 sc).
On the last row, you can finish, leaving a tail for sewing together if desired.

Assembly:
It now looks like a type of tetris block. You will be folding it up into a box, then sewing it together. It will feel kinda snug on the soap bar, that's ok.

The finished crochet work laid out flat.



I've used plastic safety pins to hold the sides together and show you how it makes a box. The short flaps of the tetris piece make the litte square sides.



I recommended sewing the three seams together from one square side, then sewing the short two seamsof the other square side.

Then slip in the soap and sew up the last two sides.

This is how it looks all sewn up! After a few uses, it'll felt up all on its own. If you're giving it as a gift, you may want to go ahead and spend some time felting. Just rub it for a while using warm to hot water, and a washboard is helpful for faster felting.

Apple Pencil Jar

I have a couple teacher friends, so I decided it would be cute to have a stuffed apple pencil jar. This pattern is for a jar about 2 inches in diameter and 2 inches tall, but increases and decreases could be added in order to accommodate other jar sizes. Feel free to ask for help in regards to sizing and I'll do my best via the internet.

Leaf 2 is the front of this picture.

Yarn: worsted weight (Loops & Threads Impeccable Solids: Burgundy)
Hook: 4.25mm/G
A stitch marker will be useful as this pattern is written to be stitched in a spiral.

hdc = half-double crochet
hdc2tog = half-double crochet two together, half-double crochet decrease

Start with a magic loop. (Tips on making circles here.)

1. 6 hdc into loop.
2. 2 hdc into each hdc below (12 hdc).
3. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next hdc* repeat 5 more times around (18 hdc).
4. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 2 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (24 hdc).
5. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 3 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (30 hdc).
6. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 4 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (36 hdc).
7. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 5 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (42 hdc).
8. 1 hdc in each hdc aroud (42 hdc).
9. *2 hdc in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 6 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (48 hdc).
10. *hdc2tog in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 6 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (42 hdc).
11. *hdc2tog in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 5 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (36 hdc).
12. *hdc2tog in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 4 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (30 hdc). Go ahead and put in some stuffing.
13. *hdc2tog in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 3 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (24 hdc). Add more stuffing if you think it needs it.
14. *hdc2tog in 1st hdc, 1 hdc in next 2 hdc* repeat 5 more times around (18 hdc)
15. 1 hdc in each hdc aroud (18 hdc). Finish and weave in end.

The top of the stitches should fit right up against the jar's threading. If it's still too loose, you can (hdc2tog, hdc) around until it's tight enough. If your stitching gets tight enough to stay up on the threading before you get down to 18 stitches, then you can stop there. If it's a good tightness but you'd like it to cover a bit more of the top of the jar, add another round of stitches.



Optional, but fun, here are the leaves I made. The second comes out a bit pointier at the one end.

Leaf 1:
Ch 6.
In one side of chain: sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc, dc, hdc, sc. ch 1.
Continuing up other side of chain: sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc.
Finish and leave a tail for attaching to the apple.

Leaf 2:
Ch 7.
In one side of chain: sl st in 2nd ch from hook, sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc. ch 1.
Continuing up other side of chain: sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc, sl st.
Finish and leave a tail for attaching to the apple.

Leaf 2 is in the front of this picture.

Brigid's Cross Square

Brigid's Cross

Using an I/9-5.50mm hook and worsted weight yarn: 10 inch square.
Gauge: 12 dc = 4 in long and 3/4 in tall.

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
dc = double crochet

Center:
In green, do 1A or 1B.
1A. Start a magic ring (phototutorial).
1B. ch 6, slst to form ring.
2. ch 2. *dc 4 in ring, ch 1* Repeat from * to * three more times for a total of 4 groups of 4dc+1ch. Slip-stitch together. Finish.

For Each of Four Rectangles:
1. With green and leaving a 12 in tail, ch 14. dc in 3rd ch from hook. dc across. (12 dc total)
2. Attach white. *ch 2 and turn. dc 12.* Repeat from * to * 7 more times. Finish with white.
You'll have 1 green row and 8 white rows.

Assembly:
Place rectangles with long green tails on outside of square. Using the tail and a yarn needle, sew the green edge of one rectangle to the long white edge of another rectangle (about 5 1/2 white rows). With the same tail, sew the second rectangle to one side of the green square (about 2 1/2 rows). I hope these photos can help you out.
As always, feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions.

The pieces all laid out prior to assembly. Green tails on the outside.

First two rectangles together, sewn with tail of left rectangle.

First two rectangles plus center square, sewn with tail of left rectangle.

Two rectangles and center square attached. Third rectangle being added. (Second rectangle is not attached to the square. First rectangle still has long green tail.)

Third rectangle attached to second rectangle, but flipped up to show it's not attached to the square. Secong rectangle is now attached to the square.

Lining up the fourth rectangle. Fourth rectangle's tail will attach it to third rectangle and then attach third rectangle to the square. First rectangle's tail will then finish attaching fourth rectangle to the other pieces.

When using with other squares, you may want to add a border. This is a hdc border, with (hdc, ch2, hdc) in the corners.

Brigid is a Celtic goddess of transformations, helping with healing, poetry, smithing, and finding your way. Saint Brigid is a patron of Ireland and known as an early leader of the Irish Catholic church. Here are the Wikipedia entries for Brigid's Cross and Brigid.
I created the pattern to make a lapghan for a family member having surgery. The lovely healing energy and the bright colors ought to help her feel better sooner!

Why do we crochet?

Some people love being creative and find fun ways to express themselves through stitches. Others find it saves money around the house. Many appreciate the workmanship, time, and love that goes into something homemade. Everyone has a story of how they got started, whether it was from a person, a book, or youtube videos.

For my part, it started out as something to keep myself distracted during a long road trip. Reading makes me carsick, but working with yarn does not! My aunt taught me, and it started with basic granny squares and shell stitches. I made a few blankets, made either from one very large granny square or a few largish granny squares put together. For a while, I thought that's all there was to crochet (I wasn't using the internet for more than talking to friends, at the time). I didn't even learn about single crochet stitches until a few years later.

Over the years, I've had pauses and spurts of crochet in my daily life. School and general busy-ness often pushed me out of it, as all of my creative juices and energy were being put into more academic pursuits. I started up again this past year in order to make Christmas gifts. In fact, I made gifts for 20 people this year. I even created a couple patterns (and this blog with which to share them). We saved a good bit of money and everyone got something personalized and full of love. My partner's mom even called on Christmas to gush at how pleased and impressed she was with the gifts. I was happy to make them, but it's really special when somebody demonstrates that they recognize and feel the love in the work.

Since the holidays have ended, I've at least started working on a couple things for myself, the house, the dog, and my partner. I joined a couple Crochet Along (CAL) groups on Ravelry, and I'm meeting with a group of ladies once a week where we crochet & knit items for charity.

Crochet is craft, art, and gift.

What inspired you to pick up the hook and yarn?
Do you remember when and how you learned to crochet?
Is it part of your daily life or does it happen in spurts?
Do you remember a time when someone showed you how much your gift of crochet meant to them?