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.

Triskele - The Triple Spiral

This triple spiral pattern makes a great trivet or potholder when worked in cotton and a lovely decoration worked in any fiber.
The inner color uses approximately 30 yards of worsted weight yarn, and the outer uses approximately 35 yards of worsted weight yarn.
For more information about the triskele, you can visit its Wikipedia page

Materials:

Yarn: 2 colors worsted weight (acrylic used in model)

    A - outside connections (yellow) - 35 yards

    B - inside connections (blue) - 30 yards

Hook: 5.0mm

Stitch markers

Yarn needle

Abbreviations:

ch = chain

dc = double crochet

hdc = half double crochet

mr = magic ring

sc = single crochet

slst = slip stitch

st = stitch(es)

Note: Magic ring (mr) can be substituted with (ch 3, slst to form ring).

Spirals (Make 3):

1: With A, make a mr, ch 1. Working into ring, 1sc, 1 hdc, 2dc. Remove hook and insert stitch marker into loop. This helps hold the previous stitches while working with the other color. Continue to insert the stitch marker in this way for the rest of the project. (4 st)

2: With B, attach to mr with slst, ch 1. Working into ring, 1sc, 1 hdc, 2dc. Work 2 dc in each of first four A stitches. Insert stitch marker. (12 st)

3: Remove stitch marker and insert hook into loop of A. Work 2 dc in each of first 8 st of color B. Work (1 dc, 2 dc) twice. Insert stitch marker. (22 st)

4: Remove stitch marker and insert hook into loop of B. Work 2 dc in next 4 stitches of A. Work (1 dc in stitch, 2 dc in next stitch) nine times. Insert stitch marker. (35 st)

5: Remove stitch marker and insert hook into loop of A. Work (1 dc in stitch, 2 dc in next stitch) seven times. Insert stitch marker. (49 st)

6: Remove stitch marker and insert hook into loop of B. Work (1 dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next stitch) six times. 1 hdc, 1 sc. End off leaving 6 inch tail. (26 st)

7: Remove stitch marker and insert hook into loop of A. Work 1(1 dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next stitch) seven times. Work 1 dc in next 14 st. End off leaving 6 inch tail. (14 st)

Assembly: Instructions are given using color names for ease of naming the parts.

1.Arrange spirals so blue sections face each other, yellow ends clockwise of blue ends.

2. Using yellow tails, attach the last yellow dc of each spiral to the fourth dc counter-clockwise of the last blue stitches on the neighboring spiral.

3. Using the blue tails, attach the last three blue stitches of each spiral to the three dc counter-clockwise of the last yellow stitches on the neighboring spiral.