Ah Bin Crafty

[kerravonsen]

I made something useful! Something I have been wanting for AGES. A soap saver.



I looked at about four different patterns and devised my own. Though I pulled apart the first attempt and started again.

This crochet stuff is pretty AND useful!

I think some people are going to be getting soap savers for Christmas.

(edited to point to different offsite album)

Comments

[watervole]

Ooh, that 's a clever idea!

I may do something similar with odds and ends of wool - when the tennis elbow is finally gone.

[kerravonsen]

I used to have one made out of fine jute which I bought from Priceline, but they stopped selling them, and instead sold ones that were made out of very fine plastic netting folded over many times, and it was pathetic because the netting kept on breaking.

I may do something similar with odds and ends of wool

It needs to be something that can cope with being wet and yet is good on the skin, which is why I chose cotton. I'm not sure how wool would deal with it.

[watervole]

Wool might be scratchier, certainly.

[vilakins]

How does it save soap? Not deliver as much? I know Americans make lots of these and dish cloths in cotton; in fact they even buy special cotton for the purpose.

I don't use hard soap myself now but a very pure liquid castile soap.

[kerravonsen]

It's for hard soap. When you get to the point where the cake of soap has worn down to a little piece, which makes it hard to use, you put it inside the bag. So the bag gets full of little pieces of soap. Then when you wet the bag, it's like a self-soaping wash cloth.

It saves soap because it enables you to use the little pieces of soap which you might otherwise be tempted to throw away.

[vilakins]

Oh, I see! Maybe I should make Greg one.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

I've done several afghans since I started crocheting, as well as some amigurumi for a few people, and several market bags. (I'm still looking for the "ideal" market bag pattern.) I also made my mom a crocheted snowflake garland for Christmas a couple years ago.

I found crochet to be quite addictive when I took it up. Now it's one of my "multi-tasking" activities when Geo wants to watch something I'm not interested in enough to give my undivided attention, but I still want to watch it, or just sit with him while he watches.

Very nice project, and especially that you were able to synthesize your own pattern!

[kerravonsen]

Excellent!

\o/

and several market bags. (I'm still looking for the "ideal" market bag pattern

I assume by "market bag" you mean string bag of the kind one puts shopping into...
Yes, I can see why one could go on a quest for an ideal market bag pattern, because one wants something that is (a) sturdy, (b) light-weight, (c) has a stretchy lattice (d) that isn't too large or too small.

Huh. Let me know if you find the perfect pattern. What material do you find works best for them? Now you've got me interested in making market bags!

Very nice project, and especially that you were able to synthesize your own pattern!

\o/
I want to be good enough at crochet that I don't have to be paranoid about following patterns; the same level of competancy that I have for macrame.

I just realized your icon is made of crochet hooks! \o/

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

String bag. Yes!

This is the pattern I've used most often for the market bag. I'm currently lookout for a "self-pouching" market bag, one that has a pocket that you can fold it in upon itself and tuck it in the pocket when not in use. I think I've found the pattern, but I haven't found satisfactory yarn/string yet.

For this bag, I used a cone of Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn.

Here's the one I made for myself.

Sturdy enough to carry a kitty.

If you check my LJ, I have a tag "crochet is addictive." I've put pics up of a lot of my projects. In fact, I've got several I need to do that for.

Yes, my icon is a set of light-up crochet hooks. Great for crocheting in a dim or dusky room, like if someone wants to watch TV with the lights low. I call them my miniature light sabers, because that's what they look like. :-) They also make light-up knitting needles.

[dreamflower]

Oh, nice job! It looks like you used single crochet at the bottom, and then switched to double crochet a few rows up. Did you crochet it flat and seam it, or crochet it in rounds? You should post your pattern!

I'm doing more knitting than crocheting lately, but have done some. Just finished up an eHow article on the Diamond Trellis Crochet Stitch.

Are you familiar with Crochet Pattern Central or Crochetology? They are really fun sites!

[kerravonsen]

It looks like you used single crochet at the bottom, and then switched to double crochet a few rows up. Did you crochet it flat and seam it, or crochet it in rounds?

No seams whatsoever! What's the point of doing crochet if one has to sew? 8-P

You should post your pattern!

But I'm not really confident that I can describe properly what I did.

I hereby attempt to do so:

ch 11.
sc in back loop of 2nd ch from hook, sc in back loop to the end of the row, ch 2, sc in same ch, ch 2
turn the work around 180 degrees so that what you just did is at the bottom
sc in what was the "front" loop of the chain (but now looks like the back loop, since you turned it around) for the rest of the row
ch 2, sc in same ch, ch 2
join up the very first sc with a slip stitch.

At this point you should have a narrow rectangle. This is the bottom of the bag. Now you start working a cylinder. Do this so that the side facing you, the "right" side, is on the outside, not the inside. (The first time I did it, the right side was on the inside)

Row 1: ch 1 (this is the turning chain for the next row) sc in sc all the way around; when you get to the corners, sc in the hole left by the chains in the previous row
join the last sc to the first one with a slip stitch
Row 2: tch 1, sc in sc all the way around, join with slip stitch
Row 3: repeat row 2.
Row 4: tch 3, dc in the sc of the previous row to end, join with slip stitch
Row 5: tch 1, sc in back loop to end, join with slip stitch
Row 6: tch 3, dc in back loop to end, join with slip stitch
Rows 7-10: repeat rows 5 and 6
Row 11: tch 3, *2 dc, ch, skip st* repeat to end, join with slip stitch - this is for weaving the cord into. I think next time I would make it 2 dc, *ch, skip st, dc* instead.
Row 12: tch 1, sc to end, join with slip stitch, pull through and weave in end.

The cord is just chaining until you get the length you want, weave it in and out of the top of the bag, and join the ends with an overhand knot.

Oh, and I used 100% cotton twine for this. I managed to find a ball that was pure white, rather than being the usual off-white. Now I can't remember where I bought it! I think I have enough remaining in the ball for one, possibly two more of these.

Are you familiar with Crochet Pattern Central or Crochetology? They are really fun sites!

No, but I've joined Ravelry; that's where I found the patterns that I perused.

[dreamflower]

You did a nice job describing the pattern! I'm sure I could easily make one using your pattern. I also like that you turn, even though working in rounds, which avoids the spiral effect.

When I am making up something, I keep a notebook and pen handy, and jot down notes as I go. That way if I like it and want to try it again, or if someone else wants me to share it I can.

One thing I dislike about doing knitting and crocheting articles for DS is that they don't allow the standard abbreviations and ways of writing out a pattern. It seems odd to have to turn the pattern for a row into an actual sentence!

[kerravonsen]

You did a nice job describing the pattern! I'm sure I could easily make one using your pattern.

\o/

I also like that you turn, even though working in rounds, which avoids the spiral effect.

I don't dislike the spiral effect - I used it in my blue-green crochet tube - but if one is going to be switching from sc to dc then doing it fully in the round makes more sense.

When I am making up something, I keep a notebook and pen handy, and jot down notes as I go.

Maybe I should start posting "crochet experiments" like my "ice cream experiments"...

One thing I dislike about doing knitting and crocheting articles for DS is that they don't allow the standard abbreviations and ways of writing out a pattern. It seems odd to have to turn the pattern for a row into an actual sentence!

(shrug) They probably do that in order to avoid ambiguity.

[dreamflower]

On some things the spiral effect is irrelevant and in others it's a nice design element. But sometimes the spiral effect is just odd-looking. And turning when you are planning to switch to a different-sized stitch makes a lot of sense!

Well, they are supposed to be written as if to novices, even if you have marked the article as "moderately challenging" or "challenging". I suppose they think that the standard abbreviations might put someone new to knitting or crocheting off.

[kerravonsen]

I suppose they think that the standard abbreviations might put someone new to knitting or crocheting off.

To be honest, it can get intimidating when they go beyond ch, sc, dc, trc and hdc. Some patterns are sprinkled with things like "3dctg" at which point the brevity is replaced with inpenetrability.

[dreamflower]

Well, I honestly don't mind so much writing out single crochet or slip stitch or triple crochet, but it can be a little hard to figure out how to write out directions without using standard pattern conventions, such as using asterisks to indicate repeated sections or using parentheses to indicate the individual elements of a pattern stitch. And 3dctg is not good; should probably be written as "shell stitch (3 dc together in same stitch)" the first time and "shell stitch" thereafter.

But none of the above would suit my editors, LOL!

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Still deep in magic! This is a very useful thing but I haven´t seen it here (I mean CR) for ages. But we used to have it at home, I can remember!

[kerravonsen]

\o/

They're very useful! I'm so glad I can now make my own.