Loofah in Spa

Remember how I promised way back when to show you folks a picture of the loofah I made with Naturally Caron Spa yarn? Well, here it is. I forgot to take a picture right after I finished it, so this was actually taken after I had been using the loofah for about a week, and after it had gone through the wash (gentle cycle) and dryer (low-med heat).

You can see that it keeps its shape quite nicely, definitely better than the Bernat Cool Crochet. I'm sure that's because the yarn is thicker so the loofah comes out much denser. Another consequence of that is that it doesn't lather up quite as well as the Cool Crochet. It's a bit of a trade-off really. Personally, I think I'd rather have a better lather than a more resilient shape, but that's a matter of preference.

In other news, today is my first day of class for my Masters in Public Health! Eek! Wish me luck... I'll try to keep up with posting at least once a week, but with being a full time student again, and planning a wedding, I can't make any promises! Just know if I've disappeared for a time that I haven't forgotten about you, and I will be back... eventually :)

Loofah Yarn Recommendation!

This has been a long time coming, but I finally have a yarn substitution recommendation for use with my Perfect Loofah pattern... Spa by Naturally Caron. Really, with a name like that, how can you go wrong? But I wanted to make a full size loofah, test it out for a bit, and wash it before making a recommendation. Anyway, here are some key facts about the yarn.

~ It's 75% acrylic, 25% bamboo. I know there are knitters who are anti-acrylic, but this yarn is so soft. It feels great on the skin! Unless of course you enjoy that scratchy scrubby feeling of nylon mesh.

~ It's DK weight. This loofah came out much fuller than the ones with Cool Crochet (which is sport weight). It's kind of nice because it helps it keep its round shape better when wet, but it still lathers up nicely and dries out quickly (I doubt if this would still be true if the yarn had a high cotton content). That said, I would definitely not go any heavier (ie worsted weight), unless you enjoy spending money on soap.

I've been using a loofah made out of Spa for about a week or so and I'm really happy with it. I washed it yesterday (as a test - it didn't really need it yet) in the machine on the gentle cycle and tumble dried on medium heat, and it held up great. There's no noticeable wear or anything.

I will try to get a picture, but my laptop is being repaired (been at the shop two weeks tomorrow and they're still waiting for the part), and last time I tried to install the programs I use on this computer (Cale's desktop), it decided it didn't want to start up and I ended up spending half a day trying to get it to work again.

Free Pattern: The Perfect Loofah

At long last, here it is... the pattern for my Perfect Loofah! But first, some pictures.

The most important component of this pattern is the yarn. I used Bernat Cool Crochet, which unfortunately has been discontinued. Here are the things that make this the perfect yarn for The Perfect Loofah:

1. Cotton is ridiculously absorbent. Nylon is not. This yarn is 70% cotton and 30% nylon, creating a nice balance between being soft (yay cotton!) and not sucking up all your soap never to be seen again (yay nylon!).

2. Nylon is resistant to mildew/mold. This is very useful for something that's going to be wet a lot.

3. It's sport weight. Worsted weight is just too heavy to make a good loofah. You need some air between the stitches in order to create suds.

4. Did I mention nylon dries faster than cotton? I guess this is a subsidiary of #1. The low absorbency of the nylon helps it dry out between uses.

5. It's machine-washable. The label says "dry flat" but seriously, I'd like to see you try to get a loofah to dry flat. I test washed mine before putting my first one up for sale and I put it in the dryer. It came out okay but looking a little rougher, so I'd recommend hanging it up to try. Low heat tumble drying might be okay - mine went in on permanent press. 

Right, so the perfect yarn is no longer for sale, so what the heck are you supposed to do then? Well, if you're super lucky, you have some Cool Crochet hanging out in your stash, but if not, I've seen it for sale on both etsy and ebay. But I bought it, so it might be all gone :). You might also be able to swap with someone on Ravelry. (Hmm... maybe I shouldn't be telling you all this). 

I have had a lot of trouble finding another yarn that is a sport (or fingering) weight cotton/nylon blend that doesn't have something else in it - like wool. It's possible that there are sock yarns out there that might fit the bill, but I haven't found any yet. Another option might be trying a cotton/acrylic blend. The acrylic should still help with the super-soap-sucking power of cotton, make the loofah lighter/less dense, and help it dry faster. But, as far as I know it's not mildew-resistant. 

If you try a different yarn, PLEASE  let me know how it works out for you! I'm making these for my etsy shop, and I only have so much Cool Crochet, so having another type of yarn to use would be awesome. 

And now for the actual pattern. 

I ask that you respect the time and creativity I put into developing this pattern by giving credit where credit is due. Please contact me first if you are interested in selling your finished products. Thanks.

Materials:

35 g Bernat Cool Crochet (see above for reasons why this is the perfect yarn)

Size I9 (5.5mm) crochet hook

Yarn needle

Abbreviations:

st: stitch ch: chain sl st: slip stitch dc: double crochet

Instructions:

ch 4, form a ring by joining with a sl st in first st 

ch 40 

sl st into center of ring (this forms the loop for hanging the loofah)

R1: ch2, dc 4o into center of ring, join with sl st (4o st)

R2: ch2, dc 3 in each st around, join with sl st (120 st)

R3: ch2, dc 3 in each st around, join with sl st (360 st)

R4: ch2, dc 3 in each st around, join with sl st (1080 st)

Bind off. Weave in ends. 

Loofahs Galore

After several attempts, I have finally created the perfect loofah - at least, I think so. It's been a bit of a crafting adventure with trials and errors, but I am quite pleased with the end result. The first attempt (first pic below) was inspired by my math geek bf who introduced me to the concept of the hyperbolic plane. I still don't really get the exciting math behind it (something about lines? I dunno), but I thought gee, that sure looks like a loofah. So here's the first one, which was done in worsted weight 100% cotton yarn, single crocheted in spirals with lots of increases. It came out looking fun (albeit a tad small), but when  I tried to use it in the shower, it acted much more like a washcloth than a loofah - by which I mean it ate my soap. 

Enter Loofah number two. This time, I scouted out the interwebs for a thinner yarn, looking for sport or fingering weight, and preferably a cotton blend rather than 100% - perhaps some nylon or acrylic content to make it less absorbent and quicker drying. AnnieKints, a fellow etsy seller, had exactly what I was looking for. In her destash, she had one 50g ball of Bernat Cool Crochet, a sport weight, 70% cotton 30% nylon blend. Bingo. 

So I crocheted up my second loofah with the new yarn, this time using a larger hook, double crochet, and more increases. And the conclusion is... it works. The yarn is perfect. It takes only a little more soap than one of the cheap-o nylon mesh loofahs you can buy at the drugstore. It doesn't get as sudsy as those, but it's plenty sudsy enough and sooo soft. I've been using it for the past few weeks and I love it - functionally. Aesthetically, it still left a little to be desired. I did it in spirals and just kind of ended when it seemed big enough, which gives it this weird lopsided look. It's good enough for me, but not good enough to sell. 

So I started loofah the third, using the same cotton/nylon yarn, also using double crochet and the same size hook. It was coming out great, much rounder and loofah-y-looking than number two... and then... I ran out of yarn. Sigh. Fifty grams does not go nearly as far as I would like it to, and these loofahs use up a surprisingly large amount of yarn.

Sadly, there was no more of this yarn to be found on etsy, but I did find an ebay seller who had a bunch of skeins in stock. But it was a new auction with 5 days left. Boo. I prefer "buy it now" listings - yay for instant gratification - especially when I need it to finish a project I've already begun. 

I won two of the four auctions, for a total of 10 skeins of this stuff - 4 in the cream color I was using and 6 more in 4 different colors, which just arrived today. Here's the whole lot, pictured with my mostly complete loofah number three. 

With 10 skeins of this, and each skein making approximately two loofahs, I am soon to have loofahs out the wazoo (or is it up the wazoo? I dunno). The purple's pretty dark so I definitely want to test it myself to see if it runs before putting one in my shop. Also, I am intending to make the pattern available on here for free once I get it finalized. But first, I have to finish loofah the third, which is part of a shamefully late birthday present for my cousin (along with some whipped clean body wash from another etsy seller - GudonyaToo. I haven't tried any of their products yet, but it smells yummy)

Problem Solving Crochet Projects

My plastic bag situation is not pretty. I try to remember to bring my canvas bags when I go shopping, but I still manage to accumulate plastic bags faster than I use them. They're currently stuffed inside a large plastic bag that's living in my kitchen closet. And because of the placement of the rod in the closet, the hangers all stick out, which means that the door doesn't like to close. So I get to look at this giant plastic bag overflowing with more plastic bags all the time.

I had been thinking about getting one of these do-hickies for a while, but they are just so ugly. And then I came up with the idea to make something similar, but crocheted in nice yarn. Here's a picture of the one I'm making for my apartment, still in the early stages. The yarn I used is Bernat Berella 4, which I had leftover from the afghan I made about two years ago. So not only is it not ugly white plastic, but it actually matches! :) Here's a picture in the early stages. It's about 12" now and I'm probably about 3/4 of the way through the skein. I think I'll just finish off the skein so I can fit lots and lots of bags in it.

Oh, and I plan to make one of these for my etsy shop, but made out of wool and felted. So stay tuned :)

Fuzz Monster the Second

A couple months ago, I made one of the Mini Rectangle Creatures from the free crochet pattern on the Lion Brand website. It was the very first item I listed in my etsy shop, and also the first item that sold. (Yay for sales!) I had only taken up crochet recently, so this was one of my first crochet projects (actually, come to think of it, it may have been the first). And boy, crocheting two strands of fun fur really was not fun. I kept hooking only one of the strands (or extra strands), and the fuzziness makes it rather challenging to see what the heck is going on.

So I decided to make another one of these guys, but much bigger (I was actually going for throw pillow size, but ran out of yarn, so the body is only about 8" tall), AND, most importantly, with a KNIT body. Granted, fun fur isn't much fun to knit either, but it was a lot less torturous than crocheting. Anywho, here's my (heavily) modified version of this pattern.

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Materials:

1 skein fun fur in "confetti"

1 skein fun fur in "raspberry"

¼ skein Lily sugar 'n' cream in "hot blue" – or any worsted weight cotton or acrylic of your choice

Small amount Lane Cervinia Amalfi in "black" – or any sport weight cotton or acrylic of your choice

Fiberfill stuffing

Size 10 straight knitting needles

Size 4 (E) crochet hook

Yarn needle

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Skills Required:

Knitting: Cast on, knit stitch, cast off (purl stitch NOT required)

Crochet: magic ring technique for starting a circle, single crochet (sc), increases (sc2 in st), decreases (sc2tog), slip stitch (sl st)

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Notes:

The black yarn I used is considerably thinner than the blue I used. This is for no other reason than it's what I happened to have around. If you have sport weight yarn for the outer eye & pupil, great - no changes necessary! If, however, you have worsted weight for the outer eye and pupil, you might need to adjust the pattern by doing one less round on these pieces. Just lay your three eye pieces on top of each other to see if the relative sizes are giving you the desired effect.

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Body:

Holding one strand of each skein of fun fur together, CO 40 st

Knit until piece measures approx. 8" (Make sure you have enough yarn left to sew the body together!)

Bind off

Fold piece in half

Using crochet hook, slip stitch edges together, leaving one end open.

 

Outer Eye (make 2):

With black yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc, sc2 in next st) six times (18 st)

R3: (sc 2, sc2 in next st) six times (24 st)

R4: (sc 3, sc2 in next st) six times (30 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Inner Eye (make 2):

With blue yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc, sc2 in next st) six times (18 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Pupil (make 2):

With black yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Legs and Arms (make 4)

With blue yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc 2, sc2 in next st) four times (16 st)

R3: (sc 3, sc2 in next st) four times (20 st)

R4-13: sc around (20 st)

R14: (sc 8, sc2tog) two times (18 st)

R15: (sc 7, sc2tog) two times (16 st)

R16: (sc 6, sc2tog) two times (14 st)

R17: (sc 5, sc2tog) two times (12 st)

***Begin stuffing***

R18: (sc 4, sc2tog) two times (10 st)

R19: (sc 3, sc2tog) two times (8 st)

***Finish stuffing***

Sl st closed

Bind off, leaving long tail

Finishing:

Attach pupil to inner eye, as follows (Pictures show inner eye being attached to outer eye):

~Using yarn needle, pull center tail of pupil through center hole of inner eye. Remove needle.

~Thread needle with edge tail (the one you left when you bound off). Use thistail to sew down edges of pupil to inner eye.

~Once you have gone all the way around the pupil, bring the yarn to the back and tie both tails in a square knot (R over L, L over R). Trim ends.

Attach inner eye to outer eye using the same method.

Attach outer eye to body using the same method.

Stuff

Sl st top edge closed

Using yarn needle and tails, attach arms and legs to body.

Weave in ends.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'RE DONE!