Raccoon Potholder

I took a break from my holiday boxes to put together a potholder from Annie's Crochet Showcase of Needlecraft Potholder Potpourri. I love this old collection of Potholders and it has provided a great deal of inspiration for Crochetville's wishlist this year. The original was made in browns, but I wanted to find grey kitchen cotton for my project. It was a bit challenging finding shades of grey, but but I was pleased to find light and darker grey available if I was willing to order online. I did find some lighter grey available locally.

The original pattern used plastic safety eyes, I decided to crochet mine as I didn't want them to be a hazard in the kitchen. I also had to rework the nose section as the designer and I clearly weren't communicating and after 2 attempts of following the pattern I decided it was time to work on something that would work for me. I'm not sure when this will be heading off to its new home as I am not quite sure if it needs something else and I am focused on getting my Easter project out the door.

Yellow Rose of Texas Potholder

I found the Yellow Rose of Texas in the out of print leaflet Annie's Showcase of Needlecraft Number 2 Potholder Potpourri.

I've been collecting old Annie's Attic and other out of print crochet pattern books for years. When I set out to make dishcloths and potholders to answer some of Crochetville's wishlist requests I pulled out various books and leaflets I had to give myself some options. I like trying new things when I do something like this and this has been a fun journey. One of the great benefits of this project for me is I've organized my printed patterns and some of the smaller leaflets into it's own binder since I've been using them more frequently. The holiday ones are still in their holiday binder as I still tend to look for holiday projects under the specific holiday and think oh yeah I can make this for Thanksgiving, etc.

The trim for this potholder called for thread and in general I've avoided using thread as I've not found it easy to use. However, after working on the trim I was inspired to pull out my thread and work on a thread potholder. It might have something to do with having lost and rediscovered my thread Bates Bamboo hooks and realizing I can't replace them. I've felt quite grateful to have found them, especially knowing I can't replace them.

This was a fun pattern, easy to work up and no major challenges. I did start the leaves on the wrong side after misreading the directions, but it was quickly resolved. I will likely make one of these for my own kitchen at some point as I really fell in love with the pattern. I'm working on the second potholder that will go out with this package, my first thread potholder.