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.

Cat Pot Holder

As I mentioned in previous posts I've been working on answering wishes for Crochetville's wish list. One had a cat theme and since I decided to work on sending out some dishcloths and pot holders my goal has been finding patterns to match. I actually found the pot holder before the dishcloth, but I started on the dishcloth first.

I always like to thank the designers that offer their patterns up for us to use for free. This Fat Tabby Pot Holder Can be found at The Blue Crab Stitches at Midnight here. The directions were easy to follow and I made the only mistake in making the pot holder a row short. Having done all the detail on the face and sewn it all together, I wasn't going to start over. Thus, my cat is slightly smaller than it should be if I'd followed the directions.

The only changes I made were functional. I like dishcloths and potholders you can use. This pattern does use cotton, but it has decorative items that make the pot holder decorative not functional. I changed the eyes and the nose. For the eyes I merely did a magic circle with 6 sc inside. I then put black french knots inside the eyes to give them some definition. For the nose I chained seven and crocheted all around the chain to slip stitching into the first stitch at the end to create the nose. These notes aren't formal because they are written for me to use if I ever am called to create another cat pot holder and can't remember what I did. They are not designed as formal pattern notes.

I've begun work on the St. Patrick's Day holiday box. I'm also continuing with my wish list projects. I've got a few more to knock off and then it's back to doll donation work. The dishcloth project has been giving my hands a bit of a rest.