Valentine Hot Pad

Since the fall I've been turning mug rug patterns into hot pads by adding a back to them to make them sturdy enough to handle hot pans. I was contemplating what to do about Valentine's Day when i discovered Annie's had released Farmhouse Mug Matswith a heart pattern and my Valentine's project was selected.

I changed both the cotton yarn and the background color. I've been ordering Omega Sinfonia yarn from Creative Yarn Source for my hot pads and I have a variety of colors left in my stash. The cotton works well for the hot pads and at this point who wants to buy more yarn when you can use what you have in your house to make your project. The original bakground was off white and even if I'd ordered the yarn listed I wouldn't have ordered the color. I'm not a fan of white in my kitchen. I rather like the pink. The two other colors are fairly close to the color suggestions in the leaflet.

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.