Easter Hot Pad

Coming just in under the wire on this one. Finished it up Friday night when I realized that Easter was only a weekend away.

I started with the mug rug pattern from Annie's Spooktacular Crochet and by making an additional back side turned it into a hot pad.

I should have reversed the stripes and made the dark portion the backing for the basket. I could still have made the back side the lighter color, as I had concerns I might not have enough dark color for both sides of the hot pad. something to keep in mind for another day. I would have preferred not to have the basket and the hot pad the same color.

The basket comes from a Maggie's Holiday Crochet Fridgie pattern you can purchase here. I've moved to fridgie patterns for my holiday hot pads because there are plenty to choose from and they work up quickly. I used to pieces of Omega Sinfonia yarn together for the basket but found 2 was too heavy for the eggs and went back to single pieces for the eggs. For my notes I ordered the purple yarns when I got the green for St. Patrick's Day from Creative Yarn Source. The yellow, pink, and orange were left overs from previous projects.

St. Patrick's Day Hot Pad

I've been converting the mug rug pattern from Annie's Spooktacular Crochet since I got the pattern in the fall to holiday hot pads. Lots of people tell me they make and use mug rugs but for our house the hot pads are just a more practical use of my time. We use these frequently while cooking and it brings a little holiday cheer to the process as I've been adding new holiday ones as the season's change.

I had been using crochet applique patterns for the hot pads but hadn't found anything I liked for St. Patrick's Day. I did see clover but I've done clover again and again and wanted something different. While looking through my pattern leaflets I came across a copy of Maggie Weldon's Crochet Holiday Fridgies and found the Pot of Gold. The leaflet is still available and you can purchase it here.

The fridgie pattern calls for worsted weight acrylic but does suggest you can use 2 strains of sport weight yarn together. The suggested hook is an H. I used an e hook and since I wanted cotton for safety I used the same yarn I used for the hot pad Omega Sinfonia.

For my own records and those of you who might want to find the yarn you can get limited colors online at Hobby Lobby which I do when it is on sale. However, my main source is Creative Yarns. The color selection is good, price is fair and the delivery is quite quick. For those who are curious I have not received anything from thiem for this review. People are quick to complain about bad experiences. I believe it is equally important to state when you receive good service and fair pricing.

I've discussed the mug rug conversion many times now. I follow the pattern for the mug rug as written for the front of the hot pad. I make the mug rug pattern in a single color for the back of the hot pad and then crochet them together with a sc around the edges.

Having discovered the fridgies as a replacement for the appliques I already have an idea in mind for my Easter hot pad.

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.

Gobbler Hot Pad

While we aren't having a traditional Thanksgiving family gathering this year I wanted to add to my kitchen items to make the celebration we will have feel fresh and festive. We often need hot pads during our holiday dinners so having a some new ones seemed like a good choice. I chose this applique as inspiration for the turkey. I'm giving credit to the designer and it is an option for those of you who might wish to create your own.

This is the mug rug pattern found in Spooktacular Crochetthat I've written about previously. I make a second mug rug and crochet them together to get the thickness I need for a hot pad.

I used Omega Sinfonia yarn for this project.

Turkey Hot Pad

I mentioned when I was finishing the Halloween hot pads I adapted from the mug rug pattern in Spooktacular Crochetthat I wanted to make some additional holiday hot pads by alternating the colors and finding different appliques. This is my first Thanksgiving one.

The original pattern called for Omega Sinfonia sport yarn and I continued with that for this project. I've been able to find limited colors of this yarn online at Hobby Lobby. I couldn't find any in our local store when I was there recently. My primary source for this yarn continues to be Creative Yarn Source. Again I have no association with the store, I just like to know where I can find yarn that is suitable for a project and lately cotton sport weight yarn has been something I've been searching for and buying more of online and I'm always open to knowing where to go for selection and price.

The colors used for the hot pad are cinammon, burgendy and gold. The turkey is primarly cinammon but the feathers are made from scarps of left over cotton from previous hot pad and ami projects that used both Sinfonia and Schachenmayr Catania sport cotton yarn.

For those of you new to hot pads and wondering why I use cotton over acrylic, acrylic melts. There are other natural yarns that may work but cotton is my go to for kitchen items.

I was looking for a free applique to use for this hot pad and found this one based on the hand turkeys kids used to make in school. You can find the pattern here. The pattern calls for size 10 crochet thread but I wanted a turkey that would fit the hot pad so I used the sport cotton and I was pleased with the outcome.

Black Cat Hot Pad

This is the last of the mug rug patterns found in Spooktacular Crochet but I'm not sure I'm done with this pattern yet.

I've heard from several people about how they use mug rugs and I appreciate that but these have made wonderful hot pads by just adding a back layer to them and I'm seriously considering expanding my collection by finding additional holiday motifs and sticking with the basic mug rug pattern. I'll post if I proceed with this idea.

Whether you make these as mug rugs or add a back and create hot pads these are quick fun patterns to make. As I mentioned in the previous posts I was able to locate the cotton sport yarn for this pattern at Creative Yarns. I've not received any offers from the company, but as I've written before I am not a fan of having to play hunt for the yarn when I fall in love with a pattern. So if I can help someone else locate the yarn, I mention it when I can. I know have a nice selection of Halloween hot pads. Looking forward to making some additional holiday ones.

Pumpkin Hot Pad

I'm continuing to work through the mug rug patterns in Spooktacular Crochetturning them into hot pads by crocheting an additional single color mug rug and crocheting the two together to make my hot pad.

I've recently seen more mug rug patterns so it is clearly becoming a thing. As I type this I'm looking at my mug sized square ceramic coaster and that is really all I have space for on the table. As cute as a mug rug is there really just isn't room for one and it would likely end up causing the item to fall off the table. So all things considered a hot pad is a practical useful choice for me as I love having holiday ones to use.

The pattern calls for Omega Sinfonia light a 3 sport weight 100% cotton yarn and as I mentioned in the previous post it was not easy to track down all the colors required. When I ordered the yarn for all three patterns Hobby Lobby had nothing in stock online. I checked as of writing this blog and they now have the black, yellow, and white back in stock online. I don't know what they carry in store. It's been a LONG time since I've been out to a yarn store in person. I did find all the colors required at Creative Yarn Source. If you notice I'm mentioning all sources not because I'm getting anything from the vendors but lately I've been extremely frustrated that I see a pattern I really love and then spend fruitless hours trying to find either the yarn mentioned or a reasonable substitute. If I can save someone the search then hopefully someone will know where to find the yarn I need too.

Just a note as I mentioned in the Frankenstein post if you intend to use these as hot pads and not just decorations it is important that you do not use acrylic yarn if you make them into hot pads. Acrylic will melt. Cotton is a great solution for the challenge. I know some use wool it isn't a favorite for my hands.

Frankenstein Hot Pad

I saw the mug rugs in Spooktacular Crochetand thought I don't have much use for a mug rug but they might possibly work as hot pads.

The first task was to locate the yarn. It is one of my constant frustrations with designers that they choose yarns that are less than easily found or substituted for with the colors you need.

Omega Sinfonia light a 3 sport weight 100% cotton yarn is not as easy to find as one would hope. It is important to use 100% cotton or natural yarns like wool if you intend to use the hot pads rather than just making them for decorations as acrylic will melt. That is why it is important to check the fiber make up of your cotton. I have some that are blends that are fine for dish cloths but not for hot pads because dish cloths aren't exposed to the same heat as hot pads.

I thank Creative Yarn Source as they were the ONLY place I was able to locate that had all the yarn colors I needed to complete the project. I had never done business with them before am getting nothing from them for stating this but I was impressed with the turn around of my order. While the website said there could be delays my yarn was here far quicker than I'd expected.

As for ordering the yarn the pattern called for one skein of each color to complete all three mug rugs. Normally I tend to order more than I need but I've ordered a good deal of yarn lately and this yarn is not inexpensive for a hot pad. With that in mind I decided to take my chances and see if I could pull together enough yarn to back the rugs to make them into hot pads.

I was rather impressed by how far the yarn went. To be certain I had enough yarn to complete all the projects I made all the pieces I needed from the orange for all three projects. I ended up remaking a couple so I had to use extra yarn. With that in mind despite making a full yarn mat from the left over orange I still had this much left over for future projects. I'm thrilled because orange is one of those sport yarn colors I often find myself in need of for fall holiday projects so having this in my stash is great. Most importantly though despite the fact I changed the pattern to add a backing for the hot pad I won't need to buy more yarn!

I'm planning on making the Black Cat and the Pumpkin Mug Rugs into Hot Pads soon.