Potholders & Coasters

Not sure what first inspired me, but I have made a bunch of potholders lately!  I have a bunch of worsted weight cotton yarn on hand right now, so this is great for stash busting.  The first one is the Flower Potholder by Jennifer Martin.  I hooked this cool design for my sister-in-law's birthday, and I think it turned out really lovely!

The double layer really does make a good heat shield, and it turned out to be the perfect size (using a G hook).

The surface crocheting was kind of a grind (and hard on the hands), but it looks awesome.  It even looks nice from the back!

I crocheted this next one for my mother, who has really embraced her new home state....  This pattern, like her armadillo, is by Wolfdreamer, and it was so much fun to crochet.  Something about my crochet tension made it turn out more rectangular than square, but that's ok.

This next potholder was SO much fun to crochet!  The Interlocking Rings Hotpad by Caitlin Pensak is constructed by crocheting 7 separate rings and weaving them together.  Then, you crochet a solid backing, and join both pieces together with a round of sc stitches.  Our brother, Jordan, was the recipient of this awesome potholder, so I used Denver Broncos colors in honor of his favorite NFL team.

He asked for a hanger to be added to the potholder so he could hang it up above his stove, ready for action.

Jealous of everyone else's cool potholders, I decided to make one for myself.  I used Prescilla Hewitt's Scalloped Potholder pattern, and it worked up very quickly and easily.

My only regret is that I used this pretty Lily Sugar & Cream ombre yarn that does not properly show off the nice design (which is created with front post stitches).

You can see it in the navy on the back, though.

I also crocheted myself some coasters to help combat the insane amount of condensation that forms on the outsides of drinks in Texas.  I know the humidity in Dallas is nothing compared to other places in the world (or even Texas), but it's more than I'm used to.  Anyway, I first gave Asami Togashi's Star Stitch Coaster pattern a try.... The pattern was more complicated than I was hoping it would be (making it too hard to crochet while chatting or watching TV), so I don't think I'm going to make a whole set of them.  This one that I finished is pretty, though!  It uses sock weight yarn, interestingly enough.

I also gave Moogly's Nautical Crochet Coasters a try....

....but I still wasn't all that happy with the results.  I had a hard time working with the thin cork (boy, is it easy to rip!!) and had to experiment a lot to be able to crochet the borders without ripping through the holes.  I had to use a smaller hook to get it through the holes punched in the cork, so then I wasn't able to use Moogly's exact patterns.  When I made up my own, I had less-than-stellar results. This red one doesn't lie flat (whoops).

This one turned out a bit better.

This is probably the best one.  I doubled up on the coasters after I punched the holes and that made the coaster feel a bit more substantial.

I still have plenty more cotton yarn left, so I'll keep experimenting with coaster patterns.  Coasters are fun, fast projects that are easy to tuck in a purse and do during my daughter's various activities, so I have a feeling I'm going to be working on them all summer long.