Potholders Revisited

You may remember last week's lament as to the deplorable state of my potholders, ending in the following 2-step challenge to myself:

1.  Make a beautiful potholder
2.  Use it

The very next day, as if to firm my resolve, Cheri Quite Contrary  showed a beautiful potholder she was working on (photographed in her cool new light box).

Bearing in mind the annual income, I resisted the temptation to rush out and buy some yarn, and added instead the following step to my potholder self-challenge:

1.  Make a beautiful potholder.
2.  Work with materials I already have
3.  Use it

And here's the first result:

The "Rag Rug Potholder"

For yarn, I cut up an old t-shirt, following this excellent tutorial from Polka Dot Pineapple.  If you've ever wondered how much t-yarn a t-shirt yields, I used a boxy-cut size medium ladies' tee, cut the strips approximately 1" wide,  and ended up with about 25 yards of t-yarn (after stretching).  If I were to do this again, I would cut narrower strips.  An inch wide is pretty bulky and a little hard on the wrist.

Enough left for another potholder!

I used a size N hook.  The t-yarn makes very thick fabric, so I just did a slip-stitch in the back loop only, chain 1 pattern repeat until I felt like the potholder was the right size.  Then I cut some 1" fabric strips, wove them through the chain-1 holes, slit the ends and tied them in little knots to give it that shabby-chic look.  Now my new potholder is in the drawer just waiting to be used. (And it's only a matter of time before one of those little fabric tags lands in some melted cheese.)

I have to admit the Rag Rug Potholder is not precisely beautiful.  So the challenge has been further amended (it will soon rival the U.S. Constitution in number of amendments):

1.  Make a beautiful, fun or funky potholder.
2.  Work with materials I already have
3.  Use it

Next up:  the Fiesta Hoedown Potholder.

¡Arriba!