Pot Scrubbers: for pots or bodies or bathtubs etc.
I have produced objects using complicated patterns that required much time and orchestration of knit and purl stitches; this pleased me and gave satisfaction.
At present I am focusing on a simple product, one requiring only the knit stitch, taking thirty minutes or so to complete.
This is why: it is an ‘in the moment’ adventure: the whole body can engage easily, not only the mind as one must when concentrating greatly and the body tenses: it piques an awareness object that piques a moment
awareness; I ‘see’ that scrubber many times a day; it’s functional and beautiful and it has meaning: it carries with it the memory of where I knit it – garden, Market, Polish Deli patio, ocean side, waiting room, standing in line, bathroom, bathtub, verandah………
This is how: the pattern that was the inspiration is adapted from the May 24 07 Kitchen Scrubbie by Linda Hull in the Knitting Pattern A Day Calendar (Accord Publishing)
On four rows. Cast on 11 sts (or whatever gives the size you wish)
Row 1 Knit 10 sts. Turn
Row 2 Knit 9 sts. Turn
Row 3 Knit 10 sts. Turn
Row 4 Knit 11 sts
Continue these four rows until you have a shape that, when folded in half, feels right to be a scrubber. Cast off. Fold in half and sew up edges to form a tube. Weave length of yarn through open ends and pull tight and fasten.
This is with what: almost anything! I am having fun experimenting with many different types of fibre: ribbon (the kind that can be curled by running the edge of scissors along it and which is usually used to tie balloons or flowers; it comes in amazing colours); hemp (coarse and fine: it also comes in many colours); nylon ribbon (dollar stores and Chinatown, very inexpensive); nylon yarn, eg. Phentex; linen yarn; ripped into strips fabric of all sorts; cut fabric of all sorts (the kind that doesn’t rip easily like old t shirts or leather; cut plastic bags; gold and silver ribbon; satin trim; cashmere, baby alpaca etc. All have different looks and textures and applications.
One amber nylon ribbon scrubber sits on the bathroom sink holding an amber soap, looking pretty and letting the soap dry between uses; it becomes soap coated and is whirled around the sink and bathtub every few days to cleanse it and the appliances.
A linen one, used dry on the skin, increases circulation; when used wet it exfoliates.
In the kitchen a ribbon scrubber is good on pots and plates and glasses and cutlery.
A number of scrubbers, mixed or matched, could be strung together for a one-of-a-king necklet or scarf or headband.
Made into chains they could be hung in a doorway or window.
Sewn together they become a bathmat.
The scope seems rather limitless.