Facewasher Frenzy

When I was in the US in May, Joann's had a sale on Peaches N Cream and Sugar N Cream cotton. I LOVE that stuff, and it is hard and/or expensive to get here in Australia. Needless to say, I stocked up. And when I say stocked up, I mean STOCKED UP! Let's just say, it wouldn't all fit in one of the Joann's supersized shopping bags.

I'm a big fan of cotton - it's soft, it's breathable, no one is allergic to it. Lots of lovely reasons. But to be honest, I've never really understood the whole crochet or knitted dishcloth/washcloth/facewasher thing.

I once made a crocheted dishcloth out of corn fibre (I really got a kick out of the idea of washing my food off my dishes with... well, food!). Unfortunately I only had a little bit of the corn remainging from a scarf project so the dishcloth was pretty small. Too small. Second, my husband doesn't like the idea of a crochet dishcloth - he thought it was to Nanna-esque and he kept hiding it under the sink! Hmm, so much for that.

While I was overseas, I crocheted a few washcloths to give me something to do while relaxing. I decided I'd go ahead and use up a few of the "orphan" balls I'd rescued. (An orphan ball is a ball of yarn where there is only one of that particular colourway left in the shop. I always feel bad for that ball, figuring no one is going to want to buy it because, really, who buys only one ball of something?)

Anyhoo, after making said washcloths, I started using them in the shower. Hey, these are pretty nice. I think I get it now! They're soft yet scrubby. And it's kind of cool using a washcloth that you made.

It's currently winter here in Australia and quite cold. Most people would think it's the perfect time of year to work on nice heavy wool projects. Yes, in some respects it is. But my hands are soooo dry from this winter weather, that cotton is pretty much the only thing my hands feel like working with at the moment.

So first off was a birthday present for birthday swap. The recipient stated that she likes bright colours, so I worked up this little number for her.

I really liked the way it came out, and I still have half a ball left, so I made one for myself, too!

Then I went on to Ravelry and started looking up free dishcloth/washcloth patterns. I found a super cute Fish Washcloth Pattern and a cute little heart pattern, too. During the course of watching one TV show, I was able to whip out two little fishies in a blue, yellow and white colourway. I was then able to crank out a cute little pink and white heart.

When asking my husband what kind of washcloth he'd like me to make for him in the orphaned ball of camoflauge coloured cottoned I'd picked up for him, he chose the fish.

And I was so in love with the pink heart, I had to make another one.

One of the fish and one of the hearts are destined for gifts, but I'm looking forward to enjoying the other two myself.

Face Case

I was really tempted to call it Head Case but at least you get the rhyming with Face Case. :)

I made this little bag to keep my new mineral makeup travel compact safe and secure while floating around in my handbag. I love the fun bright pink colour - which also makes it easy to locate.

The case protects the compact from getting scratched up and I don't have to worry about it accidentally popping open when it shouldn't.

Girkey

My apologies to Lion Brand, it’s not the pattern… it’s me. I really really stink at making amigurumi. In fact, I should be banned from doing so again in the future.

This “creature” started out as a giraffe, and then ended up looking like some weird monkey-like creature… I have therefore renamed him “Girkey” (pronounced Jerky).

I made this for a swap partner who likes amigurumi and giraffes, but dislikes the colour brown. I thought I’d be clever and make it for her in one of her favourite colours… purple. That was my first mistake.

After I’d completely finished the body, I realised that it wasn’t looking very giraffe-like. It seems I’d forgotten to do rows 14-25 (aka “the neck”). Second mistake.

I was running out of time to finish and get this posted off in time, so I decided to make my own decorations/embellishments and turn it into a slighly different creature. Yep. That was my third mistake.

And the fourth and worst mistake of all? The face. I really don’t have the knack for making cute faces. My husband wasn’t lucky enough to see this “creation” in person, but when I showed him the photos he remarked “That looks like something out of some poor kid’s nightmare.” Under other circumstances I may have been insulted, but unfortunately he was 100% right.