Sunday, July 10, 2011

Cotton Crochet Dish Rags out of Sweaters

These I've made out of Crochet Cotton but below I'll show you the one's I made out of an old cotton sweater.
Assorted Dish Rags made out of Crochet Cotton

Pink Dish Rag made out of Crochet Cotton
Varigated Dish Rag made out of Crochet Cotton
My latest love is to unravel cotton sweaters and crochet something new, and in this case - Dish Rags.  I haven't bought dish rags from the store for years. I crochet my own. It's just a simple double crochet stitch. I suppose I can give you the pattern at the end of this post. I like to make these because they're fast, I don't have to keep track of rows or stitches, and I can sit in the front room with the rest of the family and crochet while we all watch TV.

I like to make dish rags out of sweaters made out of cotton. I think these make even better dish rags than dish rags make of of 100% crochet cotton such as Peaches and Cream. And you can make a LOT of dish rags out of one sweater, too! Find a sweater that is knitted. Rip the seams and unravel. There are lots of other sites where you can find more indepth instuctions about selecting a good sweater to unravel.

Okay, I've completely unraveled one sleeve and I'm ready to crochet. Yeah! :)


I've made one dish rag out of sleeve and still have plenty of more yarn to make another one.


Another dish rag I've made out of the same sleeve.


I've unraveled the whole sweater and made lots of dish rags and given lots away, too.


I'm getting down to the nitty-gritty last of my sweater yarn. I tried to find another sweater at the thrift store but havent had much luck. I'll probably have to wait until Fall when they put their sweaters back out again. When they put their sweaters back out to sell, this time I'll know exactly what I'm looking for and I'll buy a few to last me the whole year.


FREE DISH RAG PATTERN
I like to use a "G" hook.
I chain about  25 to 28 chains (I dont remember exactly, and it doesnt matter really).
Then dc in the 3rd ch from hook and dc in each ch to the end of the row, ch 3, turn.
Dc in each dc across. Keep doing this until you've got a square piece of cloth. 
Now dc evenly all the way around, crocheting 3 dc in each corner.
Then sc in bl (back loops only) all the way around, crocheting 3 sc in each corner. Tie off and weave in loose ends.

CROCHET RAG RUG MADE OUT OF OLD SWEATER

The next pic below was a different sweater (obviously) but I wanted to show it to you. This sweater was made out of a thicker cotton. This rug is made out of that whole sweater. I made it to be a rug, but I've found that I've since been using it as a cushion cover on my recliner. It's good for either. I like it very much. It was just a simple double crochet. If I remember correctly it's roughly 70 stitches across and 45 rows, and then I just took some black Red Heart yarn and single crocheted all around it with 3 stitches in each corner.  I think I used an "I" sized hook.


What's your favorite thing to crochet? 
Your favorite yarn? 
Your favorite hook size/brand?
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6 comments:

  1. great idea and they came out so lovely. :)

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  2. Hi DaCrafty Lady! Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a sweet comment. :)

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  3. I used to crochet a lot but haven't done anything in a while. You are inspiring me to take it up again. I actually have to long trips coming up and it is a good thing to do to pass the time.

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  4. Hi Shanda! Thank you. Yes, and this is something that you dont have to concentrate on to keep track of rows and stitches. Thank you for stopping by. :)

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  5. Hi Cheryl,
    I like to buy cotton sweaters at the thrift shop, unravel them and make dishclothes, too. I found out the hard way that you need to look carefully at the seams of the sweater before buying. Some have been joined with a serger and cut, which means that when you unravel it you end up with lots and lots of short pieces of yarn. If you look closely, you can tell which kind of seam it is. I'm glad I came across your blog, you've inspired me again!

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  6. Hi Gail :) Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'm glad I inspired you to crochet dish rags out of sweaters again. The one rug I crocheted out of a sweater (see pic above on this same post) was kind of the same way. It had a lot of colors in the sweater and was tied off at each color change. I think it adds a rustic character. :)

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