Guest Post: Crochet Your Way to Better Housekeeping

This week we have another awesome post by our Guest Contributor, Jennifer Watts on how to crochet for better housekeeping. She has given us three easy and useful crochet projects that might help us in our housekeeping activities. 

When you’ve not had a hook in your hands for a few days (and sometimes even a few hours), your fingers know it. They start becoming restless, you begin to get a bit fidgety, and all you can think of is yarn.

We know, we’ve been there. We also know that when this happens, other tasks like house cleaning tend to get overlooked. You might have a beautiful new scarf, but last night’s dishes still won’t be clean. If only there was a way to combine your passion for crochet with house cleaning … well, there is.

Forget the wool hats, forget the amigurumi, and forget the pretty shawls - it’s time to get practical. Here are three excellent projects that allow you to combine house cleaning with your love for all things crochet.

1. Crocheted Dishcloth

A dishcloth is so quick and easy to make, even for beginners, This pattern uses just the SC and DC stitches, and can be made as big or small as you like. The alternation between the SC and DC stitches adds some texture to the dish cloth, which makes it great for house cleaning and removing grime from your plates. Use a heavy weight yarn, like worsted, and I hook (5.5mm).

Chain 25 (more or less depending on how big you want your dishcloth), then SC your way back along the chain. Chain 3, turn your work, and DC to the end. Chain 1, turn your work, and SC to the end. Keep repeating this pattern until your dishcloth is the size you want, remembering to chain 3 before a DC line, and chain 1 before a SC line. End on a SC line, chain 1, then SC back into the last stitch before SC all around the outside of the cloth to create a border. SL ST and fasten off.

[Image source]

2. Soft Toy Hammock

If you have little ones at home, you’ll probably already know that your house cleaning efforts can easily be hampered by the appearance of hundreds of soft toys that never seem to have a place. So let’s give them a place and help ourselves to become more organised at home. It’s simple - all you need is J hook (6mm) and some worsted weight yarn in any colour you like.

Chain an odd number (44 is a good size, but make it smaller or larger depending on the number of toys that need a home). For the first row, DC in the third chain from the hook, then repeat the pattern of ‘chain 1, skip 1, DC’ all across to the end. For row 2, and every other row after that, chain 2, DC in the second DC from the hook, then repeat ‘chain 3, skip 1, DC’ until the end to give a net-like effect. Separately chain handles and SL ST them to the net to hang on the wall.

[Image source]

3. Crochet Bowl

One of the hardest parts about trying to stay organised at home is dealing with all those small items that are too tiny to be given their own place but tend to make the home look messy – even when you’ve been keeping up with the house cleaning. The solution? An attractive crocheted bowl. Great for beginners, and you can make the bowl as big or as small as you like depending on how many odds and ends you have lying around.

Use whatever size hook and whatever yarn you feel comfortable with. Begin with a magic ring (or chain and SL ST if you don’t feel comfortable with the MR) then simply work SC around, increasing as you go until you’re happy with the size of the base. Then it’s simply a case of SC into every stitch, rather than increasing, until you’re happy with the size of your bowl. You could even make different sizes to create nesting bowls if you like.  

[Image source & free pattern]

About the author

Jennifer Watts is a freelance writer with a passion for travel, cooking, and all things creative. When not writing, she can be found exploring new destinations with her family, making toys for her daughter, or trying desperately to learn how to work up some Tunisian crochet!

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