After knitting a TON of Christmas gifts for people (and looking at 2 other gifts I need to work on), I didn’t really want to do anything except knit stuff for myself. And since I have an apartment and all, I was feeling all domestic. See for your self. (By the way, these were all finished yesterday.)
First up, was a swiffer cozy – a la Green Mountain Mama.
I asked for a swiffer for Christmas specifically so that I could make this cozy. It has buttons! It’s environmentally friendly! It’s a twist on the Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloth! It’s a recipe for success! I raveled it here….
The best part is that it works! Want proof?
The next thing I made was to solve a problem… when I wash dishes, I tend to get water everywhere. And by everywhere I mean… everywhere. The problem is that when my counter gets all full of water, it pools and then drains right at my feet. Obviously, this sucks. So, I had to make a rug!
Isn’t it great? Want to know how to make one of your very own?
- Get a pair of US 19 circular needles in long (mine were 35 inches).
- Collect a bunch of crap yarn that you don’t know what to do with (all feltable, no superwash for you) in colors that seem to go together.
- Cast on 65 ish stitches.
- Knit until you almost run out of yarn, then cast off.
- Throw in the washing machine until desired size is reached.
Easy huh? I know! And look how great it turned out:
I’m really serious about the crap yarn part. Want to know what went in mine? (I had 6 strings going.)
- 3 balls of what remained of a sweater’s worth of brown Paton’s Merino Classic. (I broke it up to knit my dad some brown slippers for Christmas). This was the base – I had two strings of this in the blanket – but since I didn’t have 4 balls, which would have been ideal, that third ball was spun into 2 smaller balls with some random bits of other browns mixed in.
- A big skein of random bits of matching-ish crap tied together to stripe: 3 different partial balls of knitpicks browns, about 6 yards total of yellow (split into 3 different pieces), about 6 yards of orange, and 110 yards of black.
- a skein of knitpicks dye your own merino sock yarn – that I’d dyed into a variegated skein of blues.
- A skein of knitpicks shadow laceweight in a maroon color balled together with a skein of alpaca laceweight (also knitpicks) in an oatmeal color.
- A skein of Blackberry Ridge Woollen Mill lace weight (75% wool, 25% silk) in a green almost tweedy color. This was gifted to me by a secret pal…
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Next up, some curtain tiebacks. I was inspired by a pattern in Suss Cousin’s Home knits. As you can see, the ones in her book are super cute, and have a button!
So I was inspired to make my own… I used some Berrocco Suede and look what I came up with:
I’m thrilled with the results. I got exactly two out of one ball. I LOVE how they look. They’re all elegant and functional and …. perfect. I’m sure that I’ll be able to use them for a long time. And I think the button choice is perfect.
So look at that! Three items, for me, well, my apartment anyway. It’s almost like I’m nesting or something. Next up… a baby sweater! NO… I’m not pregnant. The baby sweater is for my boss. And the nesting thing is just cause they were things I needed.
Those are all great! I need curtain tie-backs myself, but I never thought of making them.
Wow, you are inspirational. Great ideas!
Great household items! I think the curtain tie-backs are fantastic. Great work!
Those are all great! I think I’m going to have to give the swiffer cover a try, with your evidence that it does actually work.
Oh my god, I love all your house knits! The rug seems like a great way to use up scrap yarn–came out looking amazing.
Can’t wait to make the Swiffer cover- you are a dynamo Nicole!!
Excellent!! I especially love the swiffer cover – brilliant!
Love the mat, and the curtain tie-backs.
Love the rug and what a great idea for curtain tie backs!
The curtain tiebacks are genius! I have been using a piece of yarn to tie them back, but this is even better.
I love all your home items! The rug is especially cool, and the curtain tiebacks are a fun item. I think I will look around my house and see what I might have need of 🙂
thanks for the inspiration!!
I love the swiffer cozy, I want to make some of my own. Thanks for the link!
Love the swiffer cozy and enjoyed discovering your blog. My 14 year old swiffer, purchased in Bloomington when I was a student at IU, definitely needs a cozy.
hey
the curtain tie back looks great
do you mind sharing the pattern ?
thanks