Dish Scrubbies

Back before Christmas, my good friend at work, Susan, asked me if I planned on crocheting little dish scrubbies and giving them out as gifts for Christmas. I told her I wasn't certain of how to make them, what to use to make them, or if people would want something so little and commonplace for a gift.  Boy did she set me straight!  We looked up some patterns and pictures and once I realized how easy they are to make, I went ahead and made a whole batch of them.

Here's what I learned:  first, these scrubbies are nice and scratchy when you make them out of tulle netting.  Go to a craft store and in the wedding accessories aisle, you'll find 6" wide ribbons of tulle netting on spools.  Cut the ribbon lengthwise in half to create two 3" wide ribbons.  No need to worry about getting the cut even close to center since it'll all be scrunched up into stitches.  Seriously, even jagged ends where you got perilously close to one side when you weren't paying attention while cutting is something that is easily hidden when making your scrubbie.  Once you've halved the entire length, tie the two ends together and wrap back onto the spool so it doesn't get tangled while working.

If you plan on making oodles and oodles of these little guys, you may want to purchase some scrubbie mesh material from Joann, but the fabric comes in 54" widths and may be a little too much to handle for such a small job. But it would definitely save you some serious cash!

The pattern I used and really liked was by Nadine Borovicka and can be found HERE. 

I've also found other variations where a slanted rectangle shape is crocheted, like a trapezoid, then it is folded into thirds and you hand stitch the ends together to make a tube shape (like an old fashioned rotating barber shop pole), then the open ends are drawn together to form the center of each side of the scrubbie.

 The basic pattern for this spiral scrubbie can be found HERE by Judith Prindle.  Below is a variation of the same concept, but without the spiral.

Enjoy!  And may you forevermore have sparkly and scratch-free dishes and an abundant supply of last minute gifts for anyone not blessed with a dishwasher (like me...  sigh...)