Instructions for the Best Scrubbie

My friend Cassie has graciously given me permission to post her instructions for scrubbies on my blog. She said she would be pleased if others were able to benefit from the pattern. If you use it, and are pleased with it, I would encourage you to leave a comment on the blog to let me know how you like it, and to let others know if it's a useful pattern, and then I can pass it on to her. Trust me, after all this experimentation, this is the best pattern around. You may need a crochet instruction book to help you with the correct stitches. Enjoy!


Nylon Scrubbers

Cut nine 2-inch wide strips of nylon net.

Tie these nine strips together to form one long strip leaving approximately four to six inches as "tails." (Shorter "tails" if the net is stiff, as much as six to eight inches if the net is really soft. This will be your "stuffing" later on.)

Make a slip knot and put on crochet hook (I use Size K).

Chain Four.

Join to form a circle.

Insert hook in center of hole and single crochet eight stitches around the circle. (Insert the hook in the middle of the circle eight times and make a single crochet.)

Make two stitches in each of the eight stitches and continue until you have 28 stitches around. (Increase)

Single crochet around the scrubber (28 stitches) three times. (You can use a piece of string to mark the beginning of your "rows" until you get used to how far to go.)

Begin to decrease (single crochet in every other stitch.)

When you have a hole about the size of a silver dollar, turn the scrubber inside out. You will be stuffing all the "tails" inside and they will act as stuffing.

Continue decreasing until the scrubber is completely closed. Pull the end of the nylon net through several holes in the scrubber to secure it, pulling the last bit to the inside with the crochet hook.

All the measurements are approximate. All nylon net was not created equal. Some is stiff and scratchy, some softer. Your tension will also influence the size. You may have to experiment to find the right number of stitches for your liking.

Found my scrubbie!!

I forgot to update on my scrubbie saga (see previous post). I went back to the crochet book and realized that I was indeed doing some of the stitches incorrectly. I bought an inexpensive pattern from the Internet that looked like a really good one, and I achieved my goal of the scrubbie being round but still not completely flat. I emailed my aunt and asked for her pattern, but it was written in that kind of crochet shorthand as if she was talking to me, and I didn't entirely understand it, but it was the closest to being a normal size scrubbie. Unfortunately, she uses a much smaller hook than I'm able to use. The scrubbie was hard and I didn't like the way the back looked. And I couldn't repeat the same shape twice.

Finally, in a round about way, I found my friend through someone else on the Internet and asked her if she would send me her instructions for the scrubbie. First try, it was perfect. Now the real test, could I repeat my success? YES! I finally have instructions for a scrubbie that is perfect. It all comes down to the right size strip, tying it the right way, so there's something to stuff inside, having the correct size hook, and clear, clear instructions. Thank you, Cassie.

What’s Going On?

I watched the Grammys last night, naturally to see if Hall and Oates won in the duo performance category (they didn’t – Black Eyed Peas won), and am puzzled by this 3D thing. Why would they chose to air a 3D presentation to a world who doesn’t own 3D glasses. It just looked like a blurry song to me. The singers performed well, but why would you do that for television? I thought the worst pairing of the night was Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks. On their own, both are very good, but together they sounded off key and didn’t mesh at all.

I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to crochet a scrubbie like the one a friend of mine used to make. I can’t get in touch with her and have downloaded several different directions from the internet. None of them are working.

Here’s my first attempt. It doesn’t resemble anything nice and round and flat.

Then my second attempt. Closer to being a circle, but I can’t seem to make it flat.

Then I got about six new sets of instructions and tried combining them all. The result was something that was rounder but still not flat. Pretty funny if you look at it from the side. And I bet it will scrub the hell out of a pot, it’s so thick.

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I just don’t get it. I’m going to go back and review my old crochet book to see if I’m doing the stitches correctly. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, please tell me!!