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Cross Mini Christmas Stockings

December 19, 2022 No comments yet
Crocheted Cross Mini Christmas Stocking

Here are some new mini Christmas stockings I crocheted using the waistcoat stitch. This stitch is very challenging for me and hard on my hands. So I have found that if I just work the waistcoat stitching on the chart area, it is much easier. So here are some Christmas stockings I designed where I added crosses and other images to the stocking front.

Here is my free waistcoat stocking pattern. This pattern is the bases for my cross stockings but I only work the waistcoat stitches on the front of the stocking for the cross. The rest of the stocking is worked in regular single crochet (SC) stitches. When you switch from waistcoat to SC, it does create a gap so you have to adjust your stitches by skipping a stitch here and there. It is better to do it on the side of the stocking to hide the change over.

Here are some other 6 inch mini Christmas stockings I crocheted. These are all for the Warmth for Warriors stocking drive.

Christmas Towel Toppers

December 11, 2022 No comments yet
Christmas Snowman Towel Topper

I just love crocheting towel toppers. I crocheted these using several Christmas towels that I either got at the dollar store or on clearance last year.

This Christmas gift idea is quick to crochet and people seem to just love them. I added jingle bells for the closure on a few of them. It just adds to the holiday theme and it’s fun to hear the bells jingle.

These towels use this free crocheted pointed towel topper pattern.

Next I used this polka dot towel to add a blue cotton towel topper to it.

Below is a close-up of the crocheted towel topper.

Robin Egg Kitchen Set

November 28, 2022 No comments yet
Crocheted Kitchen Set

Presently a kitchen set crocheted using Sugar and Cream cotton in colorway Robin’s Egg blue along with some white cotton yarn. This set is complete with a recycled plastic item.

The hexagram shaped dishcloth was crocheted using this free dishcloth pattern. It’s a fun little pattern that works up quickly and is a great way to use up scraps of yarn too.

The double-thick diagonally crocheted potholder uses this free pattern. I chain 34 to start which creates a finished potholder about 6.5 inches wide.

To finish up the kitchen set, I crocheted a scrubbie that is worked with the cotton yarn along with recycled plastic vegetable netting. You need about 3-4 nets or you can also use store-bought netting cut in a thin strip. You hold the cotton yarn and netting together

Waterlily Hotpad

November 11, 2022 No comments yet
Crocheted Waterlily Hotpad

I saw the beautiful waterlily hotpad that was created by Stacey Lee on Ravelry and just loved the look of it. After dowloading the pattern and reading some of the comments, I knew that this pattern was going to be challenging to crochet.

My modifications and changes:
First I did not fasten off after each round. This is not necessary in my opinion plus I really dislike weaving in ends. I just adjusted my stitches to match the pattern without finishing off each round. Everything went pretty good until round 5 when I just hit a wall. But after several attempts, here is what I did to get the pattern to at least look like the picture.

Potholder Towel Pattern

October 22, 2022 No comments yet
Potholder with Crocheted Towel

Here is a project where you use a store-bought potholder and add a crocheted towel to it. I’ve seen other similar projects that you sew a towel to the potholder to create the combo but not crocheted.


The hard part is crocheting the base row across the middle of the potholder. You want to fold the potholder in half and mark the center with a pencil mark. Then you crochet across the marked line in single crochet (SC) stitches evenly. I used a steel #9 crochet hook to poke the holes and pull the yarn through the holes. This process is hard and takes patience. You need to push and wiggle through the potholder to make the holes and then draw the yarn up to complete the SC stitch.

Once you have the base row complete, crocheting the remainder of kitchen towel is super easy.

Here are more photos of the potholder with both sides showing.

Click below to see more photos and for the full free pattern directions.

More Crocheted Hats

October 15, 2022 No comments yet
Black Crocheted Hat with Silver Stripe

Here are some hat projects that I have crocheted lately for the local Veteran’s outreach program. Hats and other needed items are receive by the local Veteran’s staff and are given to Veterans at different events or outreach offices.

First is a basic black cap with two rows of silver yarn for a stripe. This project uses the free pattern found here.

Next is a striped hat that features a ribbed band. This hat uses the free crocheted ribbed hat pattern.

Below is a thick crocheted hat that uses front post double crochet (FP DC) stitching. The free crochet pattern is found here.

Green Handled Plarn Tote Bag

September 17, 2022 No comments yet
Green Handled Plarn Tote Bag

I have been busy crocheting a recycled tote bag for a future charity fundraiser. This bag was crocheted using the free ultimate grocery bag pattern.

The pattern creates a 13 inches long reusable tote bag. I used around 50 plastic retail sacks to crochet the bag. The green handles were plarn I made from lightweight grocery bags that I recycled. Here is a closeup photo below to show the crocheted green handles.

Vintage Peacock Green Stockings

September 3, 2022 No comments yet
Peacock Green BLO Stocking

I enjoy using old vintage yarn in unique colors. These stockings were crocheted using a throwback color from Red Heart Classic yarns in colorway Peacock Green. The crochet pattern used is my BLO Mini Christmas Stocking Pattern and is a free pattern.

These mini 6-inch stockings are for the 2022 Warmth for Warriors stocking drive for our troops. The stockings are filled with little goodies and given at Christmas to our troops. If you’d like to help and see another photo, please click continue

BLO Hat With a Twist

August 6, 2022 No comments yet
BLO Crab Stitch Crochet Hat

Here is an old hat pattern with a new twist. This hat features a crab stitch trim for the final row of edging. Thus a new hat style with a twist!

I used my free BLO hat pattern to crochet the complete hat following the original crochet pattern. Then for one additional row of trim, I crocheted a final row of crab stitches. Crab stitch is just reverse single crochet stitches worked from left to right which creates a twisted look to the project.

The finished size of this hat is



About Me

Hello, I’m Cindy or aka RecycleCindy. Welcome to my blog site that is dedicated to recycling and crafting. I love to crochet and create crafts and other useful things from recycled materials. I share many free tutorials and patterns for creating recycled projects as well as other handmade items.


Here is a direct link to all my free patterns available here on My Recycled Bags.


Thank you for stopping by to visit and for your interest in My Recycled Bags!