I bought myself a new cast iron skillet today. I love cooking with cast iron. No worry about non-stick coatings coming off the skillet and eating the coating material. Cast iron cooking pots and skillets literally can last a lifetime if cared for properly.
So I needed a medium-sized skillet for cooking and bought myself a new Lodge cast iron #10SK 12 inch skillet. Of course I needed a new handle cover for the new pan. I have crocheted pot covers for my other cast iron pans and they are so handy. You don’t need a potholder to move it and the handle cover is always on the pan. I just leave the cover on the pan as generally the handle doesn’t need cleaning or seasoning.
Here is the free crochet pattern for the t-shirt yarn handle cover. I cut my t-shirt strip in one continuous strand about 1/4 inch wide. Then I gently stretch the narrow strand which causes it to curl in on itself. I call this material curled t-yarn.
This skillet handle is a bit narrower than my big cast iron 14 inch pan so I had to work a decrease on each side of the cover[…]
Here is a hotpad I crocheted using my T-yarn trivet pattern. This hotpad’s yarn is a combination of a white t-shirt cut into a very narrow strip to create what I call t-yarn and some leftover Red Heart chunky blue yarn.
I crocheted with the white t-yarn for the center and scalloped edging. I did one extra round with the blue chunky yarn to make the hotpad just a bit bigger and to use up the small amount remaining. The result is a hotpad trivet that is 8-1/2 inches square.
I wanted to use the chunky acrylic yarn to show how a t-shirt yarn pattern can be used with regular yarn too. You could also make this hotpad by holding two strands of worst weight yarn together to crochet the pattern. Either way, you end up with a great looking motif hotpad trivet.[…]
This ice cozy was crocheted from a T-shirt cut into strips to create T-yarn or tarn. I often use an icy brick in my lunch bag and wanted a little cozy for it. The ice block gets wet and has condensation after a while in my lunch bag. Now with the tarn ice cozy, it works wonderfully to keep my lunch bag dry and to capture the condensation from the ice brick.
I cut my T-shirt strips very narrow to make this cozy. Here is my T-yarn tutorial showing how I cut and stretch my strips to create what I like to call curled T-yarn. The only change you want to make for this project is to cut your strips only about 1/4 inch wide. I know this is narrow but if you cut slowing and carefully it works out so you have a nice thin strand to crochet with.
I used the following soap saver pattern to crochet my ice brick cozy. This tarn project and free crochet pattern was a Tarn Along over at Recycled into Yarn site. The final measurements are 6” long by 3-1/2” wide. I did make mine a bit bigger at the beginning and crocheted 3 DC’s in the corners so the icy block would fit and its plenty big. I have 28 stitches in the bag around with 8 crowns at the top.
The tarn cozy was made with less than one T-shirt and could be used for an ice cozy as I have done, a soap saver, or even an i-Phone holder as shown here that Teresa did in the original Tarn Along.
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This week’s project is a rug I crocheted from a couple of old white t-shirts and the remaining pieces of a blue jersey sheet. I cut my cotton into 3/4 inch wide strips using my t-yarn making tutorial. Recycling t-shirts and old cotton sheets is a great way to repurpose those old items into new usable rugs, oven mitts, trivets, baby bibs, and more.
Once completed, this t-yarn rug had a problem. The center was not flat and the rug needed blocking badly so this week’s project turned into a two-fold post. A blocking tutorial for t-shirt yarn rugs and the free crochet pattern for the rug.
I didn’t take a photo of the rug before blocking but trust me, the center was all rumpled up and the rug wasn’t laying down flat. I used the same process I did when I blocked a round ripple afghan that was bowl-shaped in the center. My blocking method helped flatten both projects and really saved me a lot of frustration so I wanted to share how I did it. So first I will show how to block a t-shirt yarn rug.
Lay the rug down and stretch it out on a large piece of plastic on the carpet. I used a large trash bag and then just reuse it for the next blocking project. I pin it all around as I stretch the rug and shape it. Use lots of pins and push them down into the carpet to hold the rug in place. Then using a wet rag or wash cloth, press down and wet the rug. Move your cloth around and continue to wet it and as you do, shape and stretch your rug. I laid a wash cloth down as shown and with my hands flat, I move my hands around on top of the cloth. My center was the real problem area so I pressed down and wet this area more as I worked out the rumpled center.
Click on any photo to supersize
Next photo shows after I have been shaping and flattening out the center. Move your pins as needed to get the rug flat and a nice shape. Gently pull on the corners and edges to get it as straight and square as possible. Apply more water on a rag as needed.
Once you have the center flat and the rug shaped, its time to let it dry. I let my rug dry overnight with the pins in place. The next day, I removed the pins and flipped it over gently and let the back dry. The next morning the rug was completely dry and the rug held its shape rather nicely.
Closeup of the t-yarn rug once it was blocked and flatten. As you can see its pretty flat and I can live with how it looks now. I hope you find this t-yarn blocking tutorial useful should you find your rug or other projects need a little flattening.
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Need a swiffer duster sock? Well I did for my Unger so I cut up one white t-shirt and a small amount of a blue jersey sheet to crochet my duster cover. I cut my t-yarn 1 inch wide and stretched it gently as shown in my t-yarn making tutorial.
My Unger is a squeegee with a swiffer-like head on the other side. I want to be able to use the other side to dust and clean high areas in my house with the extended handle on the Unger.
I used the Craftstylish crochet reversible swiffer pattern as a basis for my duster cover. Because my tool is narrower than a Swiffer, I had to modify the original pattern. The beauty of the pattern is that it is easily adjustable to fit different sized cleaning tools. The pattern has great pictures and works up really quickly.
Okay now for my modifications:
I used N (9 mm) crochet hook. I chained 19 to begin my cover. I only crocheted 3 rows of ruffles in the middle. Then one round of SC in each stitch and then several decreases of Sc on last round to fit my Unger.
Finished size: Fits a tool head 10 inches long and 1-1/2 inches wide when stretched.
My finished t-yarn cover turned out perfect and I love the ruffles on the duster. It works great and I plan to use the same ruffle design to make a mop cover. Using recycled t-shirts for this project worked wonderfully as the cotton is soft and absorbent. Now I just need to get busy and do some cleaning with my new tool.[…]
I think most people know the yarn you can create from recycling old t-shirts is called t-yarn or tarn. But did you know that you can also recycle old cotton jersey sheets to make the same type of material?
I recycled an old cotton sheet to create this crocheted oven mitt. I cut the sheet into very thin strips and curled it as outlined in t-yarn making tutorial. I used half a twin sheet which is probably less than two t-shirts should be using tees to make your oven mitt.
Here is my cotton sheet before I started. I was lucky to get it free from the rag box at my local thrift store as it had a few holes and some minor discoloration. As you cut the strips you can work around any holes and the color differences really don’t show in the yarn that is created.
This recycled oven mitt project fits a woman’s size medium hand. Should you need a larger mitt, just do a few more rounds as indicated in the crochet pattern below. As always, I hope you enjoy my free pattern and have fun creating your own t-yarn oven mitt.
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Free T-Yarn Oven Mitt Pattern
Materials needed:
About half a twin jersey sheet or a couple of t -shirts cut into 3/8” inch wide strips and
gently pulled to curl your t-yarn or tarn
Fabric for the lining and one piece of insul-bright for heat protection
Hook: “H” U.S. size metal crochet hook
Size:
Woman’s medium sized hand
Finished Oven Mitt: 6” wide x 10-1/2” long with 7-1/2” opening
Using t-yarn, Ch 44 and join with a Sl St to form a ring. My ring was approx. 7 inches wide if measured flat.
Rnd 1
Sc around the entire chain as you work along the ring. This allows you to slide the sts as needed
to get a smooth band around the ring. Join with a Sl St into beg Sc. (Approx 50 Sc)
Do NOT turn your work in this project. This project is worked in rounds.[…]
I recently bought this magnifying glass and it did not come with a case. Well unless you have a case, you can’t toss it in a drawer without it getting scratched. So I set out to crochet myself a little cozy to protect the glass. I wanted something stiff and protective so I used a ball of t-yarn that I had leftover from a tank top that I cut up.
I cut my t-yarn or tarn only about 3/8 inch wide and then gently stretched it. Here is my t-yarn tutorial for the details on how I prepare my t-shirts into a yarn material. I only needed a small ball of t-yarn for this project and believe it only required about half the front of the tank top to make this magnifying glass case.
Click to Super-Size Photos
Here is another photo showing the glass as you pull it out of the case. Because the t-shirt yarn is stiff, the glass doesn’t need a closure and stays put inside nicely as I crocheted my cozy with a snug fit. My magnifying glass is 3 inches wide and the pattern below is for a cozy for this size glass. Adjust your stitches for a smaller or larger glass as you work your increases at the beginning. I kept constantly checking my fit after the first several rounds. I worked this project in the round and just made sure the glass fit inside the cozy as I crocheted further. Once you reach the correct width of the glass, you work single crochet stitches evenly to finish. Hope this makes sense and email me if you have any questions as you work the crochet pattern.
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Free T-Yarn Magnifying Glass Case Cozy Pattern
Materials needed:
Small amount piece of a t-shirt cut into 3/8-1/2” inch wide strips and gently pulled to curl your t-yarn or tarn
Hook: “H” U.S. size metal crochet hook
Finished Case Cozy: 3-1/2”wide x 3-3/4” long
Fits a 3” wide Magnifying glass
Using T-yarn, Ch 4. […]
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