Made with Love: Crafting for a Cause is pleased to join forces with the nonprofit Hands for Peacemaking for our Spring 2012 project, Guatemala Potholder. We will be adding 180 potholders to the 90 masonry stoves slated for June delivery to Mayans in the Guatemala hill country. Potholders offer help in modest and practical ways. But these little spots of brightness will also lend love and beauty to people who are among the poorest and hardest-working on our earth.
Following are the basics of the project, our potholder-making guidelines, and our list of links to patterns and tutorials for crocheting, knitting, and sewing. Potholders are easy, fun to make, great scrap-busters, and excellent palettes for your creativity. We hope you’ll join us!
The basics
Start date: March 11th, 2012
Last date for potholders to be received: Late June, 2012
Who can participate: Anybody! We’d love to see you at craft circle meetings if you live close enough to attend and are able to do so. But you are also welcome to work in your own space and deliver those potholders to us in person or by mail.
How to deliver: Mail to Hillcrest Christian Fellowship of Mount Vernon, 1830 S. 13th Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98274. Or hand-deliver to the church office T-TH 10-2 or bring them to craft circle meetings.
Potholder specifications
We’re offering a list of free online patterns and tutorials. As is usual for our projects, patterns cover knitting, crocheting, and sewing and range from super easy with video demonstrations to more challenging examples. But if you want to do your own thing instead of using one of the suggested patterns, feel free. Just keep in mind the project specifications: Potholders should be 7-9” in diameter and thick enough and durable enough to offer burn protection and hold up to hard use. If crocheting or knitting, make potholders double-thick and use size 4 (worsted) yarn; for single thickness potholders, use size 5 (chunky) yarn or above. One of our resident yarn experts, Judy, has annotated some of the pattern listings, below, to explain how they can best meet the project requirements. When sewing potholders, choose durable fabrics and batting/liner that can protect against heat (patterns below offer some options for stuffing materials).
Free online potholder patterns and tutorials
CROCHETED POTHOLDERS
Super easy with video
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9wXDWgrJsI (multi-part video)
Easy
- http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Projects/HomeDec/SB149-004+Potholder.htm Judy says: Make a longer starting chain.
- http://crochet4you1.tripod.com/pattern121.htm Judy says: Make a longer starting chain and follow the double option.
More challenging
- http://whiskersandwool.blogspot.com/2010/07/four-square-crochet-potholder-free.html
- http://www.freevintagecrochet.com/potholders/multicolored.html Use size 5 (chunky) yarn or above.
- http://www.freevintagecrochet.com/potholder-pattern/coats196/checkerboard-potholder Use size 5 (chunky) yarn or above.
- http://www.freevintagecrochet.com/potholder-pattern/coats300/red-and-white-pot-holder Use size 5 (chunky) yarn or above.
To find more patterns and tutorials
- http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/potholders_etc.php
- http://dishandwashclothmania.com/potholders-variety-of-techniques/
KNIT POTHOLDERS
Super Easy
Easy with video instructions
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27OSEU1NdJA (part 1); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lBZF6z4-II (part 2); http://www.frugalhaus.com/homepage/downloads/FR119.pdf (written instructions)
Easy
- http://julisjots.blogspot.com/2005/08/tied-up-with-bows-potholder.html
- http://www.allfreecrafts.com/knitting/kettleholder.shtml
- http://www.sugarncream.com/pattern.php?PID=3974&cps=21191
More challenging
- http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/free-knitting-patterns-for-beginners7.htm Judy says: Use two strands together to make it thick enough.
- http://www.knittinghelp.com/c/free-knitting-patterns-heart-double-knit-hot-pad
To find more patterns and tutorials
- http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/potholders_hotpads.php
- http://www.squidoo.com/potholdersknittingpatterns
SEWN POTHOLDERS
Easy with video
Easy
- http://artsycraftybabe.typepad.com/artsycrafty_babe/2007/11/dishtowel-potho.html Made from dishtowel
- http://zooziis.com/pdf/PotHolderTutorialPDF.pdf Basic potholder, unbound (pdf)
- http://www.quiltmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/finalpotholder.pdf Basic potholder, bound (pdf)
- http://www.aprettycoollife.com/2010/02/polka-dot-pot-holder.html Quilt-stitched, square
- http://voknits.com/easy-quilted-pot-holders/ Quilt-stitched, round
More challenging
- http://www.craftleftovers.com/projects/quilted-pot-holder/
- http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=732
- http://33shadesofgreen.blogspot.com/2010/02/amy-butler-quilted-potholder.html
- http://modifytradition.blogspot.com/2010/02/potholder-tutorial.html
- http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/crazy_quilt/crazy_quilt.html
To find more patterns and tutorials
We look forward to working with you on this worthy project! For more information, refer to our Guatemala Potholder project description and to Hands for Peacemaking.
