Heart and Star Stuffies with Scrubby Yarn

Fun with Shaped Scrubby Stuffies

The absolute best thing about knitting your own stuffedscrubbies are the fun shapes you can do. All the store bought scrub pads are usually round, let’s be honest, we are knitters and that round scrubber is boring! Let's get onto some exciting shapes, like heart and star stuffies with Scrubby yarn that we can use in the kitchen or the bathtub.

Star shaped Scrubby stuffie.

Star

The star shaped stuffy looks quite complicated, but I promise you, it's very easy.

Legend

K- Knit
P- Purl
K2TOG- Knit Two Together
KFB- Knit in the Front and Back (Making One)

Materials

1 Ball Red Heart Scrubby in Duckie
5mm (US 8) needles
1 Tapestry Needle

Like the petals of a flower the star stuffie is coming together.

Pattern

Cast on 10 stitches using your favorite cast on method. Turn work K2TOG, K7, KFB. Turn work again and K10 stitches along the wrong side. Repeat these two rows 5 times and secure stitches with your favorite bind off technique. The piece you have now should be a diamond shape, you will need to repeat this pattern nine more times for a total of ten diamonds.

Each star is made from five diamond shapes sewn together with a running stitch. Since the seaming and stuffing instructions are the same for both star and heart shapes, I'll give you the heart pattern now. If you’re only interested in the star shape skip on down to Seaming and Stuffing.

Half way there!

Heart

The heart shapedstuffies are an excellent addition to seasonal decor as well as a cute project for loved ones.

Materials

1 Ball Red Heart Scrubby in Cherry (or Bubblegum)
5mm (US 8) Needles
1 Tapestry Needle 

Cast on 4 stitches
Row 1: KFB, K2, KFB
Row 2: K6
Row 3: KFB, K6, KFB
Row 4: K8
Row 5: KFB, K8, KFB
Row 6: K10

Red Heart yarn, how could you not?

At this point you'll have half of the top of the heart. Cut your yarn, slide it further down your needle, cast on another 4 stitches and repeat instructions for rows 1-5.

At this point you’re knitting across the back of the second heart bump, when you are one stitch from the end, bring your first heart bump up next to the second one and knit the last stitch together with the first stitch of the next heart bump and knit your way across.

It might look a bit odd in the beginning, but it all comes together in the end!

Knit two rows plain, on the next row, K2TOG, place stitch marker, K until the last two stitches and K2TOG. K next row plain. Repeat these two rows until there are only 3 stitches left. Slip first stitch, K2TOG, and pass slipped stitch over. Cut yarn and pull the tail through the last stitch. Pull tight.

You can see the last stitch of the heart bump on the right being knit together with the first stitch of the heart bump on the left.

Seaming and Stuffing

With two shapes complete, place one on top of the other and sew around the outside edge. Instead of having to weave in all the ends from knitting each piece, you are able to tuck them inside with the stuffing. For stuffing, use 100% polyester to match the Scrubby yarn. H.A. Kidd and Company has some here that would work really well.

Don't overstuff, just add enough stuffing to give it shape and a bit of bounce.

Now, I'll say that sewing up these shapes with the Scrubby yarn does take a little getting used to. I'm something of a purist and didn’t want to use another fiber to sew the seams.

TIP Don’t place the needle far from the edge when you’re sewing the seams, just use the very edge of your shape.

Just along the outside edge.

These heart and star stuffies with Scrubby yarn are excellent for adding a bit of interest to your dish washing or bath time. The interesting shapes are a riot for toddlers in the bath and who knows, they might help convince a teenager to help out with dishes...no guarantees though!

6 Benefits of Using Scrubby Yarn in the Kitchen

Spring is in the process of springing and everyone is cleaning their entire house, but the room that usually needs the most love is the kitchen. There are a multitude of products you can use to clean your kitchen, but none so beneficial as the hand-knit dishcloth and Scrubby yarn takes this simple washcloth, to the next level. Let me tell you about the 6 benefits of using Scrubby yarn in the kitchen...

Cleaning is a breeze with this thick cloth

Hand-knit dishcloths are more durable than disposable rags or sponges, and they've got the texture you need while scrubbing down messy counters. The Scrubby yarn is textured by nature, but you can add even more oomph by knitting in a rib pattern. The Double Thick Chevron Dishcloth pattern from yesterday's blog post has a ribbed edge as well as a stockinet body. Stockinet stitch will still have texture to ensure you get maximum cleaning power with just one stroke. 

Scrubby yarn in the color Ocean

When wiping down your counters, the Scrubby yarn holds onto more water than your average cloth or sponge. This means fewer trips back to the sink or cleaning bucket when you're really in a groove with cleaning. 

To wash them is a breeze, machine wash with warm water, on the gentle cycle. You can have a new clean cloth for every day instead of using the same disposable one. 

Scrubby yarn in Duckie color way

The smell. Everyone has had a stinky dishcloth or sponge, EVERYONE. That smell comes from bacteria growing from food particles or the material of the cloth itself. Scrubby is made from 100% polyester, as a synthetic fabric there is no danger of bacteria forming from the cloth itself. The food particles on the other hand are something that every dishcloth has to combat. I was concerned the texture of the yarn, which makes it so awesome for cleaning, would trap food particles causing the cloth to become smelly.

Two strands of Scrubby yarn in the Coconut color way

In the photo above are two strands of Scrubby and you can see where I would have trouble describing it. Any word, aside from textured, really doesn’t do it justice and that was my concern. In order to write the best possible ‘kitchen uses’ article, I put Scrubby through the ringer; I hand-washed a pile of dishes, wiped down my counters and even cleaned my stove-top.

To my surprise and delight, none of the baked-on mess or food particles stuck in the cloth. I rinsed my dishcloth and bits of rice, baked-on spaghetti sauce and oatmeal residue simply washed from the fabric. It was just like magic.

Taking a break from the dishes... and photographic evidence they were washed.

With all of the above listed benefits of using Scrubbycloths in the kitchen, there is one more obvious one; the environment. These cloths are not going to be tossed into a landfill, they wear like iron and will last a good long while. Plus, they’re so much fun to knit, I'm confident you'll find yourself casting on enough to last you through several laundry rotations!

Who knows...perhaps the 6 benefits of using Scrubby yarn in the kitchen can encourage our spring cleaning!

Scrubby, the NEW Yarn from Red Heart!

This was my first time seeing Scrubby, the NEW Yarn from Red Heart for dishcloths! The first thing that popped into my head was an amazing thick, lush dishcloth. The kind that is tough enough to battle a casserole dish with baked on stains, but soft enough it isn’t going to rough up your hands. Here, are the instructions on knitting a double thick chevron dishcloth.

Double thick chevron Scrubby cloth being put through it's paces with a load of dishes

Materials

1 Ball of Red Heart Scrubby in Ocean  

1 Ball Red Heart Scrubby in Grape 

5mm (US 8) 16-inch circular needle

1 Tapestry Needle

Close up of those chevrons.

Pattern

To make the chevron dishcloth, cast on 60 stitches with your main color. Place stitch marker and join into the round; begin working a knit 2 purl 2 rib.  

This yarn is very forgiving which means, if you make any mistakes, they won't be very noticeable. It also means it can be tough to see which stitches are purls and which are knits. I strongly recommend using stitch markers if you're having difficulty. Make sure your stitch markers are slightly different than the one noting the beginning of the round. 

Continue in the knit 2 purl 2 stitch for 6 rounds or approximately 3 cm (1 in).  

Chevron pattern chart

You will begin to work the chevron chart above after the ribbing. To start, knit one round plain with your main color, seen on the chart as white. This chart will have to be worked two times in a row to cover the amount of stitches on your needle. Attach your contrasting color and follow the chart pattern.  

Repeat chevron chart 4 times, knit one round plain in main color and begin a knit 2 purl 2  rib for 6 rounds; just like at the beginning! Once you've completed the ribbing secure the stitches with your favorite bind off technique. Weave in any ends.

Sew along the open end to close the cloth and get a nice crisp edge.

What makes this dishcloth double thick, as you may have guessed, is the fact that it's knit in the round. To get that nice clean edge, seam the open ends where you just finished your ribbing. A simple running stitch works well.

Now you're done! It's so much fun knitting a double thick chevron dishcloth and quick! With Scrubby, the NEW Yarn from Red Heart, your lovely dishcloth is ready to be used!