Useful Knitting Project

Here's a knitted scrubby that you use strips of nylon tulle (netting) as the yarn. You could use this in the bath or shower to remove dead skin and smooth up the heels of your feet in preparation for summer sandals or you could use it in the kitchen to clean out a pot of sticky rice (although that would probably really gunk it up).



1 yd nylon tulle cut into strips *see note
size 13 needles or size needed for gauge (I used size 11 because I wanted the stitches to be pretty tight)

Gauge: 12 stitches - 4 inches

Cast on 7 stitches
Row 1: *K1, p1; rep from * twice; K1.
Row 2: *P1, k1; rep from * twice; p1.
Rep rows 1 and 2 until you have 1 yard of tulle remaining ; thread tulle end through needle. Starting with Row 1, roll up knitted strip. With needle, take sts through ends and sides to hold in place.

This isn't exactly what I did. I knitted up all the yardage and then rolled it up like an ace bandage. If any of the tulle stuck out I just trimmed it off. Before I rolled it up I made an I-cord out of cotton yarn and attached it to the cast-on edge in the middle of the row. After it was all rolled up I used thread to run from the center to the edges to hold the layers together.

To make an I-cord: use two #2 dbl pointed needles. Cast on 3 stitches. Knit each stitch - do not turn but rather slip these stitches back to the other end of the needle. You will be taking the yarn from behind the stitches. Knit these three stitches again. Repeat the process until you get the cord length you want. This was my first I-cord which I'm happy to know how to make. Although it takes longer to knit this then it would to crochet a chain this is much nicer looking and a lot stronger.

*note: to cut the tulle from a flat piece of fabric without having to sew the strips together here's the trick. You want to make 3" strips.

Lay the fabric flat, folded lengthwise with the selvages together and the fold toward you. Cut through the fold toward the selvages, stopping at 3" from the selvage end.

Now unfold the fabric and starting at one end cut through every other selvage end forming a long strip. Its helpful to roll the strip up as you are cutting it. You might also want to trim the corners and make them round or they might stick out as you are knitting.


So some of you might be thinking - why spend all this time on an item that you could probably purchase in the store for a couple of dollars. Well I'm not even going to tell you because I'll just be wasting my breath and you'll just never get it!