Pear Kitchen Scrubby

I have a thing for pears. I've been recently giving my kitchen a mini face-lift by slowly changing the color scheme from red, to bright green. It started a couple summers ago when I won some small pear decorations at the Annual Sypolt Family Reunion's auction. They were two matching acrylic wall plaques with pears in relief. I loved them. Then little by little, I started to collect green things. I found a mat for the floor in front of my sink with pears all over it. I got a green rug to go in front of my stove. For a while it looked goofy, like Christmas, I had a weird mix of red and green accessories. Then my mother bought me all new accessories in bright green! Now I'm almost done- I just need to find the perfect pear fabric, and I can make myself a new cover for my (red!) stand mixer. It remains the lone red item. I know that fabric is out there somewhere and when I find it victory shall be mine!

For now, with a mostly green kitchen I've been focusing on hand made accessories. My dear cousin and I love to go to our local pottery painting studio. It's very relaxing and fulfilling, and there's something about the tranquility of that creative atmosphere that even makes the kids behave- for hours! Big Girl and Little One come too and I buy them a small trinket to paint while my cousin and I focus on our masterpieces. In the past I've made a spoon rest, and recently an oil bottle. Italians NEED olive oil readily handy. We use it almost daily. That's a subject for another post but I put it in just about everything I make, I even use it for beauty. I've put it in my hair as a treatment, on my cuticles, skin, you name it. My grandmother used to say we have olive oil in our blood! She was so, so precious.

While my pear ceramic art is beautiful and fun- you know I wanted to crochet a pear too! I have a sweet friend who wanted to learn how to crochet. So we made a few dates to sit down together with hook and yarn. And miracle of miracles, she actually learned something from this somewhat shy, left-handed, self-taught crocheter! It thrilled my heart to learn she's been doing really well at it, and crocheting often despite my amateur level teaching skills. During one of our times together she showed me a book of kitchen scrubber patterns she found at the craft store. I loved them! They were so cute, and I've never tried the scrubby yarns before. There were many shapes and fruits to choose from. As I flipped through the book I said "I'm going to make a pear!", but here was no pear.

So I bought some bright green kitchen cotton, some scrubby yarn and I came up with my own adorable pear shaped scrubby! It's the perfect thing to add a little fun to your kitchen sink. I keep my cotton scrubby from getting stinky by running it through the dishwasher every few days. It's also fully machine washable as well. You're going to love it!

Pear Kitchen Scrubby Free Crochet Pattern

Difficulty: Easy

Hook: G6/4mm

Yarn: I Love This Yarn Cotton in Bright Citrus, Yarn Bee Scrub-Ology in Green and remnant amount of any brown worsted yarn- Caron Simply Soft Party in Chocolate Sparkle pictured.

Notions: tapestry needle

Gauge: n/a

Measurements: 4.75” tall and 3” across

Note: Pear is worked in round until neck and is made in two parts, front and back, then slip stitched together, stem added at end. Make two pears, one in cotton, one in scrub-ology.

Pear:

With cotton, form a magic ring.

Round 1: dc 12 into magic ring, join with a sl st to first dc made, ch 2. (12 sts)

Round 2: make 2 dc in each st around, join. (24 sts)

Round 3: ch 5, sc in back bump of 2nd ch from hook and in each ch (4 sc, neck of pear made), sk the first dc of previous round, and sl st into the next st, sc in the next st, *2 sc, sc* three times, *2 hcd, hdc* four times, *2 sc, sc* three times, sc in last st ending at neck of pear, do not join. (37 sts)

Round 4: continue working up neck of pear, hdc 5 up neck, make 4 hdc in st at top of neck, hdc 5 down neck, sk 1 st, sl st to next st and fo. (15 sts)

Make a second pear out of scrubby yarn. Weave in all ends.

Stem:

1. With brown ch 4, sc in back bump of second ch from hook, sc 2, make 3 sc in last ch, work down back of starting ch and sc 2.
2. Fold in half lengthwise, pivot work, ch 1, working back up stem and stitching through both layers, sl st 3, fo, leave long tail for sewing to top of pear.
3. Weave in starting tail by sewing up through center of stem, and back down through center of stem, taking care not to squish by pulling too tightly, then trim closely to bottom of stem.

Finishing:

1. Sandwich pears together with both right sides facing out, aligning stitches. Keep scrubby side facing, and join at top center of neck with cotton yarn, sl st evenly around pear working through both layers. Join, fo, weave in ends.
2. Thread stem tail with needle and sew securely onto top of pear, stitching back and forth between both layers. Take care to keep brown stitches hidden from sight. Fo weave in ends.

Scrubby Care: After use, rinse with soap and hot water, then with very cold water, wring out excess water and lay flat to dry overnight. Cold water rinse inhibits bacteria growth. Machine wash, or wash in dishwasher weekly, or sooner if a yucky smell develops. A homemade dish scrubber is economical and environmentally friendly, when properly cared for can last for years.

I hope you enjoy your pear kitchen scrubby, let me know how yours turned out! Share a picture of your work on instagram #hautekippy or post it to my facebook page!

Hey Wait! Don't stop now! You may have gotten scrubby fever from this pattern and are itching to make another. I know you didn't use up all that scrubby yarn. There's plenty left over! You need to make another scrubby- stat. My friends at All Free Crochet have TONS of scrubby patterns just waiting for you. Take a look at THIS, you can make yourself more scrubbies to match or compliment your pear in no time. I just love these guys! And every pattern is 100% free, just the way we like it!

Take care

xoxo, Bethany