Crochet a Bath Puff

This bath puff looks intricate, but all the curlicues happen naturally from a very simple pattern. Once you get started, it's very easy to keep going as long as you want, or until you run out of yarn.

Click any photo to enlarge it.

Steps

  1. is washable and works well in applications where it'll get wet.]]Begin with at least one full ball of cotton yarn and an appropriately sized hook.
    • The exact gauge for this project does not matter.
    • This demonstration uses a two ounce ball of four-ply, worsted weight yarn and an H/8 or 5.0mm hook. The result is a ball about 5" in diameter.
    • The diameter increases more slowly, the more you crochet. Be prepared to use at least one full ball of yarn.
  2. Tie a slip knot.
  3. Chain two.
  4. Single crochet four stitches into the second chain from the hook.
    • The exact number of stitches does not matter much. You may start this project with any start you usually use to crochet in the round, and with any number of stitches that seems comfortable.
  5. Single crochet two in each previous stitch. Don't worry if the first ring or two doesn't look like much.
    • Go ahead and join rounds. There's no need to count stitches in this pattern.
  6. Continue around subsequent rings, placing two single crochets in each previous stitch for as long as you want.
    • The circumference doubles with each subsequent row, because you are crocheting two stitches per stitch. As the circle gets bigger, the circumference gets much bigger.
    • Add as many rows and as much yarn as you wish. Each subsequent row will take twice as long to crochet, but it will also make the puff curlier.
    • The puff will become progressively more curly, the longer you crochet. It could go further still, but it will require more and more yarn.
  7. Attach a ribbon or braid to the center to allow for hanging the puff to dry, or leave a long tail at the beginning and chain or tie a loop.

Tips

  • Use any color and cotton yarn you want.
  • Try different proportions of adding stitches. If you add more stitches (e.g. three stitches per stitch) it will curl more and faster. If you add fewer stitches (e.g. two stitches in every other stitch) it will curl more slowly.
  • This would make a great gift for yourself or as part of a bath basket with a bit of favorite soap or shower gel.
  • Machine wash and tumble dry to clean the bath puff.
  • A small version of this, made in a finer gauge yarn, also makes an attractive ornament.
  • To be mathematically correct, you should start with only two stitches, rather than four, so that the pattern starts with a single stitch and has two stitches in each stitch henceforth. For bath puff purposes, four stitches seem to handle a bit more easily.
  • After use, rinse in cool water and squeeze out the excess. Hang to dry.
  • This bath puff is mostly outsides, so it will dry reasonably quickly and last a long time.
  • Although you don't need to know it to crochet this bath puff or to bathe with it, this project is an example of hyperbolic crochet. Crochet techniques like this were used to model hyperbolic space and solve a long-standing mathematics problem. To learn more about hyperbolic crochet, follow the links. [1] [2]
  • This pattern in short form:
    • slipknot, ch2, 4 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 2sc in each sc as long as desired. Join each round with slip stitch.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4243171.ece
  2. ↑ http://theiff.org/reef/index.html
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