Scatter Rugs: Hit-and-Miss Pot Holders

I attempted to make all four of the potholders from Scatter Rugs.
​This booklet specifies Clark's ONT Cotton Rug Yarn for use in their patterns which is a cotton yarn and with a little more research I think it's likely to be a worsted weight yarn. They suggest a size G hook to go with it. I had some vintage rug yarn; Aunt Lydia's cotton/nylon blend. Not only was it too heavy for a G hook, it started shedding a lot. It was pretty old so I had to throw that out and try with some worsted weight cotton. I used Big Twist "Cotton" which is 85% cotton and 15% polyester and 24/7 Cotton and that worked a lot better. Some were bigger "Hits" than others.

Let's start with the "Hits"
​
9142-A is a waffle stitch. I used a G hook for this with the Big Twist Cotton in Pastel Blue. This went really quickly. It's a pretty simple stitch and they explained it well. The border is one row of single crochet with three stitches in the corners.​

9142-A

9142-B is the third one from the top. The pattern says to chain 20 to measure 5.5 inches, maybe to give you a gauge? Then it gives you the instructions for the first shell row, telling you that should have three shells. I did this one with a 4.5mm hook instead of the G Hook (4mm) because the shells were bunching up a lot with the smaller hook. It has three rounds of single crochet to finish it off.

9142-B

9142-E is the fourth one from the top. This is just a square done in single crochet with a two color border. It's very simple but the starting chain directions were a little different. They say, "Starting at one end, with main color make a chain to measure 10 inches. 1st row: sc in 2nd chain from hook and each ch across until row measures 7 inches. Cut off remaining chain." The rest is making single crochet rows until it gets to 7 inches and then doing a single crochet edging in two other colors. That seems a bit exact for a pot holder. You can just make a row of single crochets and then work rows until it's roughly square. Let's not overthink a single crochet pot holder!

9142-E

​9142-D is the second one from the top and the only one that was a complete miss for me. This one starts out with the same type of starting row where you do a bunch of stitches then single crochet back until you get the actual length you want and cut off the rest. This pot holder is made in a type of star stitch but the star stitch is done so that it doesn't take up as many stitches going across and the star stitches are kind of bulky. This was giving me a curve that I didn't like so I stopped. I could have gone back and done a really loose chain row or foundation stitch and that would have helped.

9142-D

Scoring:
Is the pattern easy to understand? Mostly. I was confused by the varying instructions for cutting off the chain.  0.75
Does it look like the photo or illustration? Yes for the three out of four I finished. 0.75
Would someone use this? These are pretty flimsy for a pot holder. Maybe the rug yarn would have been a little thicker but it was bunching up with the hook size they recommended. They make good washcloths or something to set a pan on to protect a table. I don't think I would use them to pull a pan out of the oven. 0.75
Did I enjoy making them? Yes once I got rid of the vintage Aunt Lydia's yarn that felt super icky. 1.0

Total score = 3.25