Help Mom Relax with These Knitted Spa Patterns

I don’t know a mom who couldn’t use a little pampering, and there are lots of ways we can make that happen with the help of knitting. Why not whip up a scrubber or a soap sack and throw in some great soap, lotion and bubble bath? That’s a present I could get behind for sure (as well as the time to actually use them uninterrupted).

Here are some projects to make mom’s (or anyone’s) day a little more relaxing.

The Spa Scrubby and Soap Packet from Lion Brand Yarn are a great pair, and one of the best uses of bobbles I’ve ever seen. The Seamless Spa Mitt from Shelby Knits is another cute one that’s really useful, too.

Mary Anne’s Back Scrubber is the perfect thing for someone who can’t quite reach their own back, and the spa bath mat by Black Cat Designs is a great combination of yarn and pattern.

Alice Dillon has a great Spa Turban that’s perfect for wearing while in the tub or any other time you want your hair out of your way. Dot on the Run’s Spa Socks are a great way to try two-at-a-time socks, and they also have a fun textured pattern that will keep you interested. And speaking of socks, a pair of pedicure socks is always a great idea for a mom who likes that activity; this one is from Yarnspirations.

If you want to add some soap to your gift, a soap sweater like this one by Cynthia Hall is a great choice that can be embellished a ton of different ways. There’s also my soap sack, which is easy and reusable because the top opens.

A pretty washcloth can be a fun addition to a spa gift, too. Check out Kat Mcab’s Shell Spa Washcloth, Cindy Taylor’s Knitted Flower Washcloth, the adorably named Tribble (which I guess is acutally more of a scrubbie) from Abigail 1870pearl and the fun Rose Spa Cloth, which combines knitting and crochet and is also scrubby like since it’s shaped like a rose (it comes from Knitting Heaven on Earth).

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

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