bath mat questions

[counterGOPI]

a lovely mama on here inspired me to knti a bath mat
i have some ideas for patterns from ravelry but thought i'd check here to see if anyone has any they like a lot.
also should i knit it out of cotton? how bulky should the yarn be?

could i koolaid dye some cotton and use it or would that be silly b/c it would probably fade fast or bleed?
tia!:

[E.V. Lowi]

I don't have a photo by my dd made one out of tee shirt strips. She cut the strips about 1/2" wide. The mat was really absorbent and held up well.

[cristeen]

Definitely knit it out of cotton, since you want it to absorb, but you also want it to be machine washable and wear well. I'm nearing the end of mine, I just did a basic garter stitch rectangle holding 2 strands of Lion brand cotton together. If I were to start over, I probably would go with the organic cotton instead, since it's super fluffy and soft, whereas the regular cotton is mercerized. I did prewash my cotton yarn, so it's a little easier to work with, but still hard on my hands, and I'm knitting on large cable needles (it's too heavy for straights). I expect it will still shrink a bit the first time I wash it, but that's fine.

I would not Kool-Aid dye cotton for a bathmat unless you want to stain your bathroom floor that color.

Using cut-up t-shirts for a bathmat is a great idea. I saw some of that type of "yarn" on etsy last night.

[KJoslyn78]

cotton will not asbord/hold the color of kool-aid, like wool/skin/etc would. Kool aid is only good on protein fibers.

that said - i think re-using cotton t-shirts is a lovely idea. I assume you would use strips cut from the shirts as "yarn" and you could knit or crochet it that way?

[Think of Winter]

I am pretty sure Mason Dixon Knitting has a pattern for a knitted bath mat make from scraps. In fact, I've been hanging on to an old bed sheet to use for that purpose. I'd use pre-washed fabric, then you know you can wash and dry it.

[catballou24]

my sister made me the cutest one out of old t-shirts...we love it! mason dixon has a really nice one i want to knit as well...it's on the list! can't wait to see what your expert knitting skills produce ni!

[mommabeehilly]

oops posted same thing twice

[mommabeehilly]

tee, heee, heeee found you here asking a bath mat question.
so i used double strands of worsted weight 100% cotton.
it turned out real well. it's nice and cushy on our feet.
don't know about the koolaid, seems it would fade...

want to see a picture???

[Mom2ThreeBeans]

I like the T-shirt idea. You might check with your local thrift store sometimes they will give you T shirts they can't re sell for free or for like five cents a piece. I think I see a bath mat in my future.