Learning to Crochet with reusable face pads

Over the past month, I've added another hobby (as if I don't have enough!) and new hobbies mean new segments for the blog!

I originally wanted to pick up crocheting while I was out on maternity leave with the Lion, but well that never happened. (I could never figure out what I wanted to start with, so I couldn't figure out which yarn to buy or which hooks to buy). I once again thought I would pick it up at the beginning of the year (I bought yarn on clearance at target, but never got any hooks and still didn't have a project in mind). Finally in as I was sorting through my pins on Pinterest, I caught the crochet bug again and bought a crochet hook set.

Next step was to figure out how to crochet. A while back my mom gave me her copy of Reader's Digest COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK which has an excellent beginners guide to crochet (and every other type of needlework). Its great, but I learn best while I'm working on a project (or at least have something I'm working on, not just making rows of stitches).

So I look around on Pinterest for something a project that was good for beginners and also that caught my eye. Which is exactly how I discovered crochet face pads (a beginner pattern that piqued my interests and was good for the environment. I knew I had to try to make them!)

So here I go, with adventures with crocheting!

The Experiment

Make reusable crochet face pads

(pattern from Dabbles & Babbles)

Results

I've actually had my yarn (Hand Made Modern 2 Pack Yarn Black) for a while now. So I'm pretty it was not the right yarn for this project, but considering I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this project (and I was just using this to practice crocheting), I didn't feel the need to get the right yarn for this project.

If I learned anything from this project is don't pick a round for your first crochet project. You should start with a square pattern to learn your stitches and how to properly do it. That being said I always seem to learn best while trying to do something harder than I'm ready for (I also end up frustrating myself a lot during the process).

Frustrations aside, I pressed on with my face pads and I found once I completed my first pad, the other seven I made were a piece of cake.

Here's how mine turned out (and in action too!)

And after using them a couple of time, these are really nice to have in my bathroom. The making washing my face super easy (the lather well and I feel like they are exfoliating my face while I wash it). My favorite part is that I can use soap on one side and I can wipe it off with the other side. 

And well I made so many because I wasn't sure how well they would dry and how many times I could use them before I would need to wash them. I was pleasantly surprised that they dry fast (normally they're dry by morning or if not they're definitely dry by nighttime). And I feel that since I'm rinsing them to get out the excess face wash, that cleans them at the same time, so there's no need to wash them every week. (I might start washing them once a month though).

Conclusion

This is an interesting project for me.It was something so simple to make and really a fun project to start with, but it unexpectedly has revolutionized my night time routine. I normally stumble in after a long night at work, brush my teeth, change into my pajamas and pass out in bed.

Now that I have these face pads, it slows me down.  I now take the time to wash my face put a little lotion on afterwards, take my contacts out (I know, I know, sleeping in my contacts is a horrible habit I've gotten into), brush my teeth, and then change into my pajamas. (I now have to find the right face wash that doesn't wreck my face, but that's a project for another time.

I'm not saying they'll revolutionize your life as much, but (in my world) its still nice to have a reusable face pad, especially one that's fairly easy to make.