File:Bottle Holder.jpg

There's a story about this bottle holder...

Once upon a time, I decided I needed a holder for the weird water bottle I had 'cause it was awkward to carry around. And since it wasn't a standard size or shape, I had no pattern. I generally prefer to have a pattern to make things 'cause when I try to make them without one, Bad Things Happen.

But on this occasion, I decided to give it a go. And I thought to myself, "Self, it would probly be a good idea to make this bottle holder with an insulative fiber" and so i went to my infamous stash & hunted about. Finally came across some wool of mysterious origins but seemed disposable enough that if I messed up the project, nothing would be wasted.

So, I was set! I had my yarn, I had my bottle & off I went.. first, I crocheted the base which was just a basic circle... and then I decreased it in a manner that caused it to cup & cover the bottom of the bottle.. from there, I just kept fitting & refitting it to the bottle, increasing & decreasing as necessary so's to fit its odd contours. When I got to the last bulge at the top, I added in a strand of fishing line (4lb, i believe), for added strength with the thought that most of the strain of the weight of the bottle would be about there. The rest of the holder & the strap were crocheted with yarn & fishing line in that manner.

..and then it was finished! It was a little tricky to slide on & off but I was pleased with it in spite of some stretchyness involved.

And then One Day... I spilled something on it & thought, golly, I need to wash that or it'll get stinky. But it's wool! It'll shrink! So I stuck it in my front loader washing machine (with the rumors in my head that you can't Really Felt (and no, I hadn't ever felted anything at that point in my career) anything with a front loader) and used cold water & figured it would be fine. But no! It *did* shrink! It *did* felt! But only mildly & gee golly, it actually fit *better* post-felting! Sure, it was slightly harder to get on & off again, but it didn't do that stretchy thing any more & seemed to be even more insulative. And besides, I always had Woozle around to take it on & off if my hands couldn't do it >.>

It has since survived a few more washings & is still going strong!

The End