Holey Lonesome Upcycled Socks, Batman, It's a Potholder!

Today, in my Instructable, I am going to show you how to upcycle worn out cotton socks, into a potholder, that even the Dark Knight would be impressed with!

Be sure your chosen socks are mostly cotton,

(as socks made from predominately other fabrics will not protect you from burns!)

Now, as we do not want potholders that smell like feet...WASH THEM!

You will also need an inexpensive potholder loom available almost anywhere, and a pair of scissors! =D

Repeat until you have approximately forty loops.

You may also use the foot of the sock for more loops if it is in good shape!

Next step is optional.....

Dye your loops in any fashion you like!

(I dyed mine using an ice dying technique, with procion dyes).

If you dyed your loops, and wish to have a pattern, take the pile o'loops and separate by color.

Otherwise just grab 'em and go to the next step!

(Psst, BTW, I am not sponsored by this loom company)

To make your warp, loop a loop over a pair of opposite teeth, on your loom.

Repeat until loom is full of loops all running in the same direction.

(Warp is the loops on the loom you will be drawing the other loops through)

Now for the weft!

Okay, now take a loop, (in the picture my first weft loop is orange),

and weave this loop over and under the red, (warp) loops.

For the second loop, weave the loop under and over, the red, (warp) loops.

Repeat the instructions above, alternating loop weaving as directed.

(You will find that as you add rows, they seem to bunch up in the middle portion of the loom...no worries! Just use the stick tool that came with your loom and squish them down, so you can continue to add rows!)

To finish the edges of your potholder, you will have to remove your loops one by one.

To make sure they do not unravel you will have to finish the edges, using a loopy leapfrog (crochet) technique.

The technique is as follows:

1. Remove the first and second loops of your row off of the loom.

2. Take the second loop and pull it through the first loop, using either your fingers or the hook end of your stick tool.

3. This leaves you with one loop free.

4.Now holding this loop. remove the next loop off of your loom and again stick the loop you just pulled off of the loom through the free loop, grab it, and again you are left with one free loop.

5. Repeat step four until you come to the corner of your loom...(OMG I am at a corner what do I do now???)

6. Using the sixth picture as a guide, you will simply take your next loop, (even though it is on a new side), and repeat step four, all of the way around the loom, until you are down to just one loop on the loom and one free loop.

(Hint)

You may find it easier as you work your way around the loom, to loop a loop off of your finished edge, onto a tooth again, to make it easier to maintain enough tension so the whole potholder does not pop off your loom before you are finished. You will see that I did this in some of the pictures!

Take your last loop off of your loom, and with your free loop, and this last loop, thread a new, (orange) loop thru both of the loops and secure it with a snug double knot. Tug your creation into a square shape, and TAADAAA!

You have successfully upcycled your Holey Lonesome Socks, into a durable Potholder that will, (Like Batman!) protect you from hot burny hands for years!