Knitted Soap Saver

Do you have lots of tiny bits of soap in the soap dish that are a bit too small to comfortably use but still have life left in them?

Enter, the Soap Saver! This is a simple knitted pouch that you can pop your soap ends in so that they can keep working up a lather without you dropping disintegrating bits of soap into your bath. Simple, but extremely effective de-cluttering of your soap dish.

You will need:

• A length of wool
  You can use pretty much any wool for this, although very thick wool might allow chunks of soap to fall out of the soap saver, and very fluffy wool may end up a bit felted after sustained use. The length of wool you'll need depends on its thickness and the size of your needles, but you need enough for a patch about 3"/8cm x 9"/23cm. Don't worry if you run out half way through, it'll look sweet if you have to change colours :)
• A pair of knitting needles
  Wooden ones are nicer as you get a bit more control because of the texture, but for me it was what I had lying around!
• Some time on your hands
  Knitting takes a while, so stick the TV on, or sit in the living room and chat while you work. I was lucky enough to have some conference calls to make, so I could keep my knitting hidden away out of frame!

This is the knitting bit!

I won't reinvent the wheel by teaching you all how to knit, but I'll link to some excellent Instructables by Carleyy that do a far better job than I could!

First cast on. The number of stitches you need depends on the thickness of your needles and wool, but as long as it covers about 3"/8cm you should be fine. In my version it required 19 stitches, which I chose because I prefer the symmetry of odd numbered knitted items. Keep your casting on reasonably tight so that the fabric patch ends up with nice square edges. Instructable here.

Next knit away! You probably want a symmetrical pattern such as a traditional knit or a moss knit, otherwise the fabric can end up quite textured making it hard to make the most of the foaming soap that'll come through it. Keep knitting until you have a piece about 9"/23cm. Instructable here.

Finally cast off. It's easy to over-tighten these stitches which can pull in one end of the fabric patch, so be patient and don't pull too hard on the working end of the wool. Instructable here.

You don't need to leave very long tails in your work - so once you're done just knot them to the nearest stitch and cut off any excess.

Once you have knitted your patch the design is simple - just fold both ends in to the middle so that they slightly overlap and sow down both edges. This will leave you with a pouch shape with a lip that prevents the soap pieces from falling out.

Tie a knot in the ends of your wool to stop it unravelling before using it to sow.

I didn't have a needle big enough to take the wool so I used a pair of tweezers that I could push between the stitches to grab the wool from the other side. If you leave a loop then you can pass the working end back through it to create a nice stitch that runs down the side of the piece.

If you have knitted one end slightly neater than the other (I always get neater as I go along) then put this end underneath the other so that when you turn the piece inside out it's hidden inside.

Simply turn the pouch inside out to hide the sowing and your new soap saver is ready to use! Take those little soap ends that are too small to use and pop them inside :)

I hope you enjoy, please feel free to ask any questions in the comments!