Chenille Yarn Water Bottle Pattern (sort of)

Chenille Yarn Water Bottle Tote

My sweet husband went shopping without me one day and thought of me when he saw this tall water bottle.

I always have a bottle of water with me, especially in the summer. He thought he was doing something very special getting me a bottle with grips on the side. Bless his big heart.

The first time I took it with me on a shopping day, the temperature was a nice 95 degrees. I filled it with ice and water and went on my way. Of course the ice made it sweat nicely and it was dripping all over me with every drink.

I had to leave it in the car. I mean really! I had to carry my purse, hold a child's hand and get groceries. After all I only have 2 hands. When I got back to the car about an hour later, the water was too warm to drink.

So I'm thinking: I needed a tote for this thing. There are many on the market but with my addiction to crochet, I decided to whip one up using left over yarn. I found a nice size of Chenille yarn left in my stash.

My first thought was NO WAY! It's summer, temps are now in the 100's! Just looking at that yarn makes me hot.

It was all I had enough yarn of though; besides the stuff I was working with was for other projects so....yep I went ahead and used it.

It's thick and soft and hey it was on sale for $1.00. If it didn't keep my water cool I could buy something better later and at least it would be easier to carry.

Turns out it was the perfect yarn for my water bottle! It frees up my hands because of the straps, it stops the nasty sweating AND it insulated the bottle so well that after 2 hours of being shut in a hot car it still had quite a bit of unmelted ice!

I don't have a "pattern" but I can give you some instructions.
I used hook size H.

• Chain 4 and join or make a magic ring.
• Increase each round until the size of the circle fits your water bottle.
• Now use your favorite stitch such as sc or dc. Remember that you want your stitches to close together-no gaps! You want it to insulate your bottle.
• Working in the round, no more increasing, make it as tall as your bottle. (I worked in a spiral, not joining rounds).
• For the top of the bottle: Skip 2 stitches, stitch one, skip 2 stitches, stitch one, around. This makes holes for a tie.
• Make any type strap you like at any length you like. I made mine long enough to slip over my head and hang on my side. That way it won't keep slipping off your shoulder.
• Attach the straps to the inside of the tote.
• Tie: Chain enough length to fit the holes you made at top of bottle and to tie.

That's it. I hope this make sense. If not drop me a line and I'll try to help clear it up for you.