A bar of handcrafted soap is
                                                                                           luscious and delightful.
                                          However, making your own soap is not a quick and easy process, considering you are
                                          handling caustic lye and waiting 2 months to see if your recipe turned out the way you
                                          hoped.  It takes a lot of trial and error, but once you get your own perfect blend and
                                          technique mastered, experimenting with raw ingredients and scents can be a lot of fun.
                                          On the other hand, if starting from scratch isn’t necessarily your cup of tea, there are
                                          many handcrafted soaps on the market that are simply heavenly!  Besides our own
                                          French Lavender soap, I also really enjoy some of the earthy scents from Zum Bar
                                          (goat’s milk soap).  And when I want to give someone a little “pick-me-up” or “thank
                                          you” present, a bar of soap is one of my favorite gifts. But, just a bar of soap seems a
                                          little lonely, so I like to dress it up with a handmade washcloth.  I feel a handmade gift
                                          really shows that my gesture is sincere and from the heart.  Further, receiving a
                                          handmade gift really feels like receiving loving energy.  Plus, hand-crocheted cotton
                                          dishcloths and washcloths make using your new bar of soap extra special!
 

                                          For dishcloths in the kitchen, I use a cotton yarn that is 60 grams per 98 yds.  
                                          For washcloths I use a more delicate yarn, 50 grams per 180 yds. 
                                          For both cloths, I use a size “8 or G” crochet hook.

   1.         2.           3. 

1.  Start by crocheting a chain; 32 chain stitches for a dishcloth or 33 chain stitches for a washcloth.
    
2.  In the second chain from the hook, Half Double Crochet (HDC).  Continue HDC in each chain stitch
    all the way across your chain.   (This first row is the hardest because the stitches are a little tricky
     to see, but they are much easier to see on the 2^nd+ rows.)
    
3.  After the last HDC, chain 1 stitch and turn. 
    
4.  HDC in every stitch of the next row.  Chain 1 and turn.  Repeat this sequence until your cloth is the size
    you would like.  To keep my cloths square and to avoid constant measuring, I check the size by folding
    the corners together until both edges meet. 

      5.   To finish, simply cut the thread and pull it all the way through your last “chain 1.”
 

Half Double Crochet:  1.  Wrap yarn around hook.
                                         2   Keep yarn on hook, put hook through stitch, pick up yarn again.
                                         3.  Pull yarn through stitch.  You now have 3 strands of yarn on your
                                               crochet hook. 
                                         4.  Pick up  yarn 1 more time and pull it through all 3 strands on your hook.

                                                               1.       

2.         3.       4.