The idea of using a wad of cloth to lift a hot pot from the fire is, I assume, an ancient one.

Potholders as a staple of cooking equipment are probably as old as dirt – well, mine are anyway. Seeing the singed edges, the burned spots and blueberry stains blotting the potholders that reside in the drawer under my stove prompted me to wonder why on earth I hadn’t acquired new ones.

Well, for starters, I’m picky about potholders.

I have known many a potholder in my day, starting with those made of loops of stretchy material created on those little red metal looms when I was about 9 years old. Potholders I have used include dish towels folded into several layers, terry cloth versions I bought at local stores, others that were padded with some sort of evil fiberfill that melted at low temperatures, and big, bulky mitts that made my hand feel like it belonged to a yeti.

I also have used beautifully made potholders designed with user safety and comfort in mind, but the potholders I prefer are the ones I make.

I avoid knitting or crocheting potholders because they aren’t dense enough, even with several layers of padding. However, not so long ago I crocheted a rectangle in shades of blue-green, gold and yellow wool yarn. I liked the feel of the resulting piece and I liked the way it looked.

A quick visit to my fabric stash yielded a thick piece of dusty blue wool, which I cut to fit the crocheted piece. I whip-stitched the two pieces together with gold wool yarn. And there I had it, a new potholder. I test-drove it on the frying pan that evening and was quite pleased with the potholder’s beauty and serviceability. Then I pressed it into service when I took a pan of baked salmon out of the oven. The potholder doubled nicely as a hot dish mat.

Armed with that triumph, I retrieved more of the dusty blue wool fabric and used it to make another potholder. I wanted it to be pleasing to the eye. But if I made it too pretty, I knew I’d never use it, no matter how well it fit my hand or how well-padded.

I cut out two 8-inch squares of the blue wool and set my old Singer sewing machine on zigzag to stitch the edges of the layers together. I used blue thread a shade lighter than the wool. I changed the stitch setting to a decorative motif – a trailing vine – and made a band of stitching about one-half inch from the edge of the piece. I made another row of stitching using a scallop motif about an inch from the edge. Then I used an arrow motif to stitch an X in the center of the potholder. The result is a potholder nice to look at, but not too pretty to use.

I also found in my stash a piece of lavender and blue plaid wool. I cut out a 6-inch square of the plaid, and using the zigzag stitch on the machine, I appliqued it to the center of an 8-inch square of blue wool. Then I zigzag stitched another blue square to the first one. I stitched around the edge of the plaid square. And there it was, another homegrown potholder, nice to look at but ordinary enough to make me want to use it.

I didn’t use a middle layer for the potholders I made because the wool was thick enough without it.

When making potholders, use only 100 percent cotton or wool materials and make sure the inner padding is cotton or wool in sufficient layers to provide a barrier between hot pans and naked hands.

Since I don’t like potholders hanging around without earning their keep, I’ll toss these new ones in the drawer under the stove until I need them.

Snippets

“Enrichment Through Paper Dolls,” a presentation by collector Mary Webster Seeley, will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at the Wilson Museum in Castine. Call 326-9247 for information.

Pleasant Mountain Fiber Arts workshops will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Sunday, June 22-24, at Denmark Arts Center, 50 West Main St., Denmark. To learn about workshop offerings, call Linda Whiting at 451-2687 or visit www.pleasantmtfiber.com.

Go to Google and type in “Crystal Palace Yarns” to access some great free knitting patterns.

Visit www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich to find wonderful, free crochet patterns for wearables, tablecloths, doilies, edgings and some knitted items.

Go to www.knitting-crochet.com to access free vintage patterns from the early 1900s to the 1950s.

Looking for Irish crochet patterns? Go to www.crochettreasures.com.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.