This morning, several chicken potholders were in one of the features on my Facebook page. It immediately brought me down memory lane. My mother had many potholders she had crocheted in her younger years. They were so pretty and so different than the things we see now today. Some were shaped like flowers with others being square but patterned, others having five sides, etc. They were awesome. Too pretty to use. Sad to say the books she used are long gone. The vintage patterns were always special to me. It makes me sad to think of all the old pattern books from yesteryear are no longer around.
Deciding I wanted to make some potholders, especially a chicken potholder, as they are just so darn cute, the search was on. One of my favorite sites for free patterns is Ravelry . My second choice is AllFreeCrochet . Whatever I am looking for, I manage to find it between these two sites. No need to go out and buy all sorts of books on patterns when I can get them free. Found a sunflower potholder. Have the vase on the dash of my Bug filled with silk sunflowers. 
They are just so happy. Now, they can be in my kitchen. Not orange but vibrant yellow! Found a dog potholder that I will make black and white with a bit bigger ears and altered markings in remembrance of my sweet Boston Terrier, RoseBud. 
Altering the patterns and changing the color scheme makes it so totally your own piece. Fun to do that for gifts as well. Everyone likes things that are made special for them relating to personal things in their life. Shows a little extra that you cared. Last but not least I want to include a picture of the chicken that started all this LOL. Is she not just so adorable! 
Need a whole flock.
Road trip coming up. Need to go get the cotton thread to make these. I’ve been working on a large project and had to lay it aside because if I miscounted one more time …. time to breathe and do an alternate project. Time for me have some chill down time making these guys. Was thinking some bunnies would be cute too. Have to check that out.
I would like to mention, that these two sites do contain some vintage patterns. That brought me great joy. They are not the exact patterns my Mother had but close enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Will be making a few of those as well.
A while back, I bought some Red Heart Scrubby cotton for dishcloths. Had never seen anything like this but just looked like so much fun to work with. Also, thought it would make fantastic scrubbies for the shower! Just so happened when I was on AllFreeCrochet I downloaded a free ebook this morning for scrubbies. 
There is a whole section of free ebooks. Make sure you check that out. Bingo! I’m in business now. These will make for awesome gift sets either in the kitchen or bath. Get a little basket, make a couple scrubbies, pop in their favorite dish detergent or bath gel. Instead of an Easter candy basket, how about a spa basket. There is a lot of potential there.
Those are just two sites. I’m sure the Internet is full of others. Take a journey and find more. If you have a minute, share your discoveries with us. We all love new sites and new ideas.
Up date — I did find a glass globe vase to finish my terra cotta pot doggie jar. Looking forward to working on that. I think some felt will make nice floppy ears for him.
“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
Go and create your wonders or somebody else will and take your credit. We are all geniuses…go forth!