Introduction: Knitted or Crocheted Paintbrush Holder

About: I am an artist and clothing designer with a passion for helping others bring their own creative dreams to life.

Need to keep your paintbrushes held securely upright while they dry? Try this paintbrush holder, which can be either knitted or crocheted. It's a very adaptable design, it should work with almost any stitch pattern and most yarns. Good project to use leftover yarn. I wouldn't use a very fuzzy or fragile yarn, but anything else? Go for it!

You'll also need a coffee cup, small basket, vase, or other container about 5 inches high with tapered sides.

Step 1: Start Knitting or Crocheting a Simple Rectangle

Knit a rectangle that is ABOUT as wide as your container's mouth, and twice as long. I say "about", because the measurements really aren't a huge big deal. You can certainly wing it.

Do use loose stitches. If you have large knitting needles or a large crochet hook, by all means use that. I didn't have any, so I'm using the handles of my two largest paintbrushes. The ends of the brush handles aren't very pointy, but it doesn't really matter because the stitches are very loose.

In this picture, I'm pulling and stretching the work apart a bit so that you can see how loose I made the stitches.

Step 2: Attach the Work to the Container

When you get your rectangle done, fold it in half so that you have a square. Making it double-layered like that just holds the brushes more securely than one layer will.

Stretch the knitted square over the mouth of your container, and hold it with a rubber band while you adjust it and make sure it's the way you want it. You want it to be stretched fairly snugly.

The way I secured mine was by using a large blunt needle to weave a ribbon in and out all around the edge of the knitted piece. Then I tied it tight and removed the rubber band.

Now poke your paintbrushes down right through the knitting, to the bottom of the container. It will hold them apart and keep their bristles from touching each other.

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