So certain things are really important here in Tanzania. One of the big events i shared with everyone on Facebook was the purchase of my very own bath bucket to use in the village area. There I take a bath in the latrine that has only the latrine hole in the floor (yes it is a squatter) for water to drain in. This is the only place to take a bath on site and you basically stand over or near the hole and pour water on yourself from the bucket. The soap up and wash it off with the water.
After I had finished with the small soaps from various hotels and was about to purchase a regular bar of soap to use at the village I was thinking about everything else I have seen on that floor of the latrine (both ladies and men's side). I realized that even though soap is technically self cleaning and I am a person not normally afraid of a little dirt, that I had no desire to use that soap again if it was on that floor or it could be just like the flashlight in 2006 when I was sick in the middle of the night and lost my grip on the flashlight. There was a strange glow from the bottom of the latrine for several days after that. Once it goes in the hole it is gone.
So I decided to make myself a soap saver. I did a simple design so others may have come up with the same design on their own but I just did this on the fly one afternoon.
I used some of the yarn the group from my church sent me on a spool so I don't know the type or weight and a G size crochet hook. I made mine to the bar of soap I was taking out so you may need to adjust the size if your bar is different.
Chain 12-in the second chain from the hook SC in one side of the chain. I do this until the end and then work the other side of the chain creating a round of 20 SC. This is round 1.
For Rounds 2-15 I do not join the end of the round with the beginning but just keep going. SC in each stitch for every round.
Round 16-SC in every stitch but join the last round to the beginning stitch in the round with a slip stitch
Round 17-Chain 4 then DC in second stitch from where you started chaining. **Chain 1-skip a stitch and DC in the next stitch Repeat from ** until you get to the beginning chain and slip stitch into the third chain of that begininng set of this round.
Wrist strap- Single crochet into both the remaining chains of that beginning stitch to anchor the strap. Then I chain 50, and cut a long tail-at least 4 inches. Weave the chain in and out of the openings of round 17 (this allows you to cinch up the sack basically). Then I wrap the strap around my fist and SC in the chain where I can make the end chain met back to the rest. I then SC in the next 5 chains, tie off and weave in the end. This allows me to slip it over my fist to my wrist and cinch up the soap in the soap saver.
Variations-make a longer chain and loop for going around your neck or to hang on a shower head.
