Bowl Cozy Hot Pad

Most of my team at work brings leftovers for lunch at least a few days a week. I noticed a constant theme of us dealing with hot bowls as we try to move food from the microwave to the table where we eat. I decided I could help remedy this (and put an end to my lazy January) by crocheting some bowl cozy hot pads. I found this free pattern by Amy B Stitched on Ravelry and set to work. I immediately realized that my issue of crocheting much more tightly than everyone else in the world was going to be an issue, so I made some changes (which you can find in my Ravelry project here). The pattern specifies cotton yarn, but I decided to go with yarns already in my stash since I'm trying not to buy any more yarn for a while. This is how my hot pad came out:

I'm actually pretty pleased with it since it fits regular Corelle bowls quite well and Ikea 365 bowls decently. The pattern is easy to scale for almost any size bowl and even people who crochet tightly can make it come out nicely. If I decide to make more in the future, I will definitely be using a bigger hook to see if I can get away with the regular pattern instead of having to add rows and stitches. Overall, this pattern was great to use as a first try at making a hot pad.