A week's worth of dishcloth knitting

While I was working on the bandage (see my last post), I did a little dishcloth knitting too. During the week, it was just a little, so that I could still be knitting but taking a little break during daylight hours only, using bigger needles (size 7 and not size 2) and bigger yarn (worsted weight cotton and not crochet thread). Not to mention, I'm a junkie for colorful yarn and the bandage color options are only white and ecru. Not that there's anything wrong with white and ecru, I just like a change.

Now, some of you may wonder what the point is of knitted dishcloths. Well, there are several. First, it's cheap. I made everything in the pictures on this blog for less than 6 dollars. Second, once you've used a knitted dishcloth, you'll find out just how great they are. You can really scrub the dried on milk at the bottom of a glass (or coffee) and they work a wonder and don't scratch anything. Third, the cotton yarn comes in gobs of colors (solid, striping, and variegated) so you can coordinate with almost any decor. Fourth, they're small. Almost instant gratification. I made all 3 of the blue/yellow cloths yesterday and half of the fancy orange/yellow one (finished that one this morning), and the other 2 orange/yellow ones took less than than 2 hours total. Fifth, they can also be used as washcloths because they're super soft and just get softer after being washed (in hot! water) and dried. They also make good hot pad/counter protectors. And finally, how else was I going to learn how to do entrelac without committing myself to a huge project (and the expense that a huge project can entail)?

So here they are. All the yarn is Sugar and Cream by Lily. I got it at Joann, but you can find it lots of other places, too.

This first one is in a pattern called Garterlac Dishcloth. It's an entrelac variant using garter stitch. I got this pattern on Ravelry, and it's by Dave at Criminy Jickets. http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/

Same pattern, just a different colorway. These 2 are the biggest of the dishcloths and measure about 9 inches square.

This next one is called Grandmother's Favorite dishcloth. The pattern can be found here.
http://www.groupepp.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html

I used to have a cloth just like this, given to me by a friend whose stepmother made it for her. I loved that thing, and I would still be using it but either it got lost in a move or someone to whom I used to be married threw it away rather than in the washing machine. Amanda asked me why I made it, and I didn't give her the whole story, but this one has some sentimental value.

These next are the smallest ones, about 4 inches square (great for getting into little glasses). They're a mitred square pattern that I adapted from http://www.knittingatknoon.com/afghanpatt.html

I just used the base block which is about halfway down the page. These babies knitted up in about 30 minutes a piece. The orange/yellow one, having been knitted earlier in the week has been through the washing machine and I like the way it looks better; it seems more dense than the freshly knitted blue/yellow, don't you think?

Finally, this is the adaptation of the mitred squares above.

I added 20 stitches to the original cast on of this one and then worked the pattern in the same way to get a bigger cloth. I like the way the colors worked on this one with the orange only occasionally migrating over to the predominantly yellow side. This one's also been in the wash.

And for anyone who's even vaguely interested, every one of these was knit with a US 7 needle (4.5 mm).

All the yellow/orange cloths match my kitchen nicely. The blue/yellow was Amanda's choice, and I love the way that one came out, too. There are lots more colors available, so I'm sure I'll make more. I do love a colorful, quick, and useful project. Especially while I'm waiting for the yarn (due tomorrow from UPS ) for my big sweater project.

Which is this bad girl right here. Her name is Sylvi
http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/component/content/article/60-winter-2008-patterns/147-sylvi-by-mari-muinonen

I'm calling the Sylvi my Rushmore, at least my current Rushmore.