Knitting Today: Two Washcloths/Dishcloths

Once upon a time, many years ago, someone told me about a knitting website that I just HAD to visit.  I did visit that website and my knitting life was changed forever!  The website was the KnitPicks website. 

When I first went to KnitPicks I was thrilled to find beautiful yarns at apparently great prices.  Because I prefer natural fibers, this was the yarn store for me!  I purchased lots of different yarns for multiple projects, not all of which have been yet knit up even all these years later!

Soon I noticed there was a podcast by Kelley Petkun.  These were so very informative, interesting, and enjoyable.  I learned many things from Kelley which improved my knitting. I listened avidly to her podcasts week after week.   Later there was a blog developed and independent knitting designer pattern pages made available.  All good things.

Recently I discovered their 52 Weeks of Dishcloths pattern project!  That was such a great thought since I have a fair amount of cotton yarn which is just the ticket for washcloths and dishcloths.  The first two of these dishcloth patterns was a diagonal increase cloth. I loved this pattern but it took a while to get it right.  Don't get me wrong: this is not a difficult pattern!  The problem is almost always "user error" when I have a problem with a pattern.  Well, with just about everything, come to think of it!!!  Reading and re-reading the pattern when  an error seems to be taking place is the way to go.  In this case, after the decrease you MUST remove the stitch marker, knit 1, replace the marker, and then continue on.  Without that happening, the pattern very quickly devolves into a nasty-shaped cloth.

This cloth eventually came out well, though in the picture you can see I had yet to block the cloth when I took the picture.

The second cloth I made was a crocheted cloth.  This was another enjoyable project which taught me several things.  The most quickly learned thing is that crocheting is really painful for me.  I could only work half a dozen stitches before I had to put down the crochet hook.  With this little glitch, it took me quite a while to crochet this round cloth.  Since I am not quite as enamored of the look of some crochet, I have decided that probably the only crochet project I will still work is the Granny Square afghan that M started many years ago then returned the project to me.  (One of my many unfinished projects...but one which will come to the top of the "finish box" for this year.)

Not my favorite cloth, but...it is for washing dishes, so...!