Knitting Today: Round Dishcloth

Recently I have been using up the cotton worsted weight yarn that I have.  Today I spent the day coughing, napping, and finally,(after making and eating some chicken soup) knitting a little.

The cloth project I made today was called the Peppermint Cloth.   The pattern calls for size 6 needles and casting on 20 stitches.  In theory it knits up about 8 1/2 inches across.  Mine knit up at 11 inches across.

The pattern was a good starting place but I needed to make a couple of changes to make it work for me.

Where the pattern called for slipping one purlwise then putting the yarn to the front, I changed it to putting yarn to the front and THEN slipping one purlwise.  It worked much more smoothly for me.

The other place where I made changes was when the pattern changed colors and then called for knitting two rows.  The change I made was:  after finishing the last short row, I knit all the way from the outer edge to the inner edge of the circle with the previous yarn, then pick up the new yarn and knit one row all the way across to the outer edge of the circle.  At this point start back knitting the short rows.

Peppermint Cloth....i.e. round cloth

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Projects, Square 27 and Square 28

These squares look really complicated.  They are not.  A little attention to detail does not go amiss, however!

Square 27 is called Wickerwork.  It is worked with Right Twists and Left Twists which are quite simple.  Barbara gives two methods to knit these twists so you can choose your poison.

Cast on 48 stitches which is a multiple of 8 stitches.

Square 27:  Wickerwork

Square 28 is called Twining Rib Pattern.  This also has Right Twists and Left Twists.  They are easy.  It does help to have a row counter to keep you on the straight and narrow.

This is knit in a light blue, which does not show up well.  Cast on 48 stitches...multiple of 6 stitches this time.

When I start blocking these blocks I will show them again. I believe they will be MUCH more attractive at that time. 

This book is so useful and enjoyable.  I do recommend getting your own copy and going to work on knitting your own afghan.  A few weeks before Christmas I decided I would finish this afghan as a "gift" for my husband.  Such a great idea...but no way to pull it off.  Now I am thinking: next Christmas!

Square 28: Twining Rib Pattern

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Project, Square 25 and Square 26

Square 25 is named Wave. It really does look like a wave.  It was pretty easy to knit.  Cast on 44 stitches and uses a multiple of 9 stitches plus 8.

Square 25 Wave

Square 26 is called Twisted Columns and worked rather well.  You will note, yet again, my tolerance for error.  I think this sort makes the block a little bit interesting because one wonders, "How did she do that in a very simple pattern?!"  There is no good answer, but it probably has to do with trying to do more than one thing at once!

This is a two-color design.  Cast on 44 stitches, using a multiple of 10 stitches plus 4.