Knitting: Wash Cloths, Different Stitch Pattern

After my day at the emergency room I had to have a follow-up appointment with my physician.  In the lobby at the clinic was a hospital volunteer.  She was knitting.  Of course, I cannot walk by a knitter without inquiring as to the project, sometimes spending a great deal of time chatting!  It is so lovely to visit with knitters.  You can learn so much from them.

On this occasion I asked what she was making. She was making wash cloths.  I did not recognize the stitch. She said it was mindless knitting!  It was a double seed stitch, she told me.  Knit 2, Purl 2 then repeat on the next row.  A two row pattern repeat.

This seemed like such a great idea that I started knitting when I got home.  I am so grateful to that lady for her suggestion. I love the texture of these cloths.  Sadly, she was not there when I went back for another appointment.  I wanted to thank her for her help.

Double seed stitch cloths except for the top cloth which is a slip stitch design.

These are knit with worsted weight cotton yarn...mostly Peaches and Creme.  I am nearly out of full balls so pretty soon I will make slip-stitch patterns to use up the partial balls.  Once the yarn is all used up I CAN BUY MORE with a clear conscience.  That may be a while, though....

This is what I did:

Using the worsted weight yarn and US Size 8 knitting needles I cast on 36 stitches and started with Knit 2, Purl 2 to the end (you need to cast on a multiple of 4 stitches to make this stitch mindless and easy to do).  Turn and Knit 2, Purl 2 back.  On the third row, Purl 2, Knit 2 across.  Turn and repeat.  On the fifth row, go back to Knit 2, Purl 2 for two rows,

Repeat these rows until you have a square cloth.    Bind off in knit on the right side row.  Be sure not to cast off too tightly.

Knitting: Slip Stitch Designs

While slipping around here and there on the internet the other day I found Purl Soho.  There were several dishcloths using slip-stitch patterns.  This technique appeals to me because you can make some rather stunning designs in multiple colors but only using one color per row.  What is not to love?


We were going to northern Vermont for a family get-together.  Since this trip is not something we make frequently, I looked around to see if there were any yarn shops handy by that just had to visit.  There were!  The one I chose for our visit (because it had the Euroflax yarn called for in this pattern...) was Northeast Fiber Arts Center.   It is a FABULOUS fiber arts center.  ANYTHING you want to do, you can find the tools and materials there. Also the proprietor was so very helpful and took the time I needed to explain something else to me which I will discuss at another time.   I was so tempted to lay down some of my dwindling play money supply, but at the last moment sanity prevailed.  I cannot buy one more thing until I have finished more of my already-started projects!  I cannot, cannot, cannot.  If I say it enough times maybe I will hear it.  And obey!

Anyway, I did not turn out to buy the Euroflax yarn.  It was very very costly and is knit at a pretty fine gauge.  It sounds like it would be wonderful but I have a LOT of nice cotton worsted weight yarn that I need to use up so...I just needed to re-engineer this pattern to work at a larger gauge.  

This is what I have done.  (Well, at least, this is how I have started...)

Cotton worsted weight yarn in two different colors:  name one Color A and the other Color B.  You might even want to write down in your knitting notebook for this project which is Color A and which is Color B.

US Size 7 knitting needles, or even US size  6 or 5.  It just depends on what you like.  I am going to use this for a washcloth so I am using size 7.  (Plus there were two size 7 straight needles in the bottom of the basket where I found the yarn--two part balls of blue and one part ball of red, so I felt that was expedient, picked up the needles, and began knitting.)

There was a certain amount of mental energy spent to translate the finer gauge yarn at 75 stitches cast on to a larger gauge to knit a cloth that is a good size for a face cloth.  I decided to try 39 stitches, and miracle of miracles, that number was right the first time.  (The cast on number had to accommodate the pattern design.  It did.  Such a relief.)

Cloth about half done.

 Many knitters will know that "slip 1 wyib" means to slip the next stitch purlwise with the working yarn in back of the work.  Thus "slip 1 wyif" means that you will slip the next stitch after bringing the working yarn to the front as if you were going to purl (unless you purl Norwegian style--in which case, bring the yarn to the front between the needles before slipping the stitch.) then slipping the stitch and returning the working yard between needles to the back of the work again and continue knitting.  The first time or two it might seem awkward, but it will become second nature really soon.

THREE-AND-ONE TWEED PATTERN 

With Color A, cast on 39 stitches.

Row 1 (wrong side): Purl.

Row 2 (right side): With Color C, k3, *slip 1 with yarn in back (wyib), k3, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 3: With Color C, slip 1 wyib, k2, *slip 1 with yarn in front (wyif), k3, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 4: With Color A, k1, *slip 1 wyib, k3, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1 wyib, k1.

Row 5: With Color A, slip 1 wyib, *slip 1 wyif, k3, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1 wyif, k1.

Repeat Rows 2 – 5 until piece measures the length you want your cloth, ending with a Row 3. 

Since I am not there yet, this is what I will do:  when I get to almost the place where I think the cloth will be square, I will fold the knitting diagonally and see if it is square, or almost square, then work to Row 3. 

At that point I will knit one row of Color A, then turn work and cast off on the wrong side, purlwise.  No, it will not look exactly like the cast on row but--it will work and be reasonable.  If someone knows a better way to do this,  please let me know and I will share it with others on this page.

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...!

Knitting Today: Heart Dishcloth/Washcloth

Around Valentine's Day there are many very cool knitting patterns using the heart pattern.  Usually I see these and get very excited to make some of them as gifts.  Unfortunately, there is almost always no time to knit up the projects in time for Valentine's Day (or Easter or St. Patrick's Day or Halloween or Christmas...).  This time, however, I did get a gift made.  This time a two-day snowstorm which left a foot and a half of snow made driving to the intended recipient impossible.  The day having gone by, I will probably put the gift in the gift-waiting-to-give drawer where I keep knitted gift-items-to-be.

This wash cloth/dish cloth was knit with Sugar 'n' Cream cotton worsted weight yarn.  Peaches 'n' Cream yarn could also be used, or any other cotton worsted weight yarn.

My heart cloth did not look fat and happy like the one shown on the pattern, but then, I thought I was out of time so I stopped knitting increases early....shortcuts often are not worth the saved time!

The pattern is found here.

It only took an evening to get it knit up.