Dishcloth Dish #2

Okay, so I know that dishcloths aren't the most exciting knitted items to look at, but I'm actually quite enjoying them. I think I've mentioned this before, but I sort of love the crazy variegated colours that Sugar and Cream comes in. Maybe I'm just telling myself this so I can embrace the cheap yarn. Either way, though I haven't been living up to my promise of knitting three dishcloths before picking up a new project, I have been chugging along. Also, because we'll be going on a last minute vacation a couple of weeks before Christmas, I'll be missing some planned holiday parties, so I have a few less hostess gifts to knock off.


Above, another of the Banana Boat cloths from Lion Brand's Just Gifts. Every time I do this pattern I think I should be making it bigger, but then I don't. I do like the double coloured slipped-stitch pattern though and this one is a little more mindless than the Mason-Dixon Ball Band cloth.


Next, something called Kitchen Cotton Dishcloth from the good old Dishcloth Boutique. It's basically two rows of garter, then two rows of 1by1 rib. Easy peasey and textured enough to scrub.


And finally, the Short Row Dishcloth, also form DB. I like this one -- it was really fun to knit, but I refuse to ever knit another dishcloth with a seam. It's jut silly.

Dishcloth Dish

So, as previously mentioned, I kind of thought I'd spend a good part of my summer knitting up dishcloths to use as stocking stuffers and hostess gifts over the holidays. Of course, I ended up making about five (three of which have already been given away) and then decided that pregnancy granted me the right to do absolutely nothing over the summer. Well, with holiday party invites already trickling in (I know, really), I've decided that I have to finish at least three dishrags between any other project I start. And guess what? I've actually whipped off a few!

This time around I did another good old Grandmother's Favourite (all of these patterns, by the way, are taken from the Dishcloth Boutique, which I would highly recommend to anyone), which I won't go into detail about, since it's a classic pattern and I think I've already talked about it. But I did print off a bunch of other fun looking patterns to alleviate any potential Granny boredom.


Above is a little stitch pattern called Garter Lace, which I have to say, was a bit of a pain to knit with my sticky wooden needles and that stiff kitchen cotton. But I think it turned out pretty cute. And I must say, I kind of dig these Sugar N' Cream variegation colourways -- they're garish enough that I'd never use them for anything other than a rag, but they're also kind of bold and sassy.


And lastly, a cute little slipstich pattern called Chinese Waves, which was really fun to knit. I'm going to add all of these to the pile so I have a little pantry to dig into when I need something. I have another couple months to go (for the stocking stuffers at least), so I think I can actually make a substantial stock. I just love using my own knit cloths so much (I use them in the shower though -- at the dish sink we're sponge people), I want to share the joy.

Dishrags, Dishrags Everywhere

Okay, so I can't tell you how much better I feel as a human being now that the guilt of not wanting to work on my Mystery Stole has been lifted. I still haven't been knitting a lot per se, but I do have some dishrags to show you. I decided that it might be fun to whip some of these guys up when my fingers are feeling busy (but not busy enough to do something too heavy duty), so I bought a pile of cotton yarn. Here is my first set (I'm planning to do a bunch for Xmas hostess gifts/stocking stuffers -- yes, for me it is necessary to plan this far ahead). You've got your standard free patterns, plus the famed Mason Dixon slip-stitch one and a couple from the Lion Brand Just Gifts book. To be honest, I think I like the Just Gifts slip stitch (the blue and yellow one) a lot better than the Mason Dixon. Neater edges, I guess.

I'm surprised I haven't delved into the world of dishrags before. A few years ago my friend Leanne gave me a little stack of cotton cloths and Ruby and I both swear by them in the shower/bath. So, expect to see a few more of these guys in these parts. Plus, there's so many patterns out there, I have a feeling this might be my new addiction.