Dishcloth Samples

I wasn’t aware that Bendigo Woollen Mills had started to release their patterns as PDF’s. Recently I was looking on their website and noticed the option. You can purchase the patterns from their website or through Ravelry. The cost is the same but if you are only just wanting a pattern and you are not buying yarn then buying the PDF is cheaper and more instant.

I was looking for a pattern for a knitted baby blanket. Previously I’ve crocheted baby blankets but never knitted one. 2 patterns from Bendigo Woollen Mills caught my eye. I decided to do a dishcloth of each one to see if I liked it knitted up. I need new dishcloths anyway so it was a practical way to test the pattern. The patterns tell you the stitch count for a tension square. I looked at the overall stitch count and worked out the stich count needed for a dishcloth the size I wanted so I would get a full mini version of the pattern.

PT 8323

Courtsey Bendigo Woollen Mills

I’m calling this one a basket weave design. I like the design from the picture. This blanket is designed for cotton and only comes in one size. Knitting wise it is a really simple pattern to follow. I was using a row counter as you do need to keep track of the rows to follow the pattern. It is a very mindless knit however I did add stitch markers between the sections that the pattern doesn’t tell you to do.

PT 8517 Slip Stitch Blanket in 5, 8, 12 Ply

Courtsey Bendigo Woollen Mills

Again I liked the design in the picture. As the title mentions you can make multiple sizes of this blanket. You can use any number of the yarns from Bendigo Woollen Mills or one of your own choosing with this pattern. This design looks complicated but it is actually rather easy. You do have to concentrate on your rows more with this one but it isn’t hard with your row counter. Again I added stitch markers between repeats so I could keep track. I’m not used to following repeated stitch patterns and find it hard to keep count. The stitch markers made less room for error as there was only 4 stitches in a section.

To show honesty when I first photographed the PT 8517 dishcloth I actually took photos of the wrong side. It was only when I went to add it into this post that I noticed the error. The reverse side is showing a nice pattern too so really it doesn’t matter which way up you place it.

For the blanket I’m using 8 ply classic yarn but for the dishcloths I used 8 ply cotton. I knew the cotton would stretch more than the classic so I took that into consideration when deciding on which one I liked better. The basket weave one is nice but it looked a little uneven. My OCD means if I see a pattern it needs to line up and be even. I like repeats of a pattern but only if the repeat looks the same. Also I wasn’t happy with the edges, they didn’t look neat. The slip stitch one to me looked better. The pattern was more even. The pattern does switch every so many rows but as you look at the overall piece those repeats are the same. I found it easier on the eye.

I have started the baby blanket and it is looking good. Instead of putting markers every 4 stitches I have spread it out to 8. It is still very easy to follow and I am not losing track of the pattern. I’m finding it a relaxing knit.

Cassiy

 

Double Knitted Dishcloth – Square Play

The day after my double knitting class with Sockmatician I pulled out my needles and some cotton yarn from my stash and started to play. This is what I come up with.

I find it hard to just knit unless I am making an actual project. My mindset is that if I am spending time doing something I want it to be useful otherwise my mind thinks this is just a waste of time. Dishcloths are something that are very practical and are a good way to practice knitting or crochet skills or to test out a new pattern. If you have never used a handmade dishcloth I urge you to try them out they are magic.

To make this one I never followed a pattern as such. This is kind based on the swatch we made within the class with Sockmatician but with a twist. I have never written a knitting pattern but below is how I did it. I just made it up in my head. I did make 2 small errors in this one but fortunately they were both on the same side.

Cast on 25
Rows 1-5 – Double knit plain colour
Rows 6-10- Double knit 5 plain, switch colour for 15, switch colour for last 5
Rows 11-15 – Double knit 5 plain, switch colour for 5, switch colour for 5, switch colour for 5, switch colour for 5
Rows 16-20 – Double knit 5 plain, switch colour for 15, switch colour for last 5
Rows 20-25 – Double knit plain colour
Cast off

I used 10ply cotton so doubled up it is like 20ply and almost feels like a thin sponge. I didn’t weave in my ends on this one. To be honest I am lazy and if it is a dishcloth for home I mostly don’t weave in my ends I just knot them a few times. This was really fun to make and I easily finished it within a couple of days of knitting it only after work. I am still struggling with moving my yarns from the front to the back each time. I need to work on carrying yarn in both hands so that I can then increase my speed when double knitting. Think I may need to make a few more dishcloths to practice.

Cassiy

Crab Stitch Dishcloth Play

The exciting news is that I’ve almost finished my Pamuke blanket and desperately want to get if finished by next weekend even though I’m not giving it as a gift until September (in my mind I want to get it finished before the couple fly out overseas) I decided for the final edge I would do crab stitch but I wanted to try out first on a smaller project just to get my head around it. A dishcloth is the perfect project to try out new stitches on plus I haven’t made any in a while so I need more.

Yes I know my centre square is a little off as I descreased some of my rows by accident by not going into the final stitch. I’m thinking it has butterfly shape to it.

The other exciting news is that I’ve now got a set top box connected to my TV and it lets me watch YouTube on a large screen. Yep life will never be the same again. It is perfect for all those sewing and yarn tutorials. Finally I’ve found things on TV I want to watch 🙂 Previously I’d watch a couple of clips on crab stitch but yesterday morning I sat there and watched clip after clip as I worked on my dishcloth.

With crab stitch you work your stitches backwards along the row. For a right handed person instead of working your stitches right to left across your row, you work them left to right. I found this fairly easy to do. It is a very quick stitch to do. Normally I like flat edges on borders but this gives a bit of texture to the edge but in a even sort of way. I really like it I may be wrong but from what I’ve read / heard unlike other forms for edging you can’t do any other stitches on top of the crab stitch so the crab stitch is your final stitch on the item. You get a fancy edge without a lot of effort.

Cassiy

Knit One Below Dishcloth

I have a gift I want to make this year but it involved a stitch I’d never tried before Knit One Below (K1B) I can only do basic knit and purl so I had to learn this new stitch. Thanks to Pinterest and YouTube I found this clip which explains it. Once it is explained it is actually very easy. Instead of placing your working needle (the needle the stitch is going onto) into the stitch as you normally would do, you place your working needle into the stitch below and knit the stitch dropping both stitches as it passes onto the working needle. Watch the clip it explains it a lot better than I do 🙂 After a couple of minutes of practice I got the hang of it.

I decided to test out the pattern I’ll be using and make a dishcloth from it. It was easy enough to do and I like the texture of it. I can’t just knit something unless it is going to be used so dishcloths are great to practice new stitches and patterns on. If the stitch isn’t perfect it doesn’t matter as the cloth will still clean your dishes regardless and really you can’t have too many dishcloths.

Cassiy

TARDIS Dishcloth

I’m involved in a Dr Who swap on Instagram and decided to knit this TARDIS dishcloth as part of the items I’ll be sending off.

I came across a great little website Holynarfcrafts. On the website there are a lot of Dr Who and other character dishcloths including this TARDIS pattern.  As I’ve shown here in the past I love making pictorial dishcloths. This has been the easiest so far cause basically your forming parallel lines through the rows so your knitting the same stitch combination over and over. If you read the pattern you will understand better what I mean. In most pictorial dishcloths in each row (except usually the first and last 4 stitches) your counting a different amount of knit and purl stitches each time. This time it was pretty much just 3 row combinations repeated. I hope my swap partner likes their dishcloth.

Granny Dishcloths

What does one do on a Saturday evening? Darn in the ends of dishcloths of course! These were finished sometime ago and put aside as a UFP. All I needed to do was darn in the ends which ended up taking no time at all. These are all a basic granny square made in 8 ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills The white boarders are done in  single crochet in 4 ply cotton. I thought the tighter edge might be good for scouring so they are like a 2 in 1 dishcloth/scourer.

I’d pinned these to my UFP board in pinterest.  After learning how to Pin my own photos to Pinterest I’ve found this to be a really useful way to keep track of my UFP’s as I write what needs to be done in the pin description to finish them off. Now I can delete that pin knowing that’s one UFP off my list.

Happy Friday Parcel

The postman brought me a lovely parcel today. The dishcloths from the recent swap I participated in arrived.

This first one I’m calling the ribbed one. Its knitted and similar to the one I made for the swap except way more fancier. The lovely person who made this took the time to make it a strippy look which I think is really cool. I would love to one day knit in strips.

The second dishcloth is by Anna It is a knitted waffle design. This is the same yarn that I made my shawl in a few months ago. I really like it knitted in this dishcloth.

The third dishcloth is from Laura her Instagram is @thisladylovescrochet (sorry Laura I don’t know how instagram works so I couldn’t put the link in for you) Its crocheted into 3 pieces I think then woven together. Its looks like so much work has gone into this. I almost don’t want to use it for dishes. I almost want to sew this onto the outside of a bag or something as a feature piece.

The last is by a very talented lady called Jodi. This crocheted dishcloth just reminds me of sunshine and summer. Its so bright and happy. I like this square shape and would love to one day do one like it.

We attached a little tag to each dishcloth saying who made it. Jodi has done the most sweetest tag I’ve ever seen. Its a little envelope and it just made me smile. Very sweet.

So thank you to all the lovely people who participated in the swap. All your work is just so pretty. Thanks also again to Mel for running the swap

Paw Dishcloth

Turns out I can follow a knitting pattern.

As soon as I saw this dishcloth pattern I wanted to make. Problem is I’ve never followed a knitting pattern before. To be honest I tend to go into a zone when I’m crafting and I don’t like to concentrate or keep count. I like to relax. I decided to give it ago and it worked. The counting bit was actually easier than I thought. I had my clicker with me counting the rows. The only issues I had was twice I dropped stitches (including when casting off) but I was able to save them before the they fell through the rows.

There are many dishcloths in this style (a mix of knit and purl stitches) I like them as they are easy to make and look effective. I already have plans on making several next year as face washers as part of my gifts.

Dishcloth Swap 2

Mel’s running a 2nd dishcloth swap and once again I’m in. Again I haven’t followed a pattern. There are so many actual dishcloth patterns I want to make but to be ready in time for the swap I’m not able to try them. Maybe next year (Mel’s mentioned another swap)

This first one is the same as I made last time. Very basic but its nice. This time it stayed more square shape which is what its supposed to be.

I was stuck waiting for a couple of hours. In that time I’d finished the first one I and wanted to try a bit more advanced knitting. I could vaguely remember how to purl so I had a play. I cast on 30 stitches and did the basic ‘knit 1 purl 1’ I just did that row after row until it formed a square. It didn’t look big enough so I just crochet some trebles around it.

I’m calling this one “Knit 5 Purl 5” cause thats exactly what I did. I cast on 45 stitches did a row of knit stitch then from row 2 knitted 5 then purled 5, knitted 5 then purled 5 until I got to the end of the row. The next row was the exact same knit 5 purl 5. I kept doing this until it was long enough then did a knit row before casting off. It did bunch up a little so I stretched it flat overnight under 2 books on my ironing board.

The last one I did is just a Granny Square in the centre with rows of trebles around the outside. I was happy with how the corners of the trebles rows turned out. I’d tried this before and the corners were rounded and a bit squished but this one turned out good.

All of these are made with Bendigo 8ply cotton in Kiwi and Latte. I got thier colour chart in the post the other day and there some nice colours which I have my eye on.

Happy Parcel

I got a happy parcel in the post today. My dishcloths from the swap arrived.

The lovely red and white one was made by Becci from Lime Tree Creations Her crochet is so neat. I really wish I could crochet like that. Kelly made the green star. I love star shapes. Again her crochet is so neat. Both of them the colours look great togeather.

Rae made this gorgeous gold colour one that you can hang up. Its very thick so would make a great potholder too. Fran made the funky multi-coloured stripe one. I love the colours. My dishes are going to be spoilt now being washed in such fantastic dishcloths

Mel’s running a 2nd swap which I’ve already put my name down for. The hard part is deciding what patterns to use. I think I’ve decided to do 2 knitted again and 2 granny square inspired ones. Any excuse to play with dishcloths