 | I'm still working through the urge for instant gratification in craft projects, so I recently finished several new cotton dishcloths. These are all we use in our kitchen anymore. Since we don't have a dishwasher on the boat, they are wearing out a little faster than they used to. When I saw a clearance sale at Michaels on 400g skeins of Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn for $2 each, I snapped up two - one in white, one in natural. So far, I have completed five in white with quite a bit still left over. You can't really tell what you are going to get until the cloth has been washed in hot water and dried in the dryer. I found that some of the patterns I tried that looked great before washing looked misshapen after. All of the pictures are after drying. |
The Details: | |
 | Pattern: "Spot Free" Book: Leisure Arts Color-Splash Dishcloths Needles: Size 8 Straights Notes: This one will probably end up being the most useful cloth, if not the most decorative. It has lots of ridges that work well as dish scrubbies. I put it as number three for shrinkage. It improved upon shrinking, tightening up very evenly. The only problem is that the corners have a tendency to turn up. I would definitely make this one again. |
 | Pattern: Weavings Book: American School of Needlework Knit Dishcloth Sampler Needles: Size 8 Straights Notes: This one really changed after it was washed. The center cabling tightened up and is still fairly symmetrical. However, the non-cable background and edges did not shrink as much. As a result, the edges do not lay flat and are kind of rumpled-looking. I still like it, but I think I will leave cables for sweaters in the future. |
| Pattern: Stripes Book: American School of Needlework Knit Dishcloth Sampler Needles: Size 8 Straights Notes: This was another one that changed a lot when it went through the washer. It went from a square to a fairly wide rectangle. It's okay, but I probably will not make it again. |
| Pattern: Basketweave Book: American School of Needlework Knit Dishcloth Sampler Needles: Size 8 Straights Notes: This looked fairly ordinary after knitting, but looked the nicest after washing. It lays perfectly flat and did not deform at all after drying. It may only be a mediocre performer as a dishcloth, since there are very few scrubby ridges. I would definitely make it again, though. |
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Pattern: Knitted Sailboat Cloth Needles: Size 8 Straights Modifications: I added 3 knit rows to both the top and bottom of the cloth. I also added 3 knits to each edge. I wanted the garter stitch border to be consistent with the other ones I just made. Notes: The pattern calls for size 7 needles (which I seem to have misplaced). I think that with a tighter stitch, the sailboat motif would be a little clearer. Of the five dishcloths, this one came in second for even shrinkage. |
