Weekly Dishcloth: Two for One Special

I consider myself a knitter who also crochets, though there are times that I find myself feeling more like a crocheter who also knits, because once you start crocheting you get so much done so fast that it can be hard to look back.  It's so fast, so forgiving, so darn easy to work in the ends as you go . . . There's something about knitting that always brings me back to being a knitter, but you won't find me looking down on crochet.  It produces results.

Granny's Rainbow Dishcloth, by Beth Major
Peaches & Creme, Bright Orange, Forest Green, Bright Blue, and Black Currant; Sugar'n Cream, Red and Yellow

It calls itself a dishcloth, and I put a bar of soap in the frame to try and convince myself that it is, but in the end I stuck in the drawer with my coasters and trivets.  It's just a little small.  The pattern calls for seven shades of DK, and it turns out that six shades of worsted will not match its dimensions.  I might have tried going up a hook size or two, but the H was handy and granny squares go so fast that I was done before I had a chance to change my mind.  I was using the yarn I had on hand, but if I had my druthers I'd have gone with a brighter green and a more assertive yellow.

Diagonal Cloth, by Beth Major
Knit Picks Cotlin, Clementine and Canary

This dishcloth . . . meh.  The pattern was meh, the colors were meh, the end result; meh.  It was also a pain in the neck to get square, I ripped back at least twice and for an extremely straightforward dc dishcloth that's ridiculous.  Wasn't really worth the effort, but it does work up fast if you don't make any mistakes.  Meh, it'll clean something.

If nothing else I'm at least pleased to be catching myself up to the Knit Picks 52 in '15 list.  I've cast on the Ice Crystal dishcloth, which should take me just short of forever because I've decided to experiment with double knitting, because I'd rather deal with that insane level of fiddliness instead of the insane level of fiddliness that is trying to work fair-isle flat. Because I'm just insane.  Nothing new there.

Weekly Dishcloth: On Time for a Change

Log Cabin Dishcloth by Faith Schmidt
Lily Sugar'n Cream, Yellow; Lily Sugar'n Cream Twists, Country Twist

I was underwhelmed when I first saw this week's dishcloth. Another sport-weight garter stitch square? With only log cabin edging to spice it up? I immediately started trawling through Ravelry for something else, but it felt too much like copping out and delaying the inevitable. It occurred to me that it would be ridiculously simple to alter the pattern to use up some of my worsted stash, thus allowing me to move past this pattern quickly and give myself a break from Simply Cotton Sport, so I downloaded the file and opened it to find that it calls for two strands of sport-weight held together, which is basically worsted anyway. Feeling a bit silly, I cast on, and the result is a plain, serviceable dishcloth that I will feel no compunction against using on any level of grime.

Late Weekly Dishcloth: Not for lack of trying

I was so close to getting this one done on time. I was casting off on Saturday evening when I was slammed hard by a random, unprovoked wave of adrenaline of the sort that I haven't had since right before I started pushing to deliver Ezra; I started shivering like I was freezing, and despite flannel sheets, two quilts, and a heated blanket could not get warm. No fever, no other symptoms, but it did lead into a headache that lasted well into the next day, and here I am.

Lydia's Lily Pad, by Joyce Fassbender
Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport, Golden Heather

It could use a little ironing

It's almost too pretty to use. It was definitely a delight to knit. The start is VERY fiddly, but once you get going it's such a lovely bit of lace, no purling, and the chart made it so much easier to keep my place. Also I found that working on wooden needles with organic cotton put me in a divine summery place, despite the very indifferent March weather we've been having. Golden Heather isn't a color I would have been drawn to myself, and this line of yarn has been discontinued, so I feel very fortunate to have been gifted it. Thank you, stranger on Ravelry!

Wearin' of the Green

I needed something green to wear to work to celebrate the wee bit of Irish in my blood and to avoid any potential pinches, so I whipped up a quick shamrock in about fifteen minutes, including time to hunt down a safety pin.

The pattern is for a garland, but a single motif makes a dandy pin.

I was in a dishcloth swap, so I made a thematic dishcloth and potholder:

I plan to make duplicates for my own enjoyment; these were both delightful to make and so cheerfully seasonal.

Weekly Dishcloth(s): Running Late

It was with mounting dread that I knitted as fast as I could last Saturday, but for naught. Work, life, and sport-weight yarn had worked against me. Last week's dishcloth just wasn't going to happen last week.

Better late than never, though, right?

Week 9:

Maritime Facecloth, by Allison Griffith
Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport, Golden Heather

This is basically a modification on the very basic garter washcloth knit on the bias, with cables! I found that the recommended increase (backwards loop) left ladders beside the right cable, so I switched to a lifted bar increase (m1) to try and tighten things up. The left side was fine. This is definitely a washcloth as opposed to a dishcloth in my opinion; a few in baby colors would make darling shower gifts, especially paired with a bottle of baby shampoo.

Week 10:

Be My Dishcloth
Peaches & Creme, Bright Pink

The Knit Picks dishcloth of the week was perfectly feasible, but I just didn't have enough of the color that I really wanted to use, and since I gave up buying yarn for Lent, and I had a half-finished dishcloth on the needles from Valentine's Day anyway, I cheated a bit.

This dishcloth is meant to be knitted at an absurd gauge, and since I opted to use the recommended needle size instead of going up a couple as I normally do (as I already knit absurdly tightly), the effect was compounded and since once this is washed it will shrink down even tighter... well, my hands hurt and this thing is like a piece of sheet metal. Size 3 needles and worsted weight cotton were never meant to meet this way, but if you try to knit it at a sane gauge, you end up with a ginormous piece of cloth, more of a dishbedsheet. I think this really ought to be done in sport-weight; it would make an admittedly less sturdy dishcloth, but a stunning washcloth.

The other issue I encountered with this pattern that slowed me way down: the instructions are written so that the chart stitches are worked on the wrong side. The upside, and presumably the raison d'être, is that the plain rows are knitted back instead of purled, which is great if you're not a fan of purling. The downside is that it's a lot harder (for me, at least) to read your knitting on the wrong side, which makes it much harder to keep track of your place in the chart row. There was much frogging and intentional dropping of stitches to fix mistakes.