Dishcloth heaven

Girls, do you know what is going on over the water? Did you even know that people KNIT their own dishcloths and actually wash dishes with them?  Well, I have to confess it was all news to me when I stumbled across a chat/forum on flickr the other day. Some poor soul naively asked what the point was of knitting dishcloths, did they absorb anything or just look pretty. She got a barrage of replies which I waded through. Have a look for yourself here ( and while you're at it look at some of the 800+ photos of dishcloths on flickr too). Well, by the end of it I was converted and I had to make one myself. Someone helpfully put in a link to a site full of patterns and I picked the Baby Fern Dishcloth. I found some cotton in one of my baskets and here's what I produced in a couple of hours (couple of hours because I didn't cast on the right number of stitches so had to undo it twice - it was late and I wanted to show you something this morning, honest!):

It's very quick to knit up but I wonder if I can bear getting it dirty - haha.

Anyway, I have solved one of my Christmas present dilemnas. I am going to knit abut a dozen of these as presents for my sisters, the in-laws, kindi teachers and anyone else I can think of. Incase you want to join me I have been doing a little research (forgive me if I'm preaching to the converted).

One of the yarns ladies in America are using is called Peaches and Creme (there is other stuff but I decided to stick with investigating one brand) made by Elmore Pisgah. I e-mailed them and asked them where to buy their stuff from. Seems you can get it directly from them. Here's their website. You can buy 1lb cones or balls/skeins which are 2oz. The lovely Flo who I spoke to said she thought a skein would make two dishcloths. There are about 100 colours to chose from. I'm going to do an order this morning and I did toy with the idea of some of us clubbing together and sharing the postage. Let me know if you want to - I could pay on my visa and divide it when the order arrives and you can pay me by cheque or paypal I suppose.

It seems that one of the dishcloths everyone is knitting is called the Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloth from their book. It's very pretty but having just had a splurge on Amazon I cannot buy another book. With this in mind I set about looking on the web for patterns and believe me there is no shortage. So make youself a cup of coffee, kick everyone out of the room and have a quick look here, here, here, here, here, here and here - maybe not a quick look.

Incase you still need convincing here are some reasons I can see for knitting dishcloths:

1. A very quick knit.
2. Unusual present
3. Great way to practice new patterns.
4. An excuse to buy some scrummy yarn.

Hey, maybe we can have one of those knit-along things that knitting blogs have. Always wondered what they were and how it worked?

Well, I'll leave you immersed in dishcloths. Must go and pick my colours of Peaches and Creme.......

..........................................................................................................

By the way I was just looking for dishcloth cotton in the UK and I came across this on someones blog.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Not sure about the seemingly born to clean - have you seen the dust and cobwebs around here and as for plain Jane - boohoohoo.

Tom thinks I'm more Mohair:

You are Mohair. You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes

Comments

[Dannielle]

What?! You mean all you adorable ladies, all proper and dainty in your "pinnies", DON'T use handknit dishcloths. I just assumed... :-)

I admit to a good deal of my dishcloth stash being handknit or crocheted.

However, I disagree about getting 2 dishcloths from one small ball of cotton yarn. That is, unless you prefer coaster sized cloths.

The problem with knitted dishcloths is that the cotton yarn shrinks quite a bit. If you knit a square it will be a rectangle after it's washed. You have to knit many rows beyond having made a square if you ever hope to have a square dishcloth after shrinkage.

I use almost the entire 2oz ball for one dishcloth.

Bernat makes 2 types of cotton yarn, too.

I just bought a 12oz skein of this yesterday (in "pretty pastels")
http://tinyurl.com/fsep9

They also have a "baby" variety that is super soft and has a nice texture to it.

Lots of patterns on their site too :-D

[stephanie s]

you are certainly no plain jane!!!! looking forward to your thoughts on using a dishcloth...

[Rowan]

That dishcloth is pretty enough to wear! I'm a knitter and knew it was one of THE things to knit in the US but have never tried. Having seen yours I think I'll get some cotton and give it a go. I'll follow the links tomorrow - I've had a long day at the village show and I'm shattered.

[plainandsimple]

That is the fanciest dish cloth I have ever seen...I use old terry napppies cut into strips...hmm, I've got some Debbie Bliss cotton left over from the DH's plain knit. Perhaps I'll get busy. One must keep up with one's blogpals don't ya know!

[michelle]

I just wanted to let you know that the ballband dishcloth is actually found on some of the ballbands of Peaches and Creme(I guess that is why they call it that). So hopefully with your order you will receive one. There is no picture or anything but it is the same.

Although you may still want to get the book eventually, there is so much great stuff in there. It is one of my new favorites.

[Lindsey]

I'm not a great knitter and can never see me being converted to knitting a dishcloth. I do however, look forward to seeing all those wonderful little dishclothes you are going to make for presents. What a great idea simmy :)

[Jennifer]

Hey - here is the Ballband Dishcloth pattern on the internet... So you don't have to go out and buy the book!
It's the Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth at
http://www.jimsyldesign.com/~dishbout/kpatterns/knitting2.html

[Norma]

Here is a site with links to a lot of dishcloth patterns:
http://dishandwashclothmania.wordpress.com/