Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Dishcloth Deluge

There ain't no way to glam this up, so I'm not even going to try. I was in W*lm*rt the other day and got caught up in the new-to-me colours of Bernat Handicrafter cotton. I went on a discloth spree. Since I've got nothing else, I'm going to share it with you. Aren't you lucky? :-)

Did you know they now make self-striping cotton?



If you want precision, you'll have to stripe it yourself, but it's not too bad. This is a colourway called Country. The pattern is, of course, the Ballband -- ubiquitous, not infamous -- and available lots of places but I used the one from here.

They also have a new colour series out that they call "Naturals." Here's a 4 Corners in Chocolate Ombre, a mix of dark brown, tan and white.



And a Garterlac in Earth Ombre - beige, brown and grey.



Here's something from the "How does that work?" department:


It's the Petal cloth in the Desert Rising colourway. I like the design and what it does for the colours, but I had a few problems with the pattern. As written, for sport weight yarn, it would have come out about the size of a coaster. Once I figured out how it worked, I enlarged it by (a) changing the cast-on to 155 stitches; (b) doing the first purl rows as 31 instead of 21; (c) changing the pattern from K 8, 7, 6... to K 13, 12, 11 .... ; and (d) picking up 14 instead of 9. The pick-up still gave me trouble. The pattern asks that you pick up and purl. I'm not really sure what that means exactly, and I think I did it four different ways. I'm not really happy with any of them. I should have dug out my Horst Schultz books, but I was too lazy. Maybe next time.

Still in the experimental but desert-type mood:



I remembered how much I loved Aija's beautiful adaptation for her Lizard Ridge afghan, so I had to give it a try in Country Brown Ombre. It didn't turn out too bad, and was actually a lot of fun to knit. When you just knit all the rows that don't have short rows, it's quick and easy, and flat instead of bumpy. Very cool.

Then, since I was still in the "How does that work?" department, I tried out that nifty little knitter's magic trick:


Checkerboard Illusions cloth, in green and cream.

By then, I was feeling a little silly and giddy, so I went with it:


Here's a fancy one for when the Queen comes to visit and wants to wash my dishes.

And even sillier:


The Skully cloth. I'm not much into pictures, but this was too cool to resist.

I think I've finally got all that out of my system and shall now return to my socks.

76 people had something to say:

Anonymous said...

That is one awesome set of dishcloths! i really need to get working on some more...

PurlingPirate said...

Thanks for the reminder! I have a drawer full of cotton. And ya know, I'm just gonna have to have the skull one! Thanks!

Unknown said...

They are very cool new colours , but I was seriously starting to worry about you. Then I got to the bottom and you said that it was out of your system - phew!! Not that a dishcloth or two isn't handy to have around, but I don't know which comment made me blink harder: "... for when the Queen comes to visit..." or "... and wants to wash my dishes." LMAO - there's a picture!

Sarah said...

My goodness, you certainly did go a bit cotton-crazy! Love the results, however, so it can't have been a bad thing!

Nana Sadie said...

OMG. Dishcloth mania.
I love it!
(((hugs)))

sgeddes said...

That is quite a stack of dishcloths! They maybe simple, but they all turned out very nice. My favorites are the petal and lizard ridge variation. I really like how the colors worked in the petal cloth.

Anonymous said...

lovely dish clothes and the colors are so nice great job ruby

Anonymous said...

the queen...lol....

i've been on a little binge myself, but i don't find my dishcloths as blog-worthy as yours....very nice!

Virtuous said...

LOL @ won't try to glam! :op

I am currently doing the LR afghan and love the discloth!

How did you get the wave look w/o the short rows?? that is interesting.....

Kristy said...

Well, you have no reason for dirty dishes now! I like the Lizard Ridge dishcloth. That one turned out to be especially nice :)

Pink said...

I love "Petal"...thanks for the changes :)

Now you need some cute rubber gloves to go with those dishclothes...

Mari said...

I absolutely love the ondulating short row one (in Country Brown Ombre)!

CynCyn said...

desert type and checkerboard illusion are my faves!! so fun!

Opal said...

i'm blown away by the gorgeous array of dishcloths! but no! i must refuse the desire to snatch up any and all dishcloth cotton i find and go down that road. i have enough wip's going on. really. i can resist. i think i can. i think i can.

sheep#100 said...

Very psychedelic pentagon.
Love the lizard ridge variant.
Nifty stripes on the ball band.

Do you have enough dishcloths now?

Michelle said...

LOVE the dishcloths. You're inspiring me to start using my cotton stash. Especially like skully and the fancy one for the queen.

lexa said...

You seem to be like me when it comes to dishcloths! I don't make them a lot, but when I do, it IS a lot! I bought four skeins of Handicrafter today. Two are to make dishcloths for the store. I found a pattern today for a Transformers cloth, so I'm going to make my boys each one with the other two skeins.

HPNY KNITS said...

whata wonderful study! I hope you will catalog them in clear sleves with notes! I love Country Brown Ombre "desert-type mood".

Anonymous said...

ackkk Dave don't tell me that I have a dishcloth addiction!!!!
I seriously do not need an more new colours!!

Carrie K said...

Those are some good looking dishcloths. I might get the bug again. And the loveliest thing about them? Unlike socks, they work alOne. One is the best number in the whole wide world.

limedragon :-: Harriet said...

The petal one is very cool; I don't remember seeing a picture of it before. Grandma is visiting and is nagging for--I mean requesting--a new one. : )

BEESTLYproducts said...

wow. you're outta control.... that petal one is awesome.

Pat said...

I LOVE making dishcloths/washcloths! I have a basket full all rolled up in my bathroom and another basket in the kitchen - you can never have too many and they are the perfect canvas for experiments!
Yours are so pretty, varied and fun!!

aija said...

Rad set of dishcloths!

Debi said...

Dave, you're a dishcloth knitting maniac! They are all so good looking tho!

Pick up and purl is exactly as it sounds....when you pick up and knit you go into the stitch from the front, wrap your yarn as if to knit and pull the knit stitch thru.
To pick up and purl you come in from the back of the stitch with the yarn in front. You wrap the stitch as if to purl and you pull the purl stitch thru. It's commonly used in entrelac.

Valerie Polichar said...

I have to say -- that's hilarious, seeing that many different dishcloths all in one go. AND YET.. they are beautiful. Thanks for showing us the new dishcloth cotton colors and what you can do with them! Plus, cool patterns. I would NEVER have thought of a Lizard Ridge dishcloth, and I love it.

Meg said...

I'm sure the Queen would say "We are pleased." if you asked her to do a spot of washing up after tea with that dishcloth!
And in the meantime, can I send you all my dirty dishes?

Anonymous said...

That's an awesome collection of dishcloths! I especially like the 4 Corners one, because it looks so zebra-ish. And also the Lizard Ridge. Great choice with that colorway. And the Petal. And... all of them.

Can I watch when the Queen does your dishes? :-)

Anonymous said...

Those are really beautiful! It gives me ideas....

Anonymous said...

hehe the queen! I really like that bumpy/wavey one. The colors work really well for that pattern.

Carrie said...

Wow, I tried, but couldn't pick a favorite. Your cloths look great! I keep bouncing around with which one I liked best, so I'll just leave it at that. I'm still knitting one of your last patterns, over and over... thanks for posting new ones =)

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure which is worse: that you have been focusing your talents on mundane dishcloths, or that I am in love with several of them and that from the first photo I became wistful for some of my own lovely dishcloths. (Can't get the cool colors around here, but I can get cotton of some sort.)

To say that you are, to my mind, turning the drudgery of dishes into high art is an understatement.

These are cool.

Sonya said...

When the Queen finishes your dishes, send her to my house. She'll have to settle for a less impressive washcloth though. Lovely dishclothes, Dave.

Monika said...

Knitting all those dishcloth must have been fun! Sock knitting is not?
I especially like the lizard ridge one.

Karen said...

I just joined the dishcloth brigade last night. I was going to a baseball game (Red Sox vs. Kansas City) with my sister and her family and we had standing room tickets. I figured I would need more of a distraction than just the game to make standing for all that time bearable. I grabbed some Peaches and Cream and US#7's and xeroxed out the Ballband from Mason-Dixon. I managed to behave until about the 5th inning when I just had to have something more on my mind than my feet and how much of the park I couldn't see. I'll tell you, that pattern works out nicely in one yarn if the one you use is variegated!

If the Queen comes and washes your dishes I want her to wash mine too - that would probably be easier than getting my kids to do it!

bellamoden said...

I love that you had a dishcloth bender ;) My favorite has to be the lizard ridge one, inspired!

Jennifer said...

Sometimes a knitter just needs some dishcloth cleansing to recharge the system. I love the skully one!

picperfic said...

I love to make the garterlac dishcloth, it's my absolute favourite. Thank you for all the links, your blog is great!

Anonymous said...

Ah Dave, a lizard ridge dishcloth?! I love it. And here I was, about 2 days ago, wondering if I wanted to take dishcloth knitting on vacation again this year. I think you sold me again. ;)

weezalana said...

Spree indeed! Those are great - I especially like the Petal and Skull cloths! (I'm an exercise in duality. ;))

PCR said...

Your dishcloths are awesome! I really love the ball band and lizard ridge ones. Great color choices!

I just found out last weekend that they make self-striping cotton. I'm going to have to get myself some of that.

Anonymous said...

Those are so cool! I especially like Skully!

Anonymous said...

Good grief. Now I want to knit dishcloths and do the dishes. Get thee behind me.

sko_G knits said...

HOW did you possibly find the time to knit all of these?!?!?!!

Sarah said...

Petal looks like a fancy decorated desert, and just how often DOES the Queen come to wash your dishes? Those are all great! Looks like you've had a fun knitting apree.

Sarah said...

uh, SPREE

Darn my spelling again

Anonymous said...

Dave, I called Bernat because these colors are not on their website. They said they are not available to most of us yet-they were planning a fall release. You may be in a test market. They also said I was the 3rd person to call and say I'd seen the new colors on your blog. I told them your dishcloths do a good job of showing off the ombresand they asked me for your website so they could have a look.

Archiknist said...

Great dishcloths. I love seeing how the same yarn works in different patterns.

(And thanks for visiting my blog!)

LavenderSheep said...

Pick up and purl I am assuming is the same as picking up purlwise. Pretty much it is picking up with your needle going back to front instead of front to back. It just makes a smoother join if the purl side is facing you.

That is quite an awesome set of washclothes. It looks like you have been having a lot of fun.

Anonymous said...

Good God, man. Drop the kitchen cotton and back away sloooowwwlllyyy... Here, take some of this handpainted superwash...there you go...it'll be okay ;o)

Anonymous said...

Those are some very cool washcloths Dave! I never seem to get around to doing one and believe it or not, I don't have a single yard of washcloth cotton in the stash. Hmmmmm maybe time for a trip to wally world?

Kim said...

Awesome! I love all the different kinds you made. The illusion one is particularly cool.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! Love the different cloth's in different colors. Don't know why, but whenever I'm in a knitting slump, the humble warshrag is just what I need. Since you are on a roll, Fiber Trends has a new lace warshrag pattern, #224. It is knit in short rows. Very nice:)

Ang

Anonymous said...

I'm now wondering if my Walmart has this yarn. Wow! Who would want to wash dishes with these? Very nice.

Carol said...

Next to a sock, these make for the best summer knitting! They're all beauties!

Lacefreak said...

I love all of your dishcloths! I think they would make great Xmas presents! After all, who doesn't do dishes?

(formerly) no-blog-rachel said...

Love the dishcloth a la Aija's Lizard Ridge! Some friends of ours were considerate enough to get engaged so now I have an excuse to knit them a Lizard Ridge as a wedding gift, and I'm doing it the same way Aija did. I like the original but love how she modified it!

Terri said...

Goodness you have been productive! These are great!

CrazyFiberLady said...

Those are some serious dishcloths! I hadn't a clue they came in the self-striping variety. You've been very busy.

Bianca said...

Impressive set of dishcloths. I like the colour combinations :-)

knottykitty said...

OMG, it would take me a decade of summers to make that many dishcloths! They are all great--I love the ballband with the different color bars--very nice! I love low-pressure knitting! LOL!

Joan said...

I knit the doily washcloths as Christmas gifts last year for 3 elderly ladies and wrapped each one in a bar of handmade soap. They all thought they were doilies and put them under lamps. LOL.

kathy b said...

Having NEVER knit a dishcloth and entered Emily at Yarnmiracles' dishragtag, I needed some enthusiasm! I'll try the ones that look easy!

Abigail said...

I heart your color choices. They all look great!

And thank you very much for the links. I needed some new patterns to entertain me while we drive across the US to our new home.

Miriam said...

I love the top one the most. But you have been doing a great job.

Deb said...

The self striping yarns are so neat! Right now, I'm working on socks w/yarn that does the self-fair isle design. I love it, especially because it looks like I worked so hard on the detail! LOL!

~Deb

Bells said...

Your dishcloths are beautiful Dave. Really nice. I'm almost inspired to make some more myself.

~Kristie said...

I've been in and out of the dishcloth knitting phase myself lately, but not quite as severe as yours ;-)

I did try your Entrelac dishcloth pattern though and damn you, I can't stop knitting it!

Diane said...

One never knows when the Queen will pop in looking for a dishcloth. lol

Nan said...

Wow-sa, I shall never be bored again, if not knitting dishcloths, socks etc, I will have pleny of reading now that I have found you blog and see all the great blogs I can jump to from here! Thanks for posting them for all to share!

Anonymous said...

I love your dishcloths! I need to check out my local discount store.

Anonymous said...

Love them all, bless their little hearts and skulls! Thanks for your garterlac pattern!
Alice

Coming Unravelled said...

For all of us dishcloth knitters who are not yet versed well enough in large projects - just exactly how can I knit that lizard ridge cloth??? Hmmm.... I will have to bribe someone to blog the pattern to the dishcloth version somewhere. I just love it. I has the smacking of a "classic". (Like your Garterlac!)Thanks for posting all the fun!

kelli ann & lorie said...

hilARious post. i find that a good spate of dishcloth knitting helps me a lot, too...

Anonymous said...

I love that Lizard Ridge dishcloth! And I think you picked the perfect yarn for it! :-)

Savannagal said...

Hi,

What are the chances you kept a copy of the Petal Dishcloth? It's no longer available on Ravelry. I'm trying to track down a copy.

Thanks,
Savannagal on Ravelry