Tuesday 7 February 2012

Have you guessed what I am knitting yet?

Yes, its a dishcloth folks. Needless to say, once you've finished laughing and picked yourselves up off the floor, at the very least, I know it will be useful. It has a different pattern on each side and I reckon, should you choose to do so, they could be dyed to any colour you wish to tone in with where you want to use them.



I was supposed to knit it on either 5.5 or 6 mm needles but didn't have any. The nearest I had was 6.5 and with hindsight they might be too large but do knit up very quickly! I cast on 45 stitches and with these sized needles, I would have been better off with only 35. 

I have used cream craft cotton (£2) and according to Hilde at granheim2.blogspot.com, whose site I got them from, you cast on an odd number of stitches, knit the first row, then K1, P1 the second row before repeating these two rows over and over to the required length. Then you cast off.


Anyway, I have just tested it and it soaks up fluids very well and when  squeezed out, wipes surfaces down very well without leaving them wet. It has cost me 50p to make. After testing it, I dried it and it has tightened up considerably, it looks and feel miles better so I might stick with knitting it on these needles but only cast on 35 stitches.

Yes, I know you can buy these things a lot cheaper but we normally buy 8 flannels to use as dish clothes (and not cheap ones either as they have to last us a whole year). They normally work out at around £1 to £1.15 each, so I reckon these will work out cheaper in the long run. I haven't done them for that reason, they are just something for me to knit when I get fed up doing my rug. I will however, test them further and carry on making them. Thanks Hilde!

I have now started another cloth on size 5mm needles and casting on 51 stitches - it looks a lot more close together than the last one so may prove a better design.

3 comments:

  1. I thought it was going to be a scarf! I started knitting my own dishcloths2 years ago after I found a pattern on a blog. I find them really hardwearing- they certainly don't wear out like bought dishcloths do. When they get a bit past it I use them as cleaning cloths. I've been lucky enough to find cotton yarn in charity shops so I've used that.

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  2. No, haven't got the patience to knit a scarf. Did it in 20 minute bursts over 3 days, so not bad for me. Might try smaller needles next, the ones I have down from this are 4mm, might be too small.

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  3. Well done, Datacreata, it looks very nice!!
    You could try the 4 mm needles and see how the dishcloth turns out, maybe it is right for the yarn you are knitting with.

    I have made several of these knitted cloths, and I find that they work very well. They are also long lasting.

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