Double Knit Dishcloths Faith Schmidt Dishcloths, a perennial favorite among knitters, are a great way to learn new stitches and techniques. These dishcloths are quick, all can be made in under two hours, and make great gifts. This pattern includes five designs, ranging from very easy to more advanced. So, pull out your knitting board and make some dishcloths today. Designs include Stockinette with a Twist Dishcloth, Mini Braid Dishcloth, Honeycomb Dishcloth, Twisted Stitch Dishcloth, and Simple Cable Dishcloth. Knitting Board: Small gauge double sided knitting board with at least 22 pegs set at standard (1/2”) spacer setting. The 10” Authentic Knitting Board was used in the sample. Yarn: 1+ ounces of worsted weight 100% cotton yarn—you will need a little more than an ounce for each dishcloth. Sugar’n Cream and Lily Elite Cotton were used in the sample. Notions: Tapestry Needle, Knitting tool, Crochet hook, Stitch markers, Row counter, Cable hook (optional) Gauge: Not important Pattern Notes: When making these dishcloths, the knitting will be a little loose. It is supposed to be this way. They will firm up a bit when the cotton shrinks after washing and drying the first time. Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 1 When you are knitting the dishcloths they will look long and thin as they come off the board. After they are bound off, they will be more square in shape. While not necessary, these are a couple of things I’ve found very helpful to have. The first is “Wafer-Thin Stitch Count Markers” by Susan Bates. They are nice and thin, come in assorted sizes and work great on the knitting board to mark off stitches for cables and other stitch patterns. I also really like the “Knitting Counter (Mini Kacha-Kacha)” by Clover. You can wear this around your neck on a cord (no more losing the counter!) and has a lock to keep the stitch count from getting changed when not in use or by curious little fingers.☺ When referring to the “front board”, this is the board nearest you when it is lying flat and is where the working yarn is when you start to wrap. The “back board” is the board furthest from you when lying flat, and is where you attached the slip knot when you cast on. Here are a few tips to keep your edges even. It may seem like a lot of work, but it quickly becomes a habit. When you begin wrapping and are going up to the first needle to be wrapped on the back board, place the yarn between the first and second needle, go around the first needle, and then continue to wrap as usual. When you’ve completed the circular and are at the last needle to be wrapped on the front board, take the yarn to the outside of that needle and around it. (See the picture right.) Wrap the first few needles more tightly, and the last few, at the opposite end of the board, more loosely. When hooking over, start hooking at the opposite end of where you started wrapping. Hook over both end stitches and then hook down the front board. Now, starting back at the opposite end again, hook down the back board. I also keep tension on the working yarn when hooking over. Gently pull down on the knitting. Don’t do this while casting on, just on the rows of knitting. The Stockinette Cast On is used on all the dishcloths. Don’t forget to check the “Internet Links” section for links to tutorials and instructions on how to do some of these stitches and techniques. Be creative! Any of these dishcloths can be enlarged. If you do enlarge them, take into account any patterns in the knitting. Knit these squares in acrylic yarn and make a blanket by knitting a number of them and sewing them together. The stitches and techniques can be used for other projects too. Scarves, blankets, and shawls are just a few of the projects they could be used on. These would also make beautiful face cloths and are great gifts. Enjoy making these dishcloths. Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 2 Instructions Stockinette with a Twist Dishcloth This is a simple dishcloth that will knit up quickly. Make it in a variegated yarn for more visual interest. Twisted Stockinette stitch: Wrap the board as usual for the stockinette stitch, but go to the far side of each needle and wrap around the needle. Wrap the end needles, on the opposite end from where you start, in the normal manner, do not wrap around them as you did the others. (See picture below.) 1. Cast on 22 stitches 2. Knit 25 Rows in the Twisted Stockinette Stitch 3. Bind off the stitches on the board and anchor yarn 4. Weave in the yarn tails Mini Braid Dishcloth Make this dishcloth in a solid color so that the braids will really stand out. 1. Cast on 22 stitches 2. Rows 1-4 Knit in St st 3. Rows 5-21 Knit in Open Braid stitch 4. Rows 22-26 Knit in St st 5. Bind off the stitches on the board and anchor yarn 6. Weave in the yarn tails Honeycomb Dishcloth Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 3 Making eyelets is an easy and fun technique. Give it a try today. Place stitch markers on needles #6 and #17. You will be making your eyelets between the markers on both the front and back board. Eyelet Row: Before wrapping the row move stitch #7 onto needle #8, move stitch #10 onto needle #11, move stitch #13 onto needle #14, and move stitch #16 onto needle #17 (See picture right). Do this to both the front and back boards. After moving the stitches, wrap as usual and hook over. On the needles that have three loops on them, hook the bottom two over the top one. On the needles that just have one loop, do not hook over. When you are done with this row, you should have one loop on each needle. 1. Cast on 22 stitches 2. Rows 1-7 Knit in St st 3. Row 8 Eyelet Row 4. Rows 9-10 Knit in St st 5. Row 11 Eyelet Row 6. Rows 12-13 Knit in St st 7. Row 14 Eyelet Row 8. Rows 15-16 Knit 9. Row 17 Eyelet Row 10. Rows 18-25 Knit in St st 11. Bind off stitches on board and anchor yarn 12. Weave in yarn tails Twisted Stitch Dishcloth Twisting stitches is simple and gives a pretty design and texture to this dishcloth. Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 4 Before casting on, place stitch markers on needles 3 and 20. You will be twisting the stitches between the two markers, starting with needle 4 and ending with needle 19. Think of the stitches between the two markers as pairs of stitches. So, 4 and 5 are a pair, 6 and 7 are a pair, 8 and 9 are a pair, etc. There will be eight pairs. When doing either a left or right twist, do it to each pair. After you have done the twist, wrap the row as usual and knit over. You will only be twisting the front board. Left Twist: Before wrapping the row, lift the stitch on the left needle off the needle and hold it with your fingers. Move the stitch directly to the right of the empty needle onto the empty needle. Now, place the stitch in your fingers onto the just vacated needle on the right. The stitch on the left needle should be below the stitch on the right needle (See picture—this the left twist. The right twist will look just the opposite). Right Twist: Before wrapping the row, lift the stitch on the right needle off the needle and hold it with your fingers. Move the stitch directly to the left of the empty needle onto the empty needle. Now, place the stitch in your fingers onto the just vacated needle on the left. The stitch on the right needle should be below the stitch on the left needle. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Rows 1-4 Knit in St st Rows 5,7,9,11 Left Twist between stitch markers Rows 6,8,10,12 Right Twist between stitch markers Rows 13-15 Knit in St st Rows 16,18,20,22 Left Twist between stitch markers Rows 17,19,21,23 Right Twist between stitch marker Rows 24-27 Knit in St st Bind off stitches on the board and then on the anchor yarn Weave in the yarn tails Simple Cable Dishcloth Knitting this dishcloth is a great introduction to cables. Before casting on, place stitch markers on needles #8, #9, and #14 on the front board, and needle #16 on the back board, counting from the left. Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 5 You will be twisting the cable between needles #9 and #14. The other markers are to tell you when to switch from stockinette stitch to ribbing stitch and back. Stockinette/Ribbing Wrap: In this pattern, when directed, you will be wrapping part of the row in stockinette and part in ribbing. To do this, wrap in stockinette until you reach the first stitch marker (#8). Wrap around #8 needle and then skip two needles on the back board and continue wrapping every other needle until you reach the stitch marker on the back board (#16). This will cause you to wrap at an angle. Wrap around #16 and then skip two needles on the front board and begin to wrap in stockinette again. Wrap to the end of the board. Turn board and wrap back, wrapping all the empty needles, making sure not to skip either of the two empty needles that are next to each other. (See picture above.) Cable Twist: (See picture right) To make the cable, before wrapping the row, move the stitches on needles #10 and #11 to the needles directly behind them. You may need to keep your fingers there so that they won’t fall off. You could also slip them onto a cable hook. Move stitch #12 to the empty #10 needle and move stitch #13 to the empty #11 needle. Now, move the stitch that was on needle #11 to the empty needle #13 and the stitch that was on needle #10 to empty needle #12. It is important to move the stitches in the right order. Make sure not to wrap too tightly the needles that will make up the cable. 1. Cast on 22 stitches 2. Rows 1-3 Knit in St st 3. Row 4 and all even rows do the cable twist between the markers (needles #9 and #14), wrap with the stockinette/ribbing wrap and hook over. 4. Row 5 and all odd rows wrap with the stockinette/ribbing wrap and hook over. 5. Rows 23-25 Knit in St st 6. Bind off the stitches on the board and anchor yarn 7. Weave in yarn tails Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 6 **************************************************************************************************** Internet Links http://www.decoraccentsinc.com/StockinetteCastOn.pdf (This is a PDF file of the stockinette cast on and stitch. Step by step pictures.) http://65.61.171.117/stitch_castingon.pdf (This is a PDF file of the stockinette cast on and stitch. Step by step pictures.) http://65.61.171.117/stitch_ribbing.pdf (This is a PDF file of the ribbing stitch. Step by step pictures.) http://65.61.171.117/stitch_openbraid%20_4_.pdf (This is a PDF file of the open braid stitch. Step by step pictures.) http://www.knittingboard.com/Articles.asp?ID=131 (This is a video of how to do cables on a knitting board.) http://65.61.171.117/stitch_bindoff.pdf (This is a PDF file of how to bind off. Step by step pictures.) Knitting Board Resources All these sites contain knitting board information that you may find helpful. www.loomknit.com www.dalooms.com www.knittingboard.com www.frameknitting.com **************************************************************************************************** Faith is a home schooling mom of seven. In the summer of 2006 she picked up a one dollar spool knitter. From there, she graduated to the larger round looms, and then double sided knitting boards, her favorite type of loom. At the beginning of 2007, she began designing her own patterns, which she finds very rewarding. When she’s not loom knitting, she also likes to read, crochet, and knit with needles. Copyright © March 2007 by Faith Schmidt. All rights reserved. 7
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