Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Free Knitting Patterns – Intricate Dish Cloth Patterns

by

Because we’re talking about potholders, dishcloths and other kitchen knitting this week I thought I’d head to Ravelry and take a look at some dishcloth knitting patterns.

Of course when you search for free knit dishcloth patterns you get more than 4,000, so I couldn’t possibly share them all, but I picked out a few that are interesting and fun and I hope you’ll check them out!

Dishcloths are a great way to try new-to-you knitting stitch patterns on a small project, so there are lots of different patterns available, including:

Really those top two sites have a ton of different designs with basic stitch patterns, I just didn’t want to fill up the post with them, especially considering the sites are no longer published.

You can also find patterns with all sorts of shapes on them, such as:

The Mason-Dixon Knitters offer the Linoleum Dishcloth and the classic Ball-Band Dishcloth.

Yarnspirations has a doily-shaped cloth, while Leisure Arts has one with a stitch pattern reminiscent of crocus. And there’s a great one shaped like a star, from Frugal Knitting Haus.

J.G. Miller has a ton (OK, like 52) of different mosaic patterns worked in dishcloths; here is one.

Need even more options? Knit Picks is now on its second year of free dishcloth patterns, though some of them are crocheted. You can find more than 50 linked at All Free Crafts, and more than you can count at Knitting Pattern Central.

That should keep you in stitches for a while!

Why use dishcloths? Dishcloths are re-useable and save on kitchen waste. Most dishcloths are made using cotton yarn and can be thrown into the washing machine when dirty. This makes them very hygienic, especially when compared to kitchen sponges, which sit on the sinks for days if not weeks.  Another great thing about dishcloths is when it comes to knitting the knit up quickly and are great for gift giving. Everyone needs a dishcloth.  For gifting, It’s not something that has to be in fashion or a certain colour for the recipient to like it, though there are so many great dishcloth pattern designs out there.

Easy Knitted Dishcloths For Beginners – Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

 

Have you read?

Learn a Flower Bobble Technique to Knit a Fun Shawl

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier. 

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project. 

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible. 

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge. 

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects. 

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy. 

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project. 

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Xandy Peters]