Get Ready for a Kitchen Knitting Makealong

In case you need another project for the summer, Modern Daily Knitting is hosting a makealong for kitchen towels and dishcloth-adjacent makes starting on July 15.

If you skipped over knitting washcloths or dishcloths when you learned how to knit, now’s a great time to discover the joy of this simple project genre. And if you already know you don’t need me to tell you.

Dishcloths are usually pretty fast to knit, they’re portable, they don’t take a lot of yarn. They’re a fun way to try out new stitch patterns and to use any little leftover bit of cotton yarn you might have lying around because who is going to complain about a dishcloth of many colors?

Bonus: everyone needs dishcloths. EVERYONE. Keep a stack on hand for when you need to pull together a last-minute housewarming or hostess gift (do people still host things?). Teacher appreciation? Back to school? Whatever the gifting occasion, a stack of cloths and some pretty soap is a great idea.

Even my slightly jaded almost 13-year-old prefers to wash her face with handmade cloths, AND my husband admits they are more absorbent and better for cleaning kitchen messes than the storebought cloths.

Finally, something we can all agree on.

Head to Modern Daily Knitting for all the details on the knitalong (crochet is welcome too!) and a great selection of patterns to get you started.

Do you knit washcloths or dishcloths? I’d love to hear why you love them.

[Photo: Modern Daily Knitting.]

Looking to knit more dishcloth patterns ? Check out these dishcloth patterns on Etsy

Next Pattern:

I’m honestly not totally sure what to say about the Sun King shawl pattern from Ursa Major Knits other than isn’t this cool? You should probably make one.

This modular design is worked in two parts, the “waxing” and “waning” sections. Both pieces are asymmetrical and use the same yarns in different ways to mix up the colors and make it even more interesting.

You can choose to use two contrasting solid yarns, a solid and a gradient or two complimentary gradients for your yarns. And you can use any weight of yarn and whatever gauge you like to make shawls of different sizes. There are also a bunch of different size options (seven, in fact) that take the project from a little collar like design to something more like a scarf to a large shawl that wraps around the neck to keep you warm.

The sample projects use fingering/lace weight yarn, but you can use whatever you have on hand to make your own beautiful version of this shawl. Using lace weight, you’ll need twice as much of one color as the other.

There are lots of yarn suggestions on the pattern page on Ravelry, and I love the color choices the designer made so much I’d definitely be tempted to use the same colors they did (there are a couple of different versions on the pattern page if you want to see how it looks in different sizes and different colors).

I love the little diamond shapes a the edges of the pieces, which add a little more drama to the project, as if it needed more.

I’m still not sure this boils down to anything beyond this project looks really cool and you should probably knit it, but that’s pretty much how I pick all the projects I share, so I guess that’s fine. You can check it out for yourself and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Ursa Major Knits]

A Shawl to Wear While You’re Reading and Knitting

A Striped Shawl to Celebrate Progress [Knitting]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?