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

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?