Knit Dishcloths to Clean Up Your Holiday Meal

It may be a little late to knit much for the table for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, but you still have time to whip up a dishcloth or two to help you with the cleanup. And I don’t know about you, but I feel a little better about cleaning when I have nice tools, and nothing’s better than handknit cloths for scrubbing off the last bits of potatoes and pecan pie.

Here are some great options for easy but pretty knit dishcloths.

Of course I couldn’t resist sharing the classic Ball Band Dishcloth from Peaches & Creme, made famous by Mason-Dixon Knitting. Such a fun, easy pattern and it looks great in bold colors. There’s also the hanging version from stitcher Cheryl if you have a place to hang your towel from.

The perfect scrubbie stash buster comes in the form of this garter stitch dishcloth from Lion Brand Yarn, which changes colors every two rows.

These lovely slip stitch dishcloths from the Purl Bee are a great introduction to slip stitch knitting if you’ve never done it before. It looks a lot more complicated than it is because you’re only working with one color on each row.

The Triangles Towel from Knit Picks is another cute one that has a section that folds over and attaches with buttons to keep it secure.

Lizard Ridge is an addictive stitch pattern, and this free Raverly download pattern from Laura Aylor shows it off to great effect. This is another one that would be fun as a stash buster.

The Gridded Kitchen Towel from 3 Sleeves to the Wind is a fun combo of a solid and multicolored cotton yarn in a nice textured stitch pattern that’s great for scrubbing.

And while technically not a dishtowel, the Ravelry download Tribble is a great little scrubby that’s fun to knit and is stitched into a circle to finish.

I can’t resist sharing one of mine, too, and among my faves is the easy Mistake Rib Dishcloth, which comes together quickly and has nice texture for cleaning or drying dishes.

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.

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

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day.

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details.

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes.

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult.

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather.

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size.

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

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