Review: Learn-a-Stitch Knit Dishcloths

Not too long ago I shared a collection of washcloth knitting patterns and noted that washcloths are great projects for learning new stitches and techniques because they are small and don’t have to come out perfect (they’ll still wash things even if they don’t come out perfectly square).

It turns out I’m not the only person to think this way, and Annie’s has produced a little booklet called Learn-a-Stitch Knit Dishcloths with six different stitch patterns that might teach you something.

The projects are designed by Lena Skvageron, and the booklet is nothing but the patterns and a little bit of technique instruction in the back of the book (long-tail cast on, knit, purl, binding off in knit and purl, and different increase and decreases, many of which are not used in this book).

The patterns are as follows:

Herringbone dishcloth using slipped stitches to make a pattern of vs on the surface of a knit purl fabric
Blooming dishcloth, which has multiple yarn overs and knits worked into the same stitch, resulting in equally large decreases like knit 4 together and slip 3, knit 1, pass 3 slipped stitches over
Golden Coins, a basic cable knitting pattern
Basketweave Waves, a knit and purl pattern that features wavy bands of texture
Reversible Texture dishcloth, another one that’s just knits and purls and a bit more like the simple basketweave you might have worked in alternating blocks of knits and purls
Tree of Life, which uses slipped stitches and tiny cables to make the tree design

All of the patterns are rated easy (even that one that asks you to knit four together in cotton yarn!) and all but the first one include a chart as well as written instructions.

With this handful of patterns you can learn some basic knit and purl patterns, use slipped stitches decoratively, make some cables and play with lace (though, again, not sure that should be your first lace experience because those decreases are not the easiest). Still, this is a fun little book for someone who likes to knit dishcloths or washcloths and wants to try some new things.

About the book: 18 pages, paperback (or PDF), 6 patterns. Published 2022 by Annie’s, suggested retail price $9.99 ($7.99 for PDF linked at Annie’s).

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?