Two Ways to Get New Dishcloth Patterns This Year

Dishcloths are a lot of fun to knit, because they are small, portable projects, usually knit with cotton yarn that doesn’t cost a lot of money, they are super useful and they can teach you new skills.

I think this is the third year now that Knit Picks has done 52 weeks of washcloths, with a new free pattern for a knit or crochet washcloth every week. The first one was this sweet snowflake pattern from Allyson Dykhuizen, and this week’s is Knotted Cables by Kendra Knitta.

Another great resource for knit dishcloth patterns is the Knitted Kitchen blog hop, which brings a new pattern every week for 11 months of the year. (We decided to take December off for personal sanity reasons.) I’m taking part, along with Underground Crafter, Creative Crochet Workshop, Stitches ‘N Scraps and some fun guest posters through the year.

My first design will be up Jan. 26, but in the meantime you can check out Underground Crafter’s Double Andalusian Stitch Dishcloth (that’s such a pretty pattern!).

Do you like to knit dishcloths or washcloths? I’d love to hear about some of your favorite patterns!

[Photo via Knit Picks.] 100 % cotton yarn

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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