Want to Learn New Stitches in the New Year? Start with Dishcloths

Every now and then I go through phases of wanting to knit dishcloths and washcloths. (My latest was using the new Red Heart Scrubby yarn, and I have a feeling I’m going to be making a lot of them.)

Washcloths and dishcloths are great knitting projects because they are almost instant gratification, they travel well, are infinitely useful, make great simple hostess gifts and give you the opportunity to try out something new. If you want to learn a new stitch pattern or technique but don’t want to take on a huge project, a dishcloth is a great place to start.

Stitch & Unwind has a little collection of six knitted dishcloth patterns that will help you learn new stitches. They include lattice, double Seed Stitch, basketweave and diagonal check, as well as Stockinette and Garter. You can also check out my dishcloth and washcloth knitting patterns over at About to get some more ideas, or just cast on a multiple of stitches that works for the pattern you want to try, knit until you’ve got a piece that’s about square (or whatever size you want) and bind off. Easy and educational.

Do you have a favorite dishcloth or washcloth knitting pattern? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Stitch & Unwind.]

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

Next Pattern:

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]

Next Pattern:

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