Jungle Bamboo Cloth

I’ve been teaching myself a number of new knitting stitches lately, and the bamboo stitch looked like it produces a lovely texture without being particularly difficult. I couldn’t, however, find a dishcloth pattern to learn the stitch on. So, I made up my own and it worked.

So I proudly present my first dishcloth design.

Jungle Bamboo Cloth
Free pattern (for personal use only).

Materials:

• US 7 / 4.5 mm knitting needles


• Georga Cotton from Easy Knit Yarn: Jungle


• Tapestry needle

Instructions:

Cast on 38 stitches.

Rows 1-6: K (produces a garter stitch border)

Begin bamboo stitch pattern:
Row 7: K4, P30, K4
Row 8: K4, *YO, K2, Pass the YO strand over both knit stitches* repeat 15 times, K4

Repeat Rows 7-8 seventeen times

Row 9: Repeat Row 7

Rows 10-15: K

Bind off and weave in ends.

Note that the reverse side has an interesting pattern as well.

© 2010-01-27 N0Nightowl

Honey in the Comb Dishcloth

In addition to the Mistletoe Dishcloth that I found in my stored Christmas decorations, I also found a second half-finished dishcloth that I am referring to as "Honey in the Comb" because it's knit using the honeycomb stitch.

Basically, this dishcloth follows the Honeycomb pattern in Sandy Scoville's Knit Dishcloth Sampler (American School of Needlework, publication #1309), except I used two colours instead of one. Why? Because last year I had leftover both mistletoe yarn (from the Mistletoe Dishcloth) and red yarn from a dishcloth that I had done for a friend with a kitchen decorated in red. Neither leftover was enough to make a dishcloth, but the two together produced this lovely Christmas kitchen accessory. I simply used the red for the border in the pattern and the mistletoe for the centre.

I'm still trying to conquer joining two colours cleanly. This was the first time I managed to do it without leaving any holes, but the joins aren’t always clean, plus I made one major booboo. Instead of running the change-over yarn back through the body of the knitting, I accidentally looped it around the outside. Oops! By the time I noticed the problem, I wasn’t in the mood to unravel all my knitting. Since I was doing this dishcloth for me and not as a present for someone else, I decided to leave it as it was.

My Honey in the Comb Dishcloth now makes a striking Christmas decoration hanging above my kitchen sink.

Mistletoe Dishcloth

This year, for the first time ever, I wasn't looking forward to the Christmas holidays -- partially because I can't afford to travel to visit my family thanks to the economy, and partially because I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, so will not be able to indulge in all the wonderfully delicious seasonal goodies. Determined not to give into depression, I pulled out all the Christmas decorations that I’ve collected over the years and decorated the apartment from top to bottom. The cat ran and hid, terrified I was going to stick a Santa Hat on him...

Among my kitchen decorations, I discovered this beautiful Christmas dishcloth that I had totally forgotten about. Then I remembered that I had started knitting it before Christmas last year but hadn't finished it in time to use during the holidays. So I packed it away, where it languished, unused and ignored, in storage. Now it has the place of honour, hanging above the sink and matching all my holiday-themed potholders, kitchen towels, Santa stove ring covers and vivid red rugs.

This dishcloth was knit using the free pattern for Alex’s Cloth designed by Vaunda Rae Giberson, and using Lily Sugar'n Cream Misletoe cotton yarn.

© 2009-12-07 N0Nightowl