FO: a dozen cotton face cloths

So after a long stretch of sweaters and other futzy projects, I’m always ready for a break. I work on dish cloths, face cloths, scarves, other flat knitting…etc. Or try out new pattern stitches, like that herringbone stitch! Do you remember that neat circular needle case I made with herringbone stitch and Noro Silk Garden yarn? That was so much fun!

In 2011, I knit up a face cloths and hand towel set for my bathroom (which is pink and green). I used stash yarn, Reynolds “Saucy” mercerized cotton. Boy oh boy. That cotton is fantastic. Firstly, it knits up even. Secondly, it does not fade. My pink towel and bath cloths haven’t faded a bit, not one shade lighter, whereas the other 4 face cloths I knit (using Lily Sugar Baby cotton) have faded horribly.

Anyhoo, I do like the garter stitch for face and bath cloths. It’s very useful. It scrubs.

For this newst green set of face cloths, I downsized the proportions. Live and learn.
Rather than 10" x 10" (the pink ones), these new green face cloths are 8" x 8". Better for
my small hands, plus I can get 3 cloths from one skein rather than 2 with leftovers.

I cast on 35 stitches with a US7, and knit away for 33 garter ridges.
Bind off sorta loosely, and before you cut the yarn…add a simple crochet edging.

I like the look of the edging better than the plain garter edge hanging out by itself.
I’ve had time to assess whether or not it’s worth the yarn and time. It is.

So here is my latest project: a single face cloth weighs 33 grams…so the 100 gr ball of Saucy will give me 3 face cloths. I have two skeins. I’m going to force myself to knit all 6, regardless of my boredom after about 3. :eyes:

I’ve knit facecloths in cotton. I like the basketweave pattern - less boring to do. I suppose you could always try a few different patterns, couldn’t you?

Yes, that’s a wonderful idea, Woodi! I’m going to do just that!

What is your basketweave pattern plan for face cloths? There are several versions…checkerboard style, and over/under style.

Lovely and the edging is a nice touch.

Well done, ArtLady!

I like to make dish scrubbies, too, for the same reasons–they’re a mindless knit or crochet and they’re [U]so[/U] darn useful.

I’ve made a few of the face cloths, too. Someone gave me some made with the bee stitch once. Those have a nice texture as well.

Looking forward to seeing your next ones in basketweave.

I thought I’d do 2 in garter, 2 in moss, 2 in basket.

I’ve finished the 2 scallopy edged garter stitch face cloths, and 1/3 the way on the moss stitch face cloth. Moss is seed stitch on steroids, as you know. At halfway I’ll assess if I like it well enough to proceed. So far, so good. Don’t think I’ll crochet the edges.

Ohhh, dishcloths/washcloths… What a pretty color - and a cotton yarn tip too!!! ArtLady, you’re marvelous. :muah:

:thumbsup:

Lovely dishcloths! I love my hand knit ones. Sugar and Cream/Peaches and Cream fades horribly and stains so I’ve always used Tahki Cotton Claassic myself.

ETA- How did you do the border?

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/4x2-basket-weave

This basket weave st pattern was added to Ravelry this week. Did you see it? It looks very nice and even.

I took Woodi’s advice…and knit the six face cloths using different pattern stitches…
2 each in Garter Stitch, Box Stitch, and Honeycomb Stitch.

I saw [B]Box Stitch[/B] somewhere, and was curious…
it’s really double moss stitch! lol But I like the sound of BOX STITCH!

So here they are, and right now they’re all folded up on my shelf in my bathroom! Yay! I used these little suckers all the time! Regular terry bath cloths are just too darn big for face!

The center cloths are the “Honeycomb” stitch…specifically “[B]Slipped Stitch Honeycomb[/B]” stitch.

It’s a 4-row repeat, and very easy if you pay attention. That’s an oxymoron, isn’t it?! :wink:

[B]The slipped stitch honeycomb is: [/B]
CO odd number
RS Rows 1 & 3: Knit
WS Row 2: K1 *slip 1 YB, K1, repeat from * til end
WS Row 4: K2 *slip 1 YB, K1, repeat frpom *til end, but end with an additional K1

[B]YB= with yarn held in back
I personally slipped “purlwise” [/B] (not knitwise as if to knit). The pattern stitch didn’t say.

FYI: I used a US7 on the garter and box stitch cloths. I had to upgrade to a US9 for the Honeycomb.
It knits up considerably narrower per inch than other two.
After an unhappy visit to the Frong Pond…lesson learned.

It’s just a simple crochet chain stitch…like chain 3, stab the needle into the 2nd stitch over, pull up and anchor…chain 3 again and repeat.

I’m not so good at writing crochet instructions…but that’s the gist of it.

Just a simple scallopy edging.

No, I didn’t see it! Thanks for the link, lightnight57! I’ll check it out now! I am starting up some face cloths, same brand of cotton, but dk weight.

Edited to add! WOW! I love the craftcookie pattern stitches! So now, I’m going to frog 4 inches of my dk weight face cloth (a lighter green, same brand cotton) and use this 4x2 basket weave for it…and then another one called the Eyelet Moss Stitch by the same people!

Oh I’m gonna have quite a collection of face cloths.

My! You’re getting fancy! But what fun and what nice results, too.

I’ve enjoyed practicing different lace patterns on my little dish scrubbies. It’s a nice size to try out a new pattern to see if I like it. And the dishes don’t care whether I screw it up or not!

I agree! It’s fun to experiment with different pattern stitches! A dish cloth, face & body cloth, scarf…they’re perfect sizes!

I’ve had fun knitting these face cloths…six are worsted weight, six are dk weight. Here is the link to my Ravelry notebook, in case you would like to get links to the various pattern stitches.

Nine are done…the 10th is 2/3 done. Two more to go.

Nothing wrong with those instructions, makes perfect sense to me and is easier to follow than anything I could have written out! Love your pattern assortment!

Very VERY nice, artlady! I love the sophisticated colors too. I never thought to edge…adds a nice finish.

Here’s one of my favorites…it’s well worn now…the basketweave pattern is a bit different in that it called for one knit row to separate them somehow. I found it unnecessarily difficult to do…(required a lot of careful attention). Also, one ‘basket’ was five rows deep and the next was only 3 rows deep. Not sure it makes enough design difference to warrant the extra work.

It’s the same cloth, on different sides. I used a 3-row, 3-stitch seed stitch border all around.

side 2:

Artlady, your finished cloths are very pretty. This is a good way to learn a new stitch pattern and have a usable item when done.