Knitting dishtowels/type of yarn?

#1

What type of yarn is best for dishtowels?

#2

I like to use Sugar 'n Cream Cotton and Lion Cotton.

#3

I used Peaches & Creme to make my kitchen towels and rugs. Here is their website - http://www.elmore-pisgah.com/store-pc.htm

#4

Best! so subjective.

I love linen towels --but a hand knit linen towel is about $15 (for a smallish towel–2 big ones are $45!)

I love worsted weight cotton (ie peaches n cream, sugar n cream and lion cotton for potholders, wash cloths and bath mats… but not much for towels…

(but at $45 for 2 knit towels… i have 2…) i end up buying those linen calendars (at garage sales or thrift stores) --and washing them and using them for work horse duty… (and keep my exquiset hand knit ones mostly for show!)

#5

I like Tahki Cotton Classic for dishcloths myself. The colors are gorgeous and they don’t fade like Sugar and Cream. Some people don’t mind that in their dishcloths though. :teehee: I think it would make nice towels, but since I haven’t made one I don’t have a clue how much yarn it would take or the price.

#6

I got some nice Butterfly cotton at my LYS and made a handtowel for my bathroom. It came out very nice and it was about $10 for the hank.

#7

Guess I have a slightly different experience in what to use…

I’ve tried the worsted-weight cotton [yes, you DO need to use cotton - it’s by far the best-absorbing fiber, imho.] And I found that dishcloths made with this heavy a cotton yarn… don’t dry as quickly as I’d like and tend to get slightly, uh, slimey.

I very much prefer… size 10 crochet thread! It’s not nearly as soft as the worsted-weight cotton - and this is a good thing: improves the scrubbing factor of the dishcloth.

And it’s made of cotton so it absorbs the water as readily as the larger yarn. But the downside is that the crochet thread has quite a noticeable shrinkage factor. So you need to take that into account for your finished product.

And if you use medium-sized knitting needles, say 4 or 5 or 6, you get a rather pretty lacy-like result.

Hope this helps,
Dot