Back to the Beginning

My first knitting project was a washcloth. I still maintain that's a great first project. It's small, uses only knit stitches, can be jazzed up as you gain more skills, and washes dishes extremely well regardless of how misshapen it may be. (And it may be very misshapen, as my first washcloth illustrates.)

Recently a friend asked for some washcloths. I eagerly went to the basket of cotton yarn I keep for just such occasions and cast on.

First, I did a leaf one. I hadn't knit that pattern before, and it was good fun.*

Then I tried a Chinese Wave pattern. This one is nice because the slipped stitches are all slipped on the wrong side, which means you're not constantly flipping your yarn from the front to the back as you would be if you were slipping on the right side. It's a small change, but it makes the pattern much faster. The pattern called for each row to be 45 stitches. I cut it down to 41 and it still seemed really large. I stopped when I ran out of that color yarn, and it seems to be a good size, although a tiny portion of my brain keeps muttering, "It should've been a square." That part is just being difficult. After all, hands are vaguely rectangular, so why wouldn't washcloths be?

Then I did The Washcloth, the first pattern I've ever knit.

It felt really good to go back to the beginning.

*I wanted to write "good, clean fun" since it was a washcloth, but I refrained... until I got to the footnotes. It was the best I could do.

A New Beginning

My mom taught me to knit by knitting a washcloth.

Well, something slightly resembling a washcloth. 

Anyway, two of my friends were married Tuesday. I thought hard about what to make for them.

What better than something that always makes me think of new beginnings? I knit two plain washcloths in colors I thought they would like. 

Garter Dishcloth with Pointy Corners (mine ravelled here),

knit in Lily Sugar 'n' Cream in color 2235

I also made one that was fancier and love-ish.

Heart Dishcloth (mine ravelled here),

knit in Knitpicks Dishie in Jalapeno

May their life together be simple, beautiful and strong. May it be filled with love and happiness. Congratulations, guys!

The Yarn Equivalent of Chanting

I'm waiting for the sock yarn to arrive for the two pairs of socks I need to knit for Christmas presents.  Last night, I cast on for a washcloth.

Garter Stitch Washcloth (mine ravelled here), 

knit in Knitpicks Dishie, Kenai colorway

Thirty-three stitches, all knit. It looks a bit wonky, but that will smooth out after weaving in the ends and throwing it through the washer and dryer cycles.  Even if it doesn't, who cares? Wonky edges do not diminish its usefulness, and usefulness is all that really matters when it comes to washcloths.*

There's something very soothing about a project like this. Easier than even the simple washcloth Mom used to teach me to knit, there's no counting, no thinking, just doing.

I wonder if I'll have time for another before the sock yarn comes...

*That might be a lie. I've knit a lot of novelty washcloths. Even so, I don't think I own one. All the ones I've kept are the washcloth equivalent of ice water: simple and comfortable.

When Lost, Knit a Washcloth

I've read over and over the folly of teaching someone to knit by having them knit a scarf. Yes, a scarf can be very easy. Yes, a rectangle is much less intimidating than a sock. Yes, you can see progress.

Yes, you will feel like you will never finish and that you will be knitting and knitting and knitting until you die and they'll have to pry the needles out of your cold, dead hands and even then someone will say, "For seventy-five years, I never saw Aunt Gerty without this. How is it possible it's only three feet long?"

That's what really happens when the first thing you knit is a scarf.

My mom taught me to knit, and she taught me with a washcloth. I wish I had a picture of that first washcloth.* It has holes in inappropriate places. It gets bigger, then stays the same for awhile, and never ever decreases. When I showed it to my mother while it was still on the needles, she paused for a minute and then said, "Let's bind off and start again."

I still use that washcloth. I love it, and it washes dishes perfectly well.

Sometimes when I'm between projects or when I feel like something on which I'm working requires too much thought, I knit a washcloth. I did a couple last week.

There are a million different variations, but this pattern is the one I use:

Using worsted-weight cotton yarn and size 8 needles, cast on 4.
Knit one row.
Knit 2, yo, knit to end of row.
Repeat last row until you have 36-42 stitches.
Begin decreases as follows: Knit one, k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit to end of row. Repeat until you have 5 stitches.
Knit 1, k2tog, k2.
Knit 1 row. Bind off all stitches

You can use bulky yarn (I use Lion Brand Homespun a lot--it can be machine washed and dried) and big needles (size 15) and make a baby blanket with this pattern as well. In my family, that's known as the Washcloth Blanket. We're creative that way.

*Actually, it's not really the first one. Mom tried to teach me to knit when I was a kid. Twice. It didn't work. She tried again when I was 28, and it clicked.