Crochet Tuesday

No, this isn't going to be another regular feature, it's just a Sunday Knitting post that's neither on Sunday nor about knitting.

I mentioned last time that I was going to crochet some more dishcloths, and now I have. (Please, try to contain your excitement.)

They are imperfect, to be sure, but I think they'll work. I used a free pattern called Nubbie Scrubbies, which is a very easy pattern of alternated triple and single crochet that makes cute little bobbles. I did manage to accidentally make one of them a little smaller by not chaining enough stitches to begin with. Again, I'm pretty sure it will still work.

Working on these hurt my hands, especially my thumb. I don't know if that's because I'm new to crochet and using different muscles, or if it's because of the kitchen cotton. I know that sometimes knitting with this yarn also makes my hands hurt.

This was a fun project to take on the bus to give me something to do with my hands while listening to podcasts. These dishcloths and Serial will probably be forever intertwined in my head.

Sunday Knitting

Back in early 2009 I received a very pretty set of crocheted dish cloths from my friend, which I posted about here. Here they are again, in case you don't want to click through:

It's just about 6 years later and these guys have seen a lot of dishes. They're all starting to get holes in them so I know it's just a matter of time before I need to replace them.

I happen to have a decent amount of cotton yarn hanging about so I decided to knit a simple dishcloth, which I did a couple of months ago. Then I totally stalled before managing to do the crochet border. So a week or so ago I thought, you know what? It's about time I learned to actually crochet. None of this half-assed business of barely managing to do a shitty-looking border on a knitted thing, I'm going to learn to crochet an actual thing.

I finished the border and then made a single-crochet swatch for practice that happens to be the right size for a dish cloth. Here they are together:

Ok, so I inadvertently decreased a few rows into the yellow crocheted one, but I'm pretty sure it will still wash dishes adequately. My plan was to whip up a few so I'd have a whole bunch to show you. But strangely, just as knitted things won't knit themselves, it seems that crocheted things won't crochet themselves either. One of these days I'm hoping to find some simple-but-varied patterns and make some more.

Then I plan to get really good at it, maybe as good as my coworker who whips up all kinds of fun and fantastical things in no time at all and who, one of these days, I fully expect will crochet a working TARDIS on her lunch break. I suppose it's unlikely I will ever approach her talent, but I hope to at least be able to make an afghan or some amigurumi animals.

Smocked Dishcloth

Please try to contain your excitement over my completion of this ornate, difficult, and time-consuming project.

Pattern: Smocked Dishcloth
Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream in blue, leftover from my mom's striped rug
Needles: Size 7

There is not a lot to say about this dishcloth. I've been using it and it's very...washy. It's actually a little larger than I would have intentionally made it. Perhaps I should have gone down a needle size.

This little project was just a bit of a palate cleanser to transition between the Socks That Took Forever and the sweater I just started. Yes, I have begun a garment! And it is purple! (Surprise, right?) Progress shots are coming soon, I promise.

Actual Knitting Content

Try not to faint from the shock. I don't have enough smelling salts for all 6 of you.

Also, don't get too excited about the knitting - it's only a dishcloth.


It is smocked though, so that should count for something. You may be asking yourself, what is smocking? Well, it is a fiddly awkward technique I previously used on the hateful Leyburn Socks which I don't think I recognized as smocking at the time. It is a textural pattern created by slipping several stitches in a row, leaving a "float" of yarn in front of the work. On a later row, you put your needle under the float (or in this case, the multiple floats) before putting it in the next stitch, so that it pulls the center of the float upward, making a decorative pattern.

The other day I had just finished a pair of socks (stay tuned for pics!) and immediately wanted to start a project but the only yarn I had available was sock yarn and this cotton. Since I was in the midst of watching episodes of Lost and didn't want anything too complicated I opted for a simple dishcloth. At the rate that I've been knitting, it should be finished right around Halloween.