FO: Soon-To-Be-Newlyweds Dishcloths

My brother is getting married this June. Last weekend, I went to a bridal shower for his fiancee, my FSIL, who's adorable. And also about to finish up school at the Naval Academy and be commissioned into the US Marine Corps. Which means that they won't be able to live together after they get married for awhile. So I made them matching sets of dishcloths:


Each set has the six same cloths. Brother took brown, and future-sister took green.

That way, when they use them, they can think of the other person and how they have the matching piece.

I listed each of the stitch patterns on the Rav project page, and you can see them all here:

Mostly my standards, all good and scrubby.

Lastly, all packaged up, unwrapped so they'd make it through airport security:

Fan-tastic Dishcloths

I talked about dishcloths a bit on Friday, and thought that today I'd show off one of my favorite things you can do with them: knit fandom-related motifs and know that they will still get used! If I send someone a fannish accessory, item of clothing, or piece of jewelry, there's no way to know if they will actually wear it. For example, even though I love Doctor Who, I wouldn't wear 90% of the Who shirts that pop up on the daily tee websites. They are cute, and I chuckle, but they're not my style. But will I use a Who dishcloth? Absolutely! They are great for including in swap packages, too, as a fun little extra handmade. Here are some that I made last year for two different packages as part of the Odd Ducks Doctor Who swap on Ravelry.


Don't Blink

because the

Weeping Angels

have the

Phone Box!

Those all went into one box, because the phrases went together nicely (a reference to the episode Blink), and then another box got just a Weeping Angel because the recipient is a big fan:

Aren't they fun?

One of my favorite fannish dishcloth designers is holynarf on Ravelry. Her designs are mostly Doctor Who, but there are some Firefly and general geeky designs as well, and they are all free patterns, which is excellent!

Multipurpose Knitting

I knit a lot of dishcloths. That links to a set of 25+ different dishcloth projects, many of them with multiple cloths. And those are just the ones I bothered to add to my Rav projects! Many of them I give away (they are great useful gifts, for babies and grown-ups alike), and the rest I keep around to, y'know, wash my dishes. They're cheap and easy to make (though you can experiment with harder patterns if you want), gentle on china and cookware, and sanitary, because I grab a new one every time I do dishes and toss 'em in the laundry after.

This morning, when I was packing my lunch, I was trying to figure out how to transport a hard-boiled egg to school without cracking the shell or squishing it. I had a plastic container that was just a little too big, and I didn't want the egg bouncing around. I needed a good cushion, and I was pondering possible solutions while standing right in front of the dishcloth drawer...et voilà!

Clean dishcloth to the rescue! My egg made it safe and sound and was very much enjoyed with lunch.

If you're wondering, the pattern is a small version of the Mason-Dixon Knitting Baby Genius Burp Cloth, and it's great for scrubbing dishes because of the raised lines on the front:

It's my go-to dishcloth pattern!

Branching Out

From socks and scarves, at least. To dishcloths, which I've never knit before. Nope. I wasn't planning on making more cloths any time soon, actually, 'cause I have quite a few, but then Kris started a mystery knit-a-long! I've never done a mystery KAL before, because they are usually for large projects (shawls, etc.) and I don't often have too much time to knit, and I don't want to spend that much time on a pattern that I might end up disliking. But one dishcloth per month? I can handle that. Kris's patterns are great, and even if it turns out awful, it will still wash my face or dishes very nicely. I can't wait to see what it ends up being. There's a photo of what it looks like after the first clue after the jump!

Dishcloths!

I've been on a bit of a dishcloth kick lately! They are fun, easy, cheap, and quick to make, and they don't take a lot of brainpower, which is nice. I started off making four for my brother and his camp to use this summer. They get green scrubbies for washing dishes, and while those are great for some things, there's nothing like some good dishcloth cotton to really get the grease off the pots and pans. Unfortunately, the photoshoot for most of them was rushed and in really confusing light - inside, under a yellow-ish fluorescent, with sunlight coming in through the windows, and with my Leica, which is...not the greatest when it comes to sorting out different lights. I like to play with white balance, but I'm no expert, so please forgive the non-fantastic colors:



For more on the patterns, yarn, etc., see the Ravelry project pages:
Light Turquoise Blue Crater Dishcloth #1
Cream Crater Dishcloth #2
Baby Blue Crater Dishcloth #3

(Crater Lake is the name of my brother's camp, which is why they are all called Crater Dishcloth #Whatever.)

You'll notice that in the "group photo" there is a little bit of yellow sticking out. At the time of that photo, it was not finished, and so I ended up bringing it home with me (I had been out at camp, too, helping with training) and mailing it back to them. Thus, it got to take part in the slightly nicer photoshoot with a bunch of other dishcloths that I've made recently:



Again, details on Rav:
Blue & Yellow Dishcloth
Yellow Crater Dishcloth #4
Teal Dishcloth Slash Yarn Test
Blue & Green Striped Dishcloth
(And, more pictures on Flickr - start here.)

That little teal one was the first time I've used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton yarn, and I really liked it. It costs about the same as the standards (Peaches & Creme and Sugar'n Cream), but is much softer. I've actually got another plain garter cloth on the needles right now, with more of that teal yarn (movie knitting!), but I haven't used either of them yet. I'm waiting to pass judgment on the yarn until I see how well the colors hold, but as of now, I'm really liking it.

I also may have figured out a potential cure for Second Sock Syndrome...but that's another post. Hopefully soon.