Category Archives: Knitting & Crochet

Weekly topic #1 – Favorite Patterns

Yesterday I recieved the name of my secret pal for the summer dishcloth swap and I’ve already e-mailed her and heard back from her – hooray! I am looking forward to being contacted my pal, too. Hope to hear from her soon. So hello if you’re reading this! 🙂 The first weekly discussion topic is favorite dishcloth patterns. What a tough question to answer because there are so many! Currently I’m in love with the waffle knit cloth from Homespun Living. I’ve knit up a few of them, and here is the one I am working on:

I also am still a big fan of the ballband dishcloth (made famous by those Mason-Dixon ladies a couple summers ago). It’s so colorful and fun. I enjoy knitting up cloths that have images on them, too, but I always come back to the relatively simple patterned cloths for some reason. What are your favorites?

I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should join a swap right now, but the lure of the dishcloths was irresistable. I don’t know what it is about those little things but they are so addictive!!! So here I go with the Keepin’ Cool in the Summer dishcloth swap.

1. Do you Knit or Crochet? For how long?
I have been knitting for about three years now I guess? I can’t figure out crochet for some reason (though I used to do it in high school — no idea how I forgot). I have a set of hooks and I am hoping to teach myself over the summer.

2. Do you enjoy using metal, wooden, or some other kind of needle\hook?
I use them all! Whatever I happened to have handy, in the size that I need usually works for me.

3. What are your favorite types of yarn? Any you just can’t stand?
I’m not big on novelty yarns, but aside from that I am not picky. I like various brands of cotton, wool, and (gasp!) even some acrylics, as long as they are soft.

4. When it comes to cotton, are there any brands you’d love to try and haven’t?
Crazy as it sounds, I have not used CottonTots and everytime I am at the store I think that it would make a really soft cloth. I have a decent stash of Sugar & Cream (because I can’t seem to leave Walmart without a ball of it), but I am happy with most varieties of cotton.

5. When you make Dishcloths, do you use them yourself, or tend to give them as gifts?
Both

6. Do you have a favorite color? Any that you dislike?
I love earthtones and natural colors. I’m not really fond of anything too bright (like neons), but I love anything that is cheery-looking.

7. What color(s) (if any!) are your kitchen and bath decorated in?
Kitchen is shades of burgundy, purple, and hunter green with some “country yellow” (for lack of a better word) accents. One bathroom is sage and white, the second is sage and purple, and the third is blue and yellow.

8. What are your favorite scents around the house?
Vanilla, citrus, peach, cotton, cucumber… anything light and clean.

9. What is your very favorite thing about summer?
Picnics!!! I love eating outside. I also love going to the lake, the 4th of July, gardening.

10. What is your least favorite thing about summer?
The humidity! New York can get kind of gross in late July and August. And ticks, too. We live in Lyme Disease country and I am really freaked out by those nasty little bugs.

11. Do you use soap or body wash in the shower?
I tend to use body wash more often, but I love soap too.

12. What scents do you enjoy in the bath?
In the summer I like anything minty or lightly floral (mmm, lilac!) or citrusy. Not lavander though. When I was pregnant with Noah I had this lavander bath soap during my 1st trimester when I was really sick and even now, three years later, I can’t stand the smell! I just associate it with morning sickness.

13. What is your favorite dishcloth pattern?
I’ve been knitting several cloths with this waffle knit pattern from Homespun Living, and even though it’s been done so many times, I still love the ballband dishcloth.

14. What sort of treats do you enjoy? Sweet or Salty?
I like all sorts of things — nuts, chocolate… chocolate covered nuts 😉 Anything with caramel. Anything gummy. Anything cookie-related. Yeah, it’s kind of hard to go wrong in that department.

15. Imagine today is one of the hottest days of the year – what do you do to keep cool? Or are you one of those folks who loves the hot weather?
I’ll probably be on my deck dipping my feet in the kiddie pool while I drink I big glass of iced tea or lemonade and knit or read. Sounds like a perfect afternoon, actually! But I guess if it was really hot, I’d end up being inside with the AC on watching a movie, LOL!

16. What sorts of hobbies do you enjoy besides knitting or crocheting?
Gardening, reading, writing, anything related to food & wine, movies…

17. Do you collect anything (besides yarn!)
I have a collection of milk glass pieces from my grandmother. I also collect corks from wine bottles.

18. Are you on Ravelry? If so, share your ID!
CarolB

19. Do you have any allergies?
The usual stuff: pet dander, pollen, etc. But no fiber allergies.

20. Do you have any pets?
Yes, I have a cat named Maggie.

Wow, what a fun way to start the weekend! Today I received my “Defeat the Winter Doldrums” swap package from Anita of Yarn Demon Adventures. Anita was actually a swap angel and wow, did she outdo herself! Check it out:

My package contained two dishcloths and two matching scrubbies, needles and gorgeous handmade needle toppers that Anita herself made, honeydew-scented soap, a black sheep tape measure, another tape measure (thank goodness because Jake likes to use mine and ends up misplacing it), hand lotion (Aveeno, yay!!!), Post-Its, pencils that say “I’d rather be knitting!” (perfect for jotting down notes on my patterns!), a beautiful shell bottle topper (so nice and summery – can’t wait to use this), a very clever merlot-scented wine glass candle with a wine charm, a skein of sage cotton yarn, Turtles (which will not be lasting much longer, yummy!), and a copy of the patterns she used. Here are some detailed pics:

I absolutely love everything and hope she knows how much she made my day. Anita also has an Etsy shop, so take a peek: Yarn Demon Designs. Thanks a million!

OK, I am almost feeling ready to give the Forest Canopy Shawl another try. I’ve worked my way through a bunch of dishcloths and I think I’m going to do only one more project: a wine bottle whimsy. My friend Jill runs domaine547 (and really… you should buy wine from her – she has a great selection and gives fantastic recommendations) and her mascot is that adorable little wine bottle, Budo Kan. Well, it seems that Budo Kan has been getting himself into a lick of trouble lately. I think actually having a little Budo Kan to keep a short leash on would be funny. I found a pattern for a beer bottle which I am going to attempt to modify. I think it should all work out!

It’s time for the second weekly topic for the Winter Doldrums Dischloth Swap! Here we go:

There are many people who ADORE receiving hand-knit or crochet items; but there are just as many who have no appreciation whatever of how much love, work, and time goes into a hand-made item. Share a story of a hand-made gift you gave to someone and how it worked out – good, bad, or ugly!

I’ve made many handmade gifts and I guess they have gone over pretty well. If the people I gave them to didn’t like them, at least they didn’t tell me, LOL! I’ve made many dishcloths as quick gifts, including this one I gave to Lisanne. I knit my husband the Irish Hiking Scarf as a gift one year. I made my sister-in-law a felted bag. I knit a cupcake for a friend’s birthday. Plus back in the old scrapbooking days I made a few albums as gifts. I hope that people do appreciate my efforts and if they don’t I think I’d rather not know about it, LOL!

Each week, there is a new blog topic up for participants in the Winter Doldrums Swap, and here is the first one:

Weekly Topic: Dishrag. Dishcloth. Face cloth. I’ve seen folks get all fired up in forums when someone refers to their knit or crochet creation as a dishrag, as that’s somehow offensive to them! When you’re working on yours, what do you call them? Also, is there a difference between a dishrag and a dishcloth? How bout a facecloth? Are they all really the same thing?

I don’t take any offense to the term “dishrag” for those that I have knitted. I kind of see it as a homey expression, something my grandmother might say. I usually say “dishcloth” for the cloths I use to wash dishes and “washcloth” for those I use to wash my face/body. Interestingly enough I grew up saying “facecloth” and I really don’t know where or when “washcloth” took its place!

1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both? Knit.

2. What types of needles do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? Whatever I can find, though I prefer aluminum – the cotton slips easier.

3. What types of cotton do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? Is there any that you’ve been wanting to try? I just use Sugar & Cream or Peaches & Cream. One reason I like knitting dishcloths is because they don’t require expensive yarn.

4. What color(s) are your kitchen and bath decorated in (if any)? Our kitchen has a lot of burgundy, dark purple, forest green, and mustard yellow shades. One bath is sage green and white, one bath is blue, white, and yellow, and one is sage and purple.

5. What are your favorite colors for yarns? Least favorite? I like earth tones and jewel tones the best. I’m not fond of terribly bright colors.

6. Do you like Winter, or do you count the days until it ends? Let’s just say that I tolerate winter because I have to. I am already counting the days until spring, though.

7. What’s your favorite way to brighten your day when you’re down in the dumps? Fresh flowers!

8. What is your favorite treat to indulge in when your down in the dumps? Chocolate always helps.

9. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Cocoa? Coffee and tea. I don’t like flavored coffees, though.

10. If you could take a vacation starting tomorrow and go anywhere for one week and money were no object, where would you go and what would you do? I would go on a cruise somewhere warm!

11. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should be aware of? Not really!