A washcloth from days gone by
Since I have to deal with 6-7 years of legacy pictures, I thought it would be fun to occasionally post and reminisce.
This is one of my favorite washcloth patterns, a very simple stitch repeat, reversible design, made with two colors of yarn. It requires a circular needle because you are working the two yarns from opposite ends of the needle.
The yarn I used for this is one of my favorite washcloth yarns: Classic Elite “Provence” — a nice 100% mercerized cotton yarn, but you can use whatever yarn you like.
With Color A, cast on 60.
Foundation Row: *K1, P1, repeat from * across, and slip work to the opposite end of the needle, so our Color A yarn is hanging away from a working needle tip.
Row 1: Color B to knit the knits and purl the purls.
Row 2: Still using Color B, purl the knits and knit the purls. Slip the work back to the opposite end, so that Color A is again ready to work.
Row 3: Color A to knit the knits and purl the purls.
Row 4: Color A, purl the knits and knit the purls. Slip the work back to the opposite end, so that Color B is again ready to work.
Repeat these 4 rows until your washcloth is approximately square, then bind off on the second row a Color B band.
You may use to do the opposite of knits and purls on every row, making a seed stitch cloths. Or you can reverse the knit-the-knits/purl-the-purls directions, so that when you change colors you do the opposite stitch and on the next row you knit the knits, etc.
I left my edges alone, but you can put a cute crocheted edge if you wish. It is several years now, and the washcloth is nearly white from use, but the texture remains an excellent exfoliant for scrubbing in the shower!
Follow
Thanks for the reminder. Going to knit myself one of these. I think I made one when you first posted this and gave it away.
OK – I’m over 65 & don’t remember if this is a worsted wt. cotton or a lighter wt cotton. Also – – what size needle (a good hint for the wt. of the yarn). Sorry to be so simple, but this looks really cool, but I’m not in the mood for experimentation . . . My point – I’ve got a bunch of both Patons “Grace” and Lion’s Cream & Sugar, so I can go either way. Just need more information about the pattern. Maybe it could be both – a wash cloth (lighter wt.) or a dish cloth (heavier wt.) Say what?
The version that I made, shown above, is on “Provence” which I think is a sport weight and I did it on a size 5 needle, same as I do all my washcloths. If you go with kitchen cotton (like Pisgah’s Sugar & Cream, or Peaches ‘n Cream, or other nicer kitchen cotton) I could use a 7 or 8 needle. Personally I wouldn’t use any of the kitchen cottons for washcloths or facecloths — the kitchen cottons are not mercerized and tend to lint quite a lot and fray; those yarns are okay for knitted dishcloths and crocheted potholders.