Yesterday over in Facebook I posted this quick-and-easy knit washcloth pattern:

Classic Elite “Provence”… best facecloth cotton in the entire known world. Size 5 needles.

Cast on 65. In Color A, knit 10 rows (5 garter ridges).

Row 11: Color A, Knit 5, Color B, Knit 55, Color A (add a new ball) knit 5.
Row 12: Color A: K5, Color B: K1, *P1, K1, repeat from * until last 5 sts, Color A, K5.

Continue to make a 5st garter border in Color A, while making a seed stitch field in Color B, until there are 60 garter ridges at the borders (5 at the bottom, and 55 up the side borders).
Row 121: In Color A, knit 10 rows (5 garter ridges). Bind off, weave in tails.
The only special skill required is remembering to properly twist yarns at the color changes to avoid holes. This is basic intarsia technique.

Once you have this basic pattern sequence down, you can fill the inner field with all sorts of fanciful knit/purl stitch patterns and textures, allowing for a whole set of coordinated facecloths. Just mind your stitch count and row count.

This picture shows the original washcloth of this pattern, 12-15 years old, along with the one I’m knitting today.   Same basic pattern (garter border, seed stitch field), same yarn (Classic Elite “Provence” cotton), and same colors (yes, I’ve kept my Provence all these years for specifically this reason).

The ONLY difference is that the original is only slightly ‘worn’ and faded with many years of washings, but no fraying or tearing.  A store-bought washcloth will fray and thin over years of service, but this one has not.   You can see the stitch detail better in the photos further below.  This is why I say Classic Elite “Provence” is the absolute BEST cotton yarn for washcloths!

Follow