Handmade Dishcloth

Last Sunday's Saturday Stitch Session featured a pattern for Upright Rectangles made from a ball of Rico Design cotton aran in a natural colour. Now, I've been using up bits and pieces of my stash to make relatively small swatches for my ever-growing stitch library, but this week I decided to make a small dishcloth - something useful for the kitchen!

Here's the complete recipe for this quick and easy project.

Notions

A darning needle
Knitting needles in US size 8

Crochet hook in US size F5

Yarn

1 ball of Rico Design Cotton Aran
Abbreviations

K-knit, P-purl, Ch- chain, SC - single crochet.

Pattern

Using your knitting needles, cast on 37 stitches.

Row 1: *P1, k3, (p1,k1) twice, repeat from * to the last 5 stitches, p1, k3, p1.
Row 2: K1, p3, k1, *k1, p1, k2, p3, k1, repeat from * to the end.
Rows 3 - 10: Repeat rows 1and 2 four times.

Row 11: *P1, (k1, p1) twice, k3, repeat from * to the last 5 stitches, (p1, k1) twice, p1.
Row 12: K2, p1, k2, *p3, k2, p1, k2, repeat from * to end.
Row 13 - 20: Repeat rows 11 and 12 four times.

 Row 21: *P1, k3, (p1,k1) twice, repeat from * to the last 5 stitches, p1, k3, p1.
Row 22: K1, p3, k1, *k1, p1, k2, p3, k1, repeat from * to the end.
Rows 23 - 30: Repeat rows 1and 2 four times.

Row 31: *P1, (k1, p1) twice, k3, repeat from * to the last 5 stitches, (p1, k1) twice, p1.
Row 32: K2, p1, k2, *p3, k2, p1, k2, repeat from * to end.
Row 33 - 40: Repeat rows 11 and 12 four times.

Cast off all but last stitch.

Sew in your cast on tail with the darning needle. 

Switch to your crochet hook, and continue to do a single crochet all the way around your cloth, making approximately 36 stitches on each side. There is a good video tutorial showing the single crochet edge and an alternative edging pattern here.

Now that you have single crocheted all the way around your cloth, chain 5 stitches and single crochet into the third stitch along. Continue with this pattern all the way around your cloth (ch 5, sc into the third stitch).

Bind off at the last corner, and sew in your end pieces with the darning needle. Alternatively, use your end piece and a few extra lengths of yarn to create a loop from which to hang your cloth to dry.