Sunday, June 2, 2013

Slowdown Sunday -- Handwork

I have a lovely little stack of Dear Jane blocks wanting to have a little bit of handwork done to them.  They are all tucked away in a box just waiting for a little bit of down time.  There hasn't been anything worthwhile of TV lately, so I have been working on reading a book in the evenings instead.

I did find a bit of time while watching Harry Potter with Sydney to practice my knitting.  I found an easy pattern for a knitted dishcloth with a seed and stockinette stitch.  After three rows I realized I didn't remember the difference between knitting and purling though, so one border is a garter stitch instead.  Thanks to the nice tutorials at about.com, I have it all figured out now.  One cloth took almost an entire ball of cotton yarn, so I'll pick up another shade next time I am at the store.  Does anyone have different pattern for a knitted dishcloth I could try?  I'd like to keep adding new stitches until I get to the point that I could make a pair of socks. What would my next step be?
Yesterday was taken up with a massive scrap cutting extravaganza.  With all my Dear Jane activity, the bin was overflowing.  Now I have plenty of 1, 1.5 and 2 inch strips for all of my ongoing scrap projects.  Best of all, there is room in the basket for the extras from more projects.  I guess that means I should go and find something to finish.  Somewhere in the closet are at least two quilts who are waiting for borders.   

12 comments:

Angie said...

You really only need to do the knit stitch to make socks, as they are usually knit in the round. You'll need to practice using double pointed needles as the sock stitches are spread around 3 or 4 needles to make a tube. Maybe try knitting a hat in the round first. Have you discovered Ravelry? It's a free online knitting community with lots of free patterns and a wonderful search engine.

Here's a link to a bunch of dishcloth patterns that use different stitches: http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/dishcloths.php

Judy D in WA said...

I was going to say the same thing Angie said. :)
There are several patterns on Ravelry for socks/slippers made with worsted yarn and larger needles. That would be good to practice all the steps for socks.
Yeah for knitted dishcloths!!! You did good.

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

My easy go-to pattern is here - like the texture from k1,p1

http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/knit/dishspring.shtml

I am going to attempt socks too, I did mittens a few winters back and they were fun

Kate said...

Fun dishcloth, love the bright pink!

Aunt 'Reen said...

Very nice dishcloth!
Hope you find time to work on your little Janes today!

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Have you ever been to ravelry? It is a great place to find knitting and crochet patterns. I made about ten dish cloths last year, this year it has been pot holders. All are fun!

Sheila said...

Beautiful dishcloth! Love the color. You go girl!

Nancy-Rose said...

I've been working on DJ blocks this week too! Keep going!

Margaret said...

What they've already said about the knitted dishcloths. My favourite is one called "Grandma's Favorite" (though I'm not a grandma). It's plain and simple but not as boring as stockinette with a border. It's worked on point so has increases to 1/2-way and then decreases. Love it!

Andee said...

Nice job on the knitting. I think it is so relaxing and love to have something to take along or do while watching tv!

Quilter Kathy said...

What a wonderful pile of blocks to work on...enjoy!

Teresa in Music City said...

Oh how fun Angela!!! Your dishcloth is so cute :*) That's exactly how I started recently. I made a few dishcloths to get my knitting skills back up and work on my tension issues, when I felt more comfortable with it I tried a pair of socks. Lo and behold, I finished them up a couple of weeks ago and have started another pair!!! You can see them on blog. My favorite dishcloth pattern is Grandma's Favorite using Sugar and Spice yarn. It makes the best dishcloth for washing dishes ever. My husband remarks on how nice it is every time he washes dishes! Here is the link....http://www.groupepp.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html