Dishcloths

What can I say? I'm an old fashioned type of gal that loves handmade things. One of those things is handmade dishcloths that are either knitted or crocheted from cotton yarn or thread. I was running low hand have been in the need for some new cloths for some time now. I  was looking for something just a bit different than my old standby, Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. It's such an easy pattern, but since it's all knit except for one YO at the beginning of the row, it gets boring and it relies heavily on the color of the yarn. It's great fir mindless knitting in front of a TV or knitting in public, but a girl just needs something new now and then. (In the photo, you can see the lovely set of handmade Peppermint soap and Peppermint lip balm that my husband got for me. He knows how to spoil me!)

Speaking of the old standby, I found some Bernat Handicrafter Holidays in Holly Jolly Print colorway that I thought would be perfect for Grandmother's Favorite. I love the jogs of color throughout the white and loved how crisp and clean it looked after it was finished. Certainly a color that was perfect for gift giving, so I made a few to give away as well. I really wished I had tested the colorfastness before giving them away, as it really ran and the white became a pink. Now, mind you, I still like the color. The pink is light and pretty, but I lost the crisp look that I fell in love with. I've never had a yarn run like this one from Bernat. This is my first time using Handicrafter and I certainly will never buy another skein of it unless it's on sale or it's a solid color. I'm really bummed because I gave all the cloths away except one.

While browsing my Facebook Feed,  I came across a posted a link to the Flower Power Dishcloth.  It's a quick and easy to follow crochet pattern that created a bright and cheery flower dishcloth. As soon as I saw it, it screamed "MAKE ME!!!"  The directions call for a solid cotton cloth, but I had some scrubby yarn in my stash that I thought would be perfect for the center. The purple cloth was made using Premier Yarns Washi (Purple)and Lily Sugar 'n Cream Scents (Lavender). For me, the Washi was a bit difficult to crochet with. It could be my old eyes, but with all the texture and nubbies, I found it hard to find the loops of the stitches. It was only 3 rounds, so it wasn't too frustrating and I liked how the center turned out - nicely textured.

The blue flower was made using Red Hear's Scrubby Sparkle (Lemon) and Premier Yarn's Premier Home Cotton (Delft Blue). The Scrubby Sparkle was easier to work with, but made a tiny bit smaller flower center. It was much easier to work with and adds a sparkle to the center. The Premier Home wasn't as easy to work with as the Sugar 'n Cream. It kept splitting. I'm going to have to get used to it, as I bought a case of it from the Dollar Tree.