Washcloths.

Hey, don't start yawning. These aren't just your average, every day, run of the mill washcloths. These are knitted, with much love and affection in every stitch. Why washcloths? Well, the first and most obvious answer is that they're functional. But, they're also fairly small, relatively speaking, which means you can do a very intricate pattern and it still won't take very long. Also, just because they're functional doesn't mean they can't also be lovely! I finished these three for Sebastian's teacher's assistant a few days ago, but I had to block them so that they'd look right. What is blocking, you ask? Here's a definition that I found online:

The process of blocking (also known as dressing) assures that your knitting is the shape it is meant to be. It will help your edges to lie flat; your lace to look even on both sides and it will make both the front and back of a garment the same size. Anything you knit which is made up entirely of lace (shawls, scarves some sweaters) must be blocked. In fact, lace objects that look like a loose loopy mess can be blocked into a beautiful work of art almost by magic.

So, there you go. And yes, I had to do that. I don't care if it's just a washcloth; they need to look just so when Mrs. Tish gets them in the mail. As far as the color goes, I asked what her favorite color was and she specified olive/army green. Anyway, here they are.

Pattern: modified version of Staggered Fern

Yarn: Peaches & Crème in Light Sage

Needles: US size 7


Pattern: Traveling Vine

Yarn: Peaches & Crème in Light Sage

Needles: US size 7


Pattern: Wishbone Washcloth

Yarn: Peaches & Crème in Light Sage

Needles: US size 7



I made the last pattern up myself! Yay for me! I wanted it to look like the washcloth version of a sweater. I created the pattern using some well known cable stitches. The "wishbone cable" is a common cable stitch that's referred to by a few different names. I've seen it called the "whale spine cable stitch" and the "horseshoe cable", but it looks like a wishbone to me, so I'm calling it the wishbone cable. I don't know what's up with those 2 or 3 discolored spots on the cable that's farthest to the right. It's pissing me off, but I don't think it's as noticeable in person as it is in the picture. The flash kind of makes it more visible. Anyway, if anyone wants to make this washcloth (in other words, Phoebe), here's the pattern for it:

CO 42

c6f: place first 3 sts on cable needle and hold in front of work, knit next 3 sts, knit the 3 sts from cable needle.

c6b: place the first 3 sts on cable needles and hold behind work, knit next 3 sts, knit the 3 sts from cable needle.

wishbone cable: c6b, c6f *Please note that when you make this cable, a large hole will form at the base of it. This hole will gradually disappear as you continue to work the non-cable rounds of the pattern.*



4 rows of border.

Row 1: border 3, p3, k6, p3, k12, p3, k6, p3, border 3
Row 2: border 3, k3, p6, k3, p12, k3, p6, k3, border 3
Row 3: border 3, p3, c6f, p3, wishbone cable, p3, c6b, p3, border 3
Row 4: as round 2
Row 5: as round 1
Row 6: as round 2
Row 7: as round 1
Row 8: as round 2

Repeat rounds 1-8 four times more.

4 rows of border.