The Simple Dishcloth
My Grammy Mable knit dozens of dishcloths. When my son was a toddler he used to pull out Gram’s stash and throw them around the living room, a rather clean way to make a confetti type mess. Gram laughed and laughed watching him play. Zach would gigle and throw them all over again.I haven’t given much thought to the humble dishcloth since Gram gave me my last one several years ago. The pattern is simple, not much to it really. It produces a utility piece of knitting. A face cloth or kitchen wipe, it’s not exactly a piece of knitting that requires much celebration. It’s not fancy or complex. There is really no reason to get excited about a knit dishcloth. And yet…I am giving it more consideration today.Last week I was between knit projects. I’d finished a big shawl. I didn’t have a sweater I wanted to work on. I was tired of knitting hexipuffs for my beekeeper quilt. But I need to knit everyday—it’s my quiet time as well as my joy. I pulled a ball of cotton variegated yarn from my stash and cast on 4 stitches. A dishcloth grew on my needles. I watched as the increases fanned out and the yarn changed color. It was satisfying. Visible progress was just the encouragement I needed. By the end of the evening I had a new dishcloth. Ah. The next day I knit another one. I took a ball of yarn to knit night and started another one. Hmm. What’s going on here? I knit big things, “important” projects with complex constructions. Why am I wasting my time with dishcloths?But the little squares made me smile. They were done in a jiffy. I had six in no time. I gave one to a friend. It made me happy. I put another in the mail to my brother. He’ll remember Grammy’s dishcloths. What a happy connection.Socks and sweaters, fingerless gloves and shawls. They are all lovely and great fun to wear or give away as gifts but they all take a long time to produce. The simple dishcloth takes an evening. I can share my knitted goodness much sooner. I am sure I’ll return to long sweater projects and yards of lace. But for now it’s lovely to rest with the simple and remember the fun of giving away a tiny bit of knitted happiness.In case you are in the mood for knitted simplicity here is the basic dishcloth pattern. You will memorize it in a heartbeat. I did and look what happened.Cast on 4 stsFirst Row: S1, K1, YO, Knit to the end.Repeat this row till you have 40 to 48 stitches (a pleasing half square)Next Row: S1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, Knit to the end.Repeat this row till 4 stitches remain.Bind off and give to a friend.