A Dishcloth Challenge

Over on the Down to Earth Forums one of the members started up a Dishcloth Challenge this month and some of the keen knitters are going to knit a dishcloth a week. Well, I am a slow knitter so decided to just knit one a month which is enough for me. I said I was slow :-) Anyway one of our experienced knitters showed us a photo of twelve dishcloths she has made recently and said she got the patterns from a book called Garden Dishcloths to Knit by Melissa Bergland Burnham. The dishcloths looked really nice so I took the plunge and ordered the book which was approximately $10 and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived to find that all the patterns are just plain and purl. Just up my alley and good patterns for beginners.

As I mentioned there are twelve patterns in the book featuring a Frog, Hummingbird and Trumpet Vine, Bee Skep (whatever a Skep is but it is on the front cover in the above photo so might be a bee hive), Sunflower, Rose, Topiary with Heart.....

 ...Butterfly, Michigan Cherries, Ladybug, Tulip, Cardinal and a Birdhouse.

I used Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton which is so very soft and is suitable for facecloths really. The balls are 200g so it works out that they are cheaper to buy than the 50g balls x 4. There are often sales on at the Mills and you can be notified if you are on their email list. 

So this is the finished product! I used the Cardinal pattern and it does resemble the one in the photo even though I did some loose stitches here and there. The patterns are easy but require concentration which is why I wanted to try them as I find that since I retired I have had difficulty concentrating so doing a bit of counting on each row has been helpful. I do need to tidy up the edges a bit though but I have a friend who is a knitting whiz who I just know is going to tell me how to do that the next time I see her :-) Isn't that right, Margaret? She is such a whiz that she can knit socks without looking at what she is doing. 

So if you would like to join in our Dishcloth Challenge come over to the Down to Earth Forums and join in as it is a lot of fun seeing what everyone is knitting or crocheting. There are a lot of beginners there who are just starting out and learning and we also have the more experienced knitters who are always only too willing to help out if anyone is having a problem. 

I saw this 'pretty' pest chewing up the dahlias the other day. Look at the pink on its back. Isn't it colourful? Unfortunately I had to use some natural pest control via my thong (flipflop for my Northern Hemisphere readers).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. We had some light rain last night and it has been a nice day before the next heatwave arrives this week. I believe the snowfalls in some places in the Northern Hemisphere have been extremely heavy this year so I hope it eases off for you if that is the case where you live. Stay safe everyone!