Correction on Magic Number for Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth

Back in March, I experimented with the original pattern for the Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth. I was looking for the largest number to use for the beginning chain so as to use up as much of a 2 ounce ball of cotton as possible without running out of yarn.

I thought 17 was it since there seemed to be so little left after my experiment that I was sure adding another stitch, which would mean 6 more long rows on the dishcloth, would surely cause me to run out of yarn. I was also quite satisfied with the size of the larger cloth compared to the original size cloth I had made at first.

But I decided to give it one more try, using this Sugar 'n Cream cotton called Baby Stripes. I love using the self-striping yarn on these cloths. The color patterns are always fun and different for each one.


Don't you just love how the color sections make the design on the cloth so much more interesting?


So here it is, the latest version of the Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth, made with a beginning chain of 18. This cloth is a full 11 inches across at its widest point which is a very generous size for a wash cloth.


I had enough yarn to work the first round of single crochet on the border, and then one round of reverse single crochet to finish off the edge nicely. When that was complete, there were only about 2 yards of yarn leftover. I'd say that is about as close as it gets for using up but not running out of a 2 ounce ball of yarn!

So now I stand corrected. 18 is the new magic number for me, using a size K hook and a 2 ounce ball of cotton. You may get different results because of your tension, hook size and choice of yarn. The solid colors are usually 1/2 ounce larger than the variegated or self-striping, and other brands may be different as well.

I think this one will be sent off to my niece who is expecting her first baby very shortly. Wouldn't this be lovely as part of a gift basket with all kinds of bath things for a new baby? Think about giving it a try for the next little bundle of joy coming into your life.

Happy Stitching!

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Giveaway Prize Ready to Go!

Another giveaway prize package is on its way! This one is heading all the way to Queensland, Australia to Kerry who won my 300th post giveaway a few weeks ago. Here's what she will be receiving...



The prize was actually a choice between a set of 4 dish/wash cloths, or 2 cloths and 2 woven hotpads. Kerry chose the mix and since her requested color was not available, she said that green would also be a good color. I decided to go with the Tunisian Short Row pattern that I have been using a lot lately since it shows off variegated and self striping yarns so nicely. And the woven hotpad is just a fun pattern to make anyway. You can read how I came about that pattern HERE. Thanks again to P&P for pointing me to it!

The yarn I used is Sugar'n Cream Lime Stripes. It almost looks like the color changes on one of the cloths happen exactly at the beginning of each wedge of the cloth. That is purely coincidental and was a fun effect to discover the first time I used the self striping yarn on this pattern. I have since made several more with other self striping yarns and the same thing seems to happen more often than not. Very interesting!

Happy Stitching!

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Crocheting for PTO Fundraiser Finally Finished!

I'm not usually the kind of person who waits until the last minute to get things done, but I cut it a little close for my donation to the high school PTO silent auction for this Friday evening. I finally finished the woven hot pads to go along with the dish cloths I made last week, and I delivered them to school. Whew! One more thing checked off my list!


Here is one set for the kitchen basket. I love this color combination. It's Lily Sugar 'n Cream Country Side Ombre along with Sage Green.


And here is the other set for the kitchen basket. It is made with the same Sage Green along with Green Twists. These are the same dishcloths I showed the other day. In that same post I also showed a yellow and white Tunisian Short Row cloth that was paired up with the Yellow Duck wash cloth for the New Baby Basket at the auction.

The denim blue cloth and one of my Super Easy Knitted cloths were paired up for the Bed and Bath basket.

If you like the looks of these cloths, make sure you sign up for my 300th Post Giveaway. You could win a set of 4 in the color of your choice!

Happy Stitching!

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Magic Number for Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth

Using 15 stitches for the beginning chain of the Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth with a size K hook made a cloth that was just a bit on the small side, and left far too much leftover yarn, but not enough to make another whole cloth.

So I tried 16 stitches. That made the cloth just a bit bigger, but still did not achieve my goal of using up almost all of the ball of yarn. There was still too much leftover.

So I tried 17 stitches. You can see where this is going, I am sure! Here is the result...


A cloth noticeably larger than the original size, by about a whole inch and a half. And not enough yarn leftover from a 2 ounce ball to add another stitch to the beginning chain and be able to complete the cloth.

So 17 is the Magic Number! To work this pattern using 17 as the beginning chain, you follow the exact same instructions, except when the number 15 is mentioned, just change it to 17. Give it a try and see if you like the bigger size better.


Don't you love the soft blues in this Denim cotton yarn? A set of cloths in this color, or any color of your choice, could be yours if you win my 300th post giveaway! Click HERE and read the rules for this great giveaway, but don't wait too long. #300 is coming up fast!

Happy Stitching!

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More Tunisian Short Row Dishcloths

I'm officially HOOKED! I admit it! I can't get enough of this worsted weight cotton yarn! It feels good to work with. It comes in such pretty solids and variegated combinations. These cloths work up so fast and pretty. They are the perfect take-along project. And they make the perfect little gift for any occasion. Right now I am making some for the high school PTO fundraiser that is coming up next week, but then I will be making more for other fundraisers and gift giving occasions.

Here's what I made last night while sitting through the high school band booster meeting for updating the by-laws...I was glad I had something to keep my hands busy!


The cloth on the left is made with Sugar'n Cream Green Twists yarn which is a 4 ply yarn made up of 2 plies off white, 1 ply very pale mint green, and 1 ply sage green. I love the look of the twist yarns. That is the one I made during last night's very tedious meeting. At least I was productive!


The cloth on the right is made using Sugar'n Cream Country Side Ombre which is a variegated of blue, purple, sage green, and grey. It looks kind of dark, but is really quite striking in person. I like it.

The solid ball of yarn pictured with the two cloths above is Sage Green, which is one of my favorite decorating colors. I am going to make two of the Tunisian Short Row dishcloths out of this color, one to go with the Green Twists and one to go with the Country Side Ombre. Then with the leftovers of each color, I am going to make one of the woven hotpads combining the Green Twists with the Sage Green, and one combining the Country Side Ombre with the Sage Green. So I will have two sets, each with two dishcloths and a woven hotpad. Those should look nice tucked into the kitchen gift baskets for the auction.


This is the cloth I started working on last week when I had to bring my daughter to get her finger x-rayed. She actually did break it and she must keep it in a simple splint for 4 weeks so it can heal. No time off school or work for her though! She just keeps on plugging away! She even continues to work on her own crochet project each evening and is making great progress on a full size zig-zag afghan that she is making for herself. I'll show pictures of that soon.

You might recognize the yarn I used for this cloth as one of the variegated yarn leftovers I used up when making my first woven hotpad the other day. It's called Daisy Ombre and it is just two colors, bright sunshine yellow with bright white. Very cheerful!

Now I must get busy with my cotton and my crochet hook. It's been about 10 hours since I worked my last stitch, and I do believe I am experiencing the beginnings of withdrawal! As addictions go, I suppose this one is not really SO bad!

Happy Stitching!

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Crochet Cords Tutorial Link

I was browsing around in the Crochet section of Knittinghelp.com just recently and came across a question regarding crocheted cording. Someone was interested in crocheting a cord to use in the waist of her knitted shorts. One of the responses included a link to Daphne's Tutorial Page on Crochet Know How. On this page Daphne had a little picture tutorial for three different types of crocheted cording: Slip Stitch Cord, Parallel Chain Cord and Lobster Stitch Cord.

I thought I would share that with you in case you are in need of some crocheted cord options on one of your projects. These could be used as drawstrings for purses, straps for a child's dress or shirt, embellishments for pillows or bags or other crocheted or knitted items.

I would like to do a video tutorial on each of these cords so I have put that on my list of things to do for Hooked On Needles. But today I don't think there will be any of that. Instead I will be taking my oldest to urgent care to have her finger examined. She closed the cash register drawer on it last night while working at our local grocery store, and my husband and I both are of the opinion that it is most likely broken. Being the dedicated student that she is, she went to school this morning and will be dismissed after the time necessary to be marked present for the day!

I've been cranking out these cotton dishcloths though, and will share pictures of my finished stack tomorrow. Some of them will be used as part of my Pay It Forward gifts to Myra, Jane, Leah and Mrs. Bubba. So, ladies, if you see any design or yarn color that strikes your fancy, please let me know so I can make you some that you will like. A variety of them will be going to the high school PTO for an upcoming fundraiser.

What kind of fun projects are you working on in between all of life's little curve balls?

Happy Stitching!

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Crocheted Buttercream Basketweave Dishcloth

Here's another crocheted cotton dishcloth which I made mostly while waiting to pick up my son from school the other day. Don't you love having little take-along projects to work on during those inevitable waiting periods of life? These are perfect!


This cloth was crocheted using Lily Sugar 'n Cream worsted weight cotton purchased from my local Michael's store. The color is called Butter Cream Ombre and I just love it! I used the Basket Weave Stitch, which is the same stitch I used in making the Crocheted Basket Weave Afghan for an old friend of mine last fall.


The texture of this stitch is just perfect for a face or dish cloth, and these colors are so soft and subtle that they would look good just about anywhere. They are certainly a lot more subtle than the colors in the Fiesta cloth I showed you yesterday!

This stitch does use a lot of yarn though, so this cloth, measuring about 11 inches square, took about 1 1/2 balls of cotton to make, so approximately 3 ounces.

I am in the process of figuring out if I can use the duck, the shamrock, and the mystery pattern Tunisian Crochet cloth charts with regular knitting and still have the designs come out in the right proportion. I will let you know what I discover. I also have a few other cloth designs to share with you shortly. Can you tell I'm having boatloads of fun with cotton lately?

Happy Stitching!

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Fiesta Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth

This is a busy time of year for school fundraisers, and with my eldest a senior in high school and my middle one in kindergarten, I have quite a few that I am committed to over the next few months. One for the high school is going to be a coffeehouse evening with music, desserts and an extensive silent auction consisting of all kinds of prizes and gift baskets and restaurant certificates and the like. I've been quite taken recently with these cotton dish and face cloths, so I volunteered to make some for the Bed & Bath basket, the Kitchen basket and the New Baby basket. Here's one of my offerings...



You will recognize this pattern as the Tunisian Short Row dishcloth about which I shared a how-to video not too long ago. The big difference here is of course the color...Wow! Don't you just love the bright cheerful Fiesta cotton that I used on this one?


I think this would make a great face cloth to use first thing in the morning. It would really wake you up!

If you haven't tried Tunisian crochet yet, you can check out the video tutorials here at Hooked On Needles. Then grab a hook and a ball of cotton and give this dishcloth a try. It is fun and easy, and works up very quickly. I made this one in about 2 hours while relaxing in the evening.

This cough is still hanging on, so I have not yet been able to video the Hawaiian granny square, but I've been having fun with my graph paper and will have another Tunisian cotton cloth pattern to share with you shortly. I can do that without talking!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Stitching!

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Tunisian Crochet Duck Pattern

Who doesn't love a bright yellow rubber duckie? My cousin's upstairs bathroom inspired this next project, and it's a great way to practice your Tunisian crochet skills. Supplies needed are only two: a ball of yellow crochet cotton such as Peaches 'n Cream or Sugar 'n Cream available at such stores as Walmart, Michael's, AC Moore and the like, and a size K-10 1/2 afghan hook available online at Herrschner's or Mary Maxim, or perhaps at your local yarn shop.


Here's my dapper little yellow duckie all ready to give your face, or even your child, a nice scrubbie with all that fabulous texture created by the Tunisian Purl stitches which make up the duck design. Of course, the back of the cloth is all bumpy too because that's just the way the back of Tunisian crochet is! Perfect for a face cloth or a dish cloth, don't you think?



This finished cloth measures 9 1/2 inches wide by 10 inches long, which includes the border. When I finished the Tunisian crochet body of the cloth, I switched to a regular size K crochet hook and worked a single crochet border all around the cloth, then a simple decorative border of (skip a stitch, 3 single crochets in next stitch, skip a stitch, one single crochet in next stitch) all the way around.

If you would like to make one for yourself, here is the chart which you can click on, then print.


At the bottom of the chart, I have included the information for working the project. The beginning chain for this is 33. For each blank square of the chart, you work a Basic Tunisian Knit Stitch and for each X square on the chart, you work a Tunisian Purl Stitch. Remember that each row of Tunisian crochet is made up of the forward half of the row when you pick up all your stitches onto the hook, and the return half of the row where you work the stitches off the hook.

To follow this chart, you would begin at the lower right corner and work 5 rows of Basic Tunisian Knit Stitch. Then you would start the next row by counting how many Knit Stitches you need to work before starting the Purl Stitches. In this case it would be 11 Knit Stitches. Then count the number of X squares, which is 8, and work 8 Purl Stitches, then finish the row with Knit stitches, and work the return half of the row as usual. Continue following the chart upwards and from right to left until you have completed the entire chart. Work your border however you like, and you are finished.

I have designed some other patterns as well, and will be sharing them with you in the coming days and weeks. If you make something from this pattern, please send me a picture. I would love to see it, and maybe share it with my readers!

Happy Stitching!

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Diagonal Seed Stitch in Knitting

Recently I had the pleasure of being the last knitter on one of the Northeast Region Oddball Preemie Blankets called Tutti Frutti. The stitch I used was Diagonal Seed Stitch on a Stockinette background.

This is what the last section looked like when it was finished and the pattern is included below.


On these oddball blankets, each knitter gets to choose whatever design they want to stitch. The only requirement is the type of yarn for the specific blanket and that the beginning and ending 3 stitches of each row must be knit. This provides a uniform garter stitch border around the blanket for the crocheted border to be worked into.

Tutti Frutti is a preemie blanket so it is worked in sport or DK weight yarn. The yarn I used is Bernat Softee Baby and the color name is Pink Marls.

The Diagonal Seed Stitch is a very simple stitch to work, being basically stockinette stitch with purl stitches spaced evenly on the right side, offset by one on each subsequent row. This is how I worked the diagonal pattern:

Row 1 (right side): K3, K0 (this is simply a placeholder to which the Row 3 instruction will refer), P1, (K10, P1) until there are 13 or fewer stitches left on the needle, K remaining stitches.

Row 2 (wrong side) and all even number rows: K3, Purl across until only 3 stitches remain, K3.

Rows 3 - 21: K3, K one more than on previous right side row (for instance: for row 3 K1, for row 5 K2, for row 7 K3, etc) , P1, (K10, P1) across, K remaining stitches.

Row 23: Begin again with Row 1.

This design could very easily be incorporated into a plain stockinette stitch pattern to add a little texture and interest to the knitted fabric. It would look nice worked into a sweater, hat, scarf or blanket. The distance between the diagonal lines could easily be changed to whatever you like, either closer together or further apart. Experiment a little with scrap yarn to come up with something you like, or an even easier way to work out your own design is to use graph paper to mark where you want your purl stitches. Then knit a sample to see if you like it before working it into a larger piece. Use worsted weight cotton like Peaches 'N Cream for your sample and make up a dishcloth with your design. That way, even if you don't like your design, you will still have something usable.

Happy Stitching!

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Super Easy Knitted Face Cloth - Quick Christmas Gift Idea

I've been trying to think up some quick Christmas gift ideas for the fast approaching holiday season, and here is one that is not only quick, but also very easy and inexpensive to make. It's a knitted cotton face cloth made from one ball of worsted weight cotton yarn and size 9 needles. What a nice gift this would make, wrapped up together with a bar of lavender soap and a pretty ribbon.

Take a look and see just how easy it is:


Remember a few weeks ago I was wondering how I could knit until I had used up half of my yarn and then finish the project without running short or having a lot left over. I thought of using my postage scale to tell me when I had gotten to the halfway point. This is the project I was making at the time, and you can see that I didn't trust my scale and I started decreasing at least a row or two before I needed to. Now I have that little blob of yarn leftover. I'm sure I can think of something useful to do with it.

Anyway, back to the easy knitted face cloth -- There it is, simple as can be. Here's the pattern:

Cast on 3.
*Knit 1, yarn over, knit each remaining stitch across. *
Continue from * to * until you have used up half of your yarn, or until your cloth is half as big as you want it.
*Knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit each remaining stitch across.*
Continue from * to * until you have 3 stitches left on your needle.
Bind off.
Weave in loose ends.

Now you have a soft cotton face cloth, knit in garter stitch on the diagonal. I'm not sure it could get any easier than that!


This corner shows the point where the increasing stopped and the decreasing began. The edge on the right side is the 'yarn over increase' edge where a little hole is left in the fabric from each yarn over. To continue that hole in the edge on the decrease rows, I worked a 'knit 2 together' decrease, then a yarn over to make the hole, then another 'knit 2 together' decrease. This effectively only decreases the stitch count by 1 on each row and continues the border design all around the cloth.


This is the cast on corner -- nice and neat after the tail is woven into the fabric.


Here's an interesting view of the texture you get by knitting every row, which is called garter stitch. Don't you think this would feel good on your face in the morning?

This is an great pattern to use for a quick and easy baby blanket too. Using soft worsted or chunky yarn and needles one or two sizes larger than the yarn calls for, follow the same pattern until the piece is as long on one side as you want the edge of the blanket to be, then start decreasing until you are finished. This may require changing to circular needles towards the middle of the project, but it makes a nice warm, soft baby blanket which does not require following a pattern. Easy peasy!

Happy Stitching!

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