Dishcloth Diary

Dishcloth or Washcloth

Cloths are crocheted in a seed stitch, 

to create a nubby texture for gentle scrubbing. 

 

As a dishcloth it is designed with a loop for hanging discretely out of sight in the dishwasher when not in use or hang it in the dishwasher to dry. You may also leave it  hanging in the dishwasher, making sure to keep it well away from the soap dispenser and moving parts, while dishwasher is running to wash and sterilize the dishcloth.

As a washcloth, texture gently massages skin to give to give a squeaky clean tingle. Hang in shower to dry. Machine wash and dry with towels.

To make these I used Peaches and Creme, WW Crochet Cotton, about 2.5 oz. and a Size I- 9 Susan Bates hook

Special stitches

Seed Stitch pattern: sc in first 3 sc, begin pattern, insert hook in next st, pull loop through, holding back loop on hook, ch 3, pull yarn through both loops on hook to complete sc, sc in next stitch. Work pattern across row to last 3 sts, sc in last 3 sts.

Start: chain 8, join to first ch, to form loop, ch 1, 10 sc in loop, join in first sc.  Do not end off.

Row 1. ch about 9 inches ( 28 to 34 stitches) or for desired width.

Row 2. sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch back to loop, ch 1, turn on every row.

Row 3. sc in each sc across row.

Row 4. Start pattern. Sc in first 3 sts, (*seed st in next st, sc in next st;) across row to last 3 sts. Sc in last 3 sts.  (You will always sc in the first 3 sts and the last 3 sts on each row to create border.)

Row 5 - 25 or to desired length of cloth, Work border sts and seed st pattern across row, pushing all ch 3 loops to right side of cloth.
When desired length is obtained, sc across 2 full rows, end off yarn, work in end.

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Happy Father's Day Daddy

 

Chi Ba-Ba's

So what the heck is a Chi Ba-ba?

Anyone who knows me, knows the only thing I hate about crochet are knots in my work.  But then again desperate moments call for desperate measures so all the yarn ends that are too small to work into a granny square but still too large for me to be able to throw away are tied together and wound onto a ball. When the ball is large enough I create crate mats, which I call Chi Ba-ba's after an old Perry Como song from 1947.  My Chi ba-ba's are nothing more or less than small blankets.  They are not designed to be pretty.  Their purpose is strickly functional. I crochet them using the now popular C2C or Corner to Corner stitch.
Yes, they are a bit strange looking due to the fact they are made from waste yarn in an unusual explosion of colors.  Hey, but haven't I always been NEON?  I considered the fact I had always heard many animals are color blind and I know, as we all know,  they are never critical of their blessings.  Chi Ba-ba's are stackable, soft, warm and very much loved by small dogs and cats.  They are machine washable, dryer friendly and best of all free and ecology friendly as I am keeping the waste yarn out of the landfill.  When finished they are donated to our local animal hospital who works with the animal shelter.

The first batch of Chi Ba-ba's I donated, resulted in my receiving some rather strange looks from the recipients and I admit I felt a bit foolish but not discouraged.  Later that week I received a lovely thank you note which was more than enough encouragement to keep me churning them out.  To this day nobody has never refused to accept one or tell me they had too many.

My little scene stealer Heidi Lou, shown in the photos here, is inspecting some Chi Ba-ba's that are ready for delivery and giving a demo of how to play her favorite game called  "See Me, See Me ?"  She burrows into the Chi ba-ba's and peeks out.  First you see me, then you don't.  Heidi Lou is the ultimate in undercover dogs.

Crate mats can be made any size.  Just measure the area.  I make them about 20 X 20 for the animal hospital.  Large enough to curl up on, small enough to leave a bare area for food dishes and/or necessary papers. 

For more personal use I measure and make them the size of the designated crate.  I also make them with new yarn chosen in decorator friendly colors that are large enough to cover a chair seat or a sofa cushion and I use and/or sell them as "Seat Savers".   You may notice your cat or dog will seek out that Chi Ba-ba and claim it as their own to sleep on when sneaking onto the best seat in the house.  No more pet hair everywhere when somebody comes or you just want to sit. Just pick up the seat saver and toss it in the washer/dryer.

An excellent video tutorial for the diagonal box stitch can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dymIOzc_aXY

A free pattern for a regular size afghan throw is here.
http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-corner-corner-throw

The stitch is textured, simple, fast and fun, can be used for many things and you can even make blocks and crochet them into a granny square afghan.

Basic Granny Yarn Requirements

Ever get part way around a Granny Square and run out of yarn,

I find that very annoying so I decided to work up a traditional granny square 

and see just how much yarn is needed for each round.

For this example I used worsted weight 4 ply yarn Red Heart Super Saver.  

Basic Granny Square

Granny Square Yarn Requirements:

Approximate WW yarn allowance per square

(hook size  I - 9 or 5.50mm)

    Rnd 1: 2 ½ yards

Rnd 2: 4 yards

Rnd 3: 6 yards

Rnd 4: 8 yards

Birth of an Afghan ~ Not Your Everyday Granny's

Growing Pains, for Not Your Everyday Granny

For some unknown reason I took a left turn on my current project.  I hate it when I do that. Why anyone would change their mind about their design when it is almost finished is beyond me. Must be part of my inner weird.  Spent last weekend ripping out the last row on every block, re-stitching it and adding one more before joining the blocks into 4 block squares.  An overdose of instant insanity!  Duh ! Like, who does that, that is not completely certifiable ?  

Being a rather intense personality, in my Vocabulary

"Begun" is synonymous with "Done".

I hate it when a project fights creation.

Ode To An Afghan

     I won't run through the whole boring story leading up to the preparation of my initial encounter with the art of crochet and the creation of my first granny square. I will start with how proud I was when my first square was done. It was a six inch square and worked up rather quickly. After I got finished patting myself on the back I looked at the book and then discovered I need like about a zillion more of them to make anything useful. Not being a patient person the mental wheels started grinding, I was never good at math but I was thinking if I need 80 six inch squares I would only need 40 twelve inch squares. Right ? Wrong, but that did not come into play at that time. I reattached the yarn and started to add rows/rounds. It got bigger, but, so I tied on a new skein of yarn and again it got bigger and I added another skein of yarn until all of a sudden I had this huge square. Like "BAM! Now that's what I'm Talkin' about !"

     Please note I was 14 years old at that time but had already developed into what I like to refer to as a rather intense personality. So as I review all the afghan patterns I had already collected I noticed none of the afghans are square. So now I have this humongous square and apparently afghans are supposed to be rectangular, right? Who ever heard of a "Square" afghan? I never saw one. Dilemma how to turn the square into a rectangle Hummmm. Back to the book and behold I found a Chevron or ripple pattern. Starting with a foundation chain which meant I could add a ripple pattern to opposite sides of my square and a rectangle is born. TA-DA ! Nothing left to do but add a simple border around the whole mess and call it done !

     In spite of my best effort, this project resulted in the ultimate "UGLY" afghan. When I started I had high expectations but low confidence so I purchased Red Heart Yarn {on sale yarn) for my first effort, which at the time I could only get in three colors. Federal gold, Moss green and a shocking shade of Purple. The birth of my first experience with going NEON! When finally finished I draped it artfully across the sofa and called Mom to admire my handiwork. Being a loving, caring mother who always encouraged my creative talents no matter how feeble, Mom raved about how well done it was and how beautiful it was. I in return, enthusiastically proclaimed "I made it for you." (it's true no good deed goes unpunished) Mom gently suggested since it was my first masterpiece (monsterpiece) perhaps I might like to keep it for myself, IN MY ROOM ! Ah, but I was not having any part of that. Because at the moment of her voiced admiration it had instantly become "The greatest Mom in the World Award" so how could I deprive her of it ?

     Mom was very brave, I now know, because as I grew up Mom got stuck with all of the "first" creations of the many different art forms I explored, so whenever my craft changed over the years so did her personal torture. I remember well the gaudy "Sequin" earrings, the painted Plaster of Paris Pins, the handmade aprons, the plastic tile box/bowl thingy or whatever the heck that was anyway. Like most of my accomplishment, no matter how awful, the afghan was out on display for a while. With the arrival of Spring blossoms, it went into the cedar chest for the summer. Over the years it moved mysteriously in and out of the closet or cedar chest with changing seasons or current need. Mom devotedly dragged it along from house to home as she led the family through the routine of daily living. I admit I felt a new sense of pride when Daddy fell ill and it was deployed as a banner of comfort and love on his wheelchair.

     I stopped taking exact notice when it came and went, always appearing in Mom's apartment abut the time the cooler nights of fall crept into the rooms, slipping out of sight with the warmth of spring. It was old, heavy, clumsy and still UGLY. After a time, as I matured, I perceived Mom as getting older and looking smaller and she appeared frail to my eyes so I made two small stylish afghans in her favorite colors. These at least were beautiful, well made, light in weight but still warm and worthy of the privilege of the task assigned to them. As we neared the time when she went to meet daddy, she chose to forgo her lifelong, ever present, sweater and spent most of her time snuggled under one of those little afghans, to ward off the winter chill or the breeze from the summer fans.

     Closing up Mom's apartment was difficult and the "UGLY" afghan, now affectionately named by me as the Purple People Heater, (reference to a very old song) suddenly reappeared still as ugly as ever. In spite of the two new afghans I had made for her, even after all those years she had saved it. Perhaps she saw some redeeming quality in it that I did not detect. I know she had a keen eye because in spite of all my growing pains, she never gave up on me. So one of mom's little afghans was donated, Sis, took the other with my blessing and I was going to toss the Purple People Heater but Sis would not hear of it. She insisted I bring it home where she deemed it belonged. She reminded me it was my first "Monsterpiece" and believed I should keep it. How do you deny the wisdom of a little sister who has watched you her whole life and knows you better than you know yourself.

      So now it lives on my rocker. It turned 54 years old February 2011 and is, in spite of my achievements, a constant reminder of my humble beginnings. It is most treasured by my Chihuahua, who is always cold, and is pressed into service when the winter chill creeps over the counterpane, you may find us cohabitating under its folds. It is still "Ugly" and it looks a little worse for wear, having survived hundreds of bouts with the washer and dryer over the years. But the colors are still bright, the yarn a little less resilient but amazingly enough it still has its rectangular shape and has never lost a stitch. Faithful, ready to work, undemanding, a silent sentry as life moves forward it remains, another tribute to the undeniable truth "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Update...as of 2021 this blanket is 65 years old and

the dog is now 18 years old,

but who's counting.