Very Easy Lace Dishcloth

Written by Mochyn

Right. Don't let the word LACE scare you: this is as easy as it gets. In this cloth you'll meet two new techniques: yarn over and knit two together (k2tog). We'll also introduce charts: an easy way to record lace stitches. When knitting lace it's a good idea to count your stitches at the end of each right side row for a while, just until you're used to the pattern.

What you should end up with is this:

New techniques:

Yarn over: bring the yarn under the right hand needle from the back and over the top without knitting a stitch. This makes a new stitch on the next row and shows as an eyelet and is sometimes known as a yarn forward.

Knit 2 together: insert the right hand needle into the second and first next stitches on the left hand needle and knit them together. This makes one stitch fewer.

Abbreviations:

k = knit, p = purl, st = stitch.

yo = yarn over, k2tog = knit two stitches together.

Where there are brackets around a term or terms those are to be repeated the number of times specified.

Materials:

Yarn: Cotton DK (double knitting): I used Texere "Provence" in shade Petal.

Needles: 4mm.

Instructions:

Cast on 45 sts.

Knit 5 rows, slipping the first st of all except the first row.

Pattern:

Row 1: k5, (yo, k2tog, k3) 7 times, k5

Row 2: k5, p35, k5

Row 3: k5, k1, (yo, k2tog, k3) 6 times, k2, k5

Row 4: rep. row 2

These 4 rows form the pattern. Work them 12 more times, ending on a 3rd row.

Knit 5 rows.

Cast off, leaving a tail of about 12”. Crochet the tail into a chain of 10 sts.which becomes your hanging loop. Darn in the ends.

See? Easy! You may find this cloth has a tendency to lean: that's because of the lace. Not all lace leans, but that would involve another stitch...

CHART:

When working from this, remember to add on the 5 knit stitches at either end.