Yellow Linen Cloth in Garter Stitch

Wash cloth, linen, garter stitch, size 1 aluminum needles, 14 in.

The finished cloth is 11 in x 11 in and the fine gauge made with sport weight yarn produces a fairly sturdy and heavy cloth.  It's made to stand up to a lot of wear and to be machine washable and dryable.  This is a work horse cloth.
 

Sunny Yellow Linen - in progress

Wash cloth; Sport weight linen; garter stitch;  size 1 aluminum needle

I have really enjoyed this basic cloth, which is a gift for a departing work colleague. The very fine needle makes the cloth nicely tight-knit and it will machine wash and dry very well. It's LOTS of knitting for a piece that will probably be 11 x 11 inches.

 

Blue gray basketweave variation

Wash cloth, cotton, basket weave stitch, size 1 needles, 7inches, bamboo

No, this is not cable stitch.  Looks like it, but it is a basket weave variation from a long line of experiments.  I like varying the number of rows and the numbers of knit and purl stitches in order to obtain these patterns.  The washcloth doesn't take very long and the worsted cotton shows the stitch definition beautifully.  

This is also a variation on the old garter stitch diagonal pattern wash cloth given away by aunt Shirley, or maybe your mother in law.  

I love to give these away.  I have a large back of keins of Rowan Hand Knit Cotton and when the mood hits I pull out a skein and think of a basketweave variation I have not yet tried.

Basketweave variation in apricot

This is all the same piece in spite of the way it looks in different light, etc.
It's quite entertaining to keep producing variations of this stitch while making face cloths with cotton.  I've taken to using small needles to make a nice firm fabric - I'm always happier with something more firm than floppy when the cloth is wet.

Cotton basket weave variation series

There may be  up to 15 in the series now, although I've given a few away before I remember to photograph them! They are mostly worsted weight, worked with a size 3 needle or smaller for a nice firm fabric. I included a linen one, although the linen ones are not generally in basketweave stitch.

This one is linen

Yellow and black cotton cloth

Wash cloth, cotton, basket weave stitch, size 4 wood needles, 10 in.

I'm experimenting with this cotton because I have a great deal of it and I think it will make very nice wash cloths, either for the bath or for the kitchen.  It's approximately 12 x 12 inches and has a fairly firm texture.

It has one heavy strand, or ply and is wrapped with a black thread and a yellow thread, which produce the tweedy look. Both sides look the same.

Basket weave organic cotton The basketweave series

Number 5 in the basketweave variations series

organic cotton size 3 needles 14 inch basketweave stitch six rows k6, p6 then six rows p6, k6

I've been enjoying making this series of basketweave cloths. They are approximately 12 x 12 inches and so they are good face cloths or dish cloths.

Wrapped cotton

Wash cloth, cotton, garter stitch, size 3 bamboo cable needle, 24 in.

This is the knitting that I keep around the office so that on days like this, when I forget to pack my knitting, I have something to knit on my lunch break.  I've had this cotton for years and tried to think of what to do, and now I'm happy to make cloths and towels for the kitchen.  My sources for these things have grown too old to knit, so I am taking my turn.

Linen washcloths

3ply linen, stockinette and reverse stockinette are used to form the diamond shape - the other image of this piece comes from the other side.  

3ply linen, stockinette and reverse stockinette are used to form the diamond shape - the other image of this piece comes from the other side 

Wash cloth - stockinette - linen

Knitting explorations

The knitted linen cloths that I'm making for gifts are coming along nicely. I'm using very old plastic circular needles in size 4. They were in the collection I inherited from mom this past summer. The linen is not bleached, so I am washing it until the rinse water runs clear,, which seems to me to be quite a lot of washing.

I recently ordered one of the grab bags from Webs, one of my most favorite yarn stores, located in Northampton, Massachusettes. I go to the store when possible, and also have been very satisfied with my orders until now. The order form instructs us to put our grab bag color preferences in a special instructions section, which I did, then I got colors not even closely related to what I requested. They were willing to take it back, but frankly, I'm too lazy to mail it back to them. It's a royal pain in the neck for me. I should have called in the order and asked a lot more questions.

But now that I'm really looking at the yarn, after I got over the initial disappointment, it's interesting. *sigh* So I'm putting things together with it and "making do" with what I got. It's a lesson learned, and it won't by any means cause me to stop shopping at Webs , because it's such a fabulous collections of yarns, plus an excellent source for true bargains.