Helle Benedikte Neigaard - Easy Knit Dishcloths: Learn to Knit Stitch by Stitch with Modern Stashbuster Projects

LEARN TO KNIT STITCH BY STITCH WITH MODERN STASHBUSTER PROJECTS

HELLE BENEDIKTE NEIGAARD

First of all, knitting is, as the Danes say, hyggeligt. Knitting is cozy and relaxingyou can unwind from your busy, everyday life and enjoy the meditative effect of the rhythmically moving yarn and needles, while you also get the satisfaction of creating something yourself.

And you even get to help take care of the environment, because your knitted cloths dont contain any micro plastic!

One of the benefits of knitting your own cloths is that you get to choose the colorsand, fortunately, there is a huge range of colors available in cotton yarn. So depending on whether your cloth is to match your tea towel, dishwashing brush, coffee machine, or something else entirely, youre guaranteed to find the right color.

Cloths are also a good way to use up excess yarn, because almost all cloths look good with stripes. Put your favorite colors together. About 145 yards (132 m) of yarn is used per cloth in this bookso youll automatically have yarn left over each time you knit a cloth.

You can, of course, use the cloths yourself, but they also make nice hostess or token giftswho wouldnt like to receive a nice home-knitted cloth?

In this book, youll find thirteen different patterns for cloths, so there is something for everyone, from the beginner to the experienced knitter: cloths knit in simple garter stitch to cloths knit with geometric patterns and crossing stitches. Some of the patterns include diagrams, and all the techniques you need are explained in the first part of the book.

If you share your creations on Instagram, please tag the picture with #quartoknows #quartocreates #dishcloths #knitting #cozy #hygge.

Happy knitting!

Its easy to convert the patterns if you would like to knit a kitchen handtowel to match your new cloth.

You can, of course, knit the towel to exactly the size you want, but, in each pattern, Ive written how many stitches you need to cast on if you would like a kitchen towel measuring about 14" (35 cm) in width. I would suggest a length of about 18" (45 cm), but its entirely up to you.

When you bind off the last stitch, cut the yarn, but allow for a tail of about 12" (30 cm) to hang from the handtowel. Then you can crochet a chain of single crochet stitches and attach it to the towel, so you have a nice loop for hanging up your towel.

At the beginning of each pattern, you can see how many stitches you need for a cloth measuring approximately 10" (25 cm) in width. For those who want a larger cloth, Ive also included the stitch ratio for additional stitches, so its easy for you to calculate a larger cloth.

Many of the cloths are edged in garter stitchin other words, the cloth is started by knitting a number of rows in knit stitch, so the cloth has garter stitch on both sides. I prefer narrow edges, but if you want a wider edge, simply knit some more rows at the beginning and end of the cloth and include more edging stitches at both sides of the cloth.

Edging stitches are included in both the written instructions and the diagrams.

Gauge is a measure of the number of stitches you knit per 4" (10 cm). Quite simply it means you knit a sample of 4" by 4" (10 by 10 cm), and then measure it with a tape measure to see how many stitches you used for that 4" (10 cm). Most of the patterns include the gauge from which the pattern was worked out.

Gauge can end up being different from person to person, even if you use the same yarn and the same needles. Therefore, it can be a good idea to knit a swatch and check your gauge, especially if you knit clothing where the exact size of your finished work is important. But when knitting cloths, its perhaps less important to hit 10" by 10" (25 x 25 cm) exactly, so you can skip knitting the swatch, if you like.

If your gauge shows that you have too many stitches per 4" (10 cm), it could be a good idea to go up a needle size. This typically happens if your knitting is a little tight.

If, on the other hand, you have too few stitches per 4 " (10 cm), its probably because youre knitting a little too loosely, and so you may want to go down a needle size.

If you are a beginner, you can find explanations of the basic techniques used in the patterns on the pages that follow.

There is also plenty of help available online. For example, there are many knitting videos to be found on YouTube, where you can easily see how to knit the different stitches.

The patterns here have been awarded 1, 2, or 3 stars, according to their level of difficulty.

1. Make a loop on the right needle and allow a tail of yarn to hang. Generally the yarn should be about three times as long as the dishcloth is wide, i.e., about 30" (75 cm).