Knitting Project: Zig Zags Dishcloth

Yep, another dishcloth pattern! I guess they're kinda my thing.

                          

These are so quick and simple to make and people honestly love them. These are my absolute best sellers, year after year.

I recently posted a similar pattern, the Chevrons Dishcloth, based on a stitch that I learned from a knitting encyclopedia. This Zig Zag dishcloth has a more compact design, and the line runs vertically through the piece, rather than horizontally. 

                           

Not that it'll set the world on fire, but I'm proud to say that this stitch pattern is a GGG original. So, enjoy. Happy knitting!

Zig Zags Dishcloth

*Cast on 36

Rows 1 & 2 – K all sts

Row 3 – K2 *K3, P1* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 4 – K2 *P1, K1, P2* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 5 – K2 *K1, P1, K2* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 6 – K2 *P3, K1* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 7 – K2 *P1, K3* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 8 – K2 *P2, K1, P1* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 9 – K2 *K2, P1, K1* to last 2 sts, K2
Row 10 - K2 *K1, P3* to last 2 sts, K2

Repeat rows 3-10 until desired length is reached, less two rows.

Last 2 rows – K all sts.

Bind off loosely.

If you find any errors or have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. If you want to forgo the knitting and buy some finished dishcloths, you can find me on Etsy as Postmodern Milkmaid, or shoot me an email/leave a comment and I'll hook you up! ;)

Ina's Shortbread

This is yet another eggless wonder! The hens gave us exactly one egg last week, and I'm pretty sure it was from one of the bantams no less. I was robbed!

I decided to branch out from my tried and true Spiced Pumpkin Scones and further explore the possibilities of baking in an world sin huevos. I needed to make something for the school's bake sale and it had to be a) nut-free (school rule), b) eggless (I shake my fist in your general direction, chickens!), c) foolproof. These parameters whittled down my options considerably. Of the remaining few, I settled on trying shortbread.

I used Ina Garten's shortbread recipe, so I pretty much knew it was gonna rock. As a generously-proportioned woman myself, I am rather suspicious of skinny chefs (I'm looking at you, Giada), and given the choice, will go with the chef who looks like they actually eat. Ergo, Ina=Awesome.

These badboys call for exactly 5 ingredients - (a boatload of) butter, sugar, vanilla, flour and salt. Nice and simple, and most importantly, no eggs!

Was I right or was I right? AWESOME.

I iced them with a butterscotch glaze and sprinkled shredded coconut on a few. They are a cardiologist's nightmare. Completely non-artery-friendly and absolutely divine.

Knitting Project: Chevrons Dishcloth

Our family uses these primarily as dishcloths (and as goat udder-washer-uppers), but there's no reason that you couldn't use these as washcloths too. I use 100% cotton, and try to stick to patterns that are simple enough to memorize (no looking back and forth from the pattern to your work all day), and "nubbly" enough to really get in there when you're using these to scrub the holy heck out of something - be it dishes, your face or...goat parts. ;)

This is a fairly new design for me, but it has been selling well, and with the chevron design craze (search chevron on Pinterest and see for yourself) I thought I'd better capitalize on this good thing while I could. But, it'd be rude to keep such a fun and easy knit to myself, so here you go, the Chevrons Dishcloth.

The pattern gets lost a little on variegated yarns, as you can see from my crummy cell phone picture. I'd recommend solids for this pattern.

*Needles: size 7 straight needles (I use a 24" circular needle, so I can smoosh my work into the middle of it when I set it down, as to not drop stitches off the needles. It works!)

*Yarn: 1 ball Kitchen Cotton, such as Sugar 'n Cream or Coolspun Cotton

Cast on 36 sts

Rows 1 & 2 - Knit all sts
Row 3 - K2, *P1, K3* to last 2 sts, K2
Row 4 - K2, *K1, P5, K1, P1* to last 2 sts, K2
Row 5-  K2, *K2, P1, K1* to last 2 sts, K2
Row 6-  K2, *P2, K1, P1, K1, P3* to last 2 sts, K2
Repeat rows 3-6 until piece reaches desired length, minus 2 rows.
Last 2 rows - Knit all sts
Loosely bind off all sts.

You can eliminate the first two and last two rows of knit sts, as well as the k2 at the beginning and end of each row if you do not want a selvedge edge. I think it makes the cloth look more finished though. ;)

That's it! Happy knitting!!!