I've known how to knit for over 20 years now, but lately I seem to be stuck on simple little projects. I'm embarrassed to admit that I spend much of my time knitting dish cloths. Dishcloths that soon turn into dish rags. Is it sick that I love my rectangles and see each one as a little experiment in color theory? Or sort of crazy for someone who has exhibited "fiber art" to be churning out endless cotton rectangles that end up covered with sink-basket nastiness?
I have one bag stuffed with cotton, linen and hemp. For once, it's actually good to indulge in random skeins of cottony loveliness. The hard/fun part is yarn arranging. I put them in piles, add one color then take one out, etc etc. I leave the piles where I can look at them for a few days. It's not messiness, just part of the pre-knitting process.
After that, I knit a "series," usually about 4 or 5 squares. I love the ball band pattern because it is so repetitive and soothing, yet not totally mindless. Knit 5, slip 1 repeat 6 times, k1 row, purl 1 row, repeat whole process again. I can actually make mistakes doing this (!) so I let the annoying part of my brain (the lady who makes a lot of tedious to-do lists) stay tuned into knitting, while the other part of my mind can wander around and have some fun.
Knit 5, slip 1 repeat 6 times, k1 row, purl 1 row, repeat whole process yet again.
Does it not seem as if time is slowing down for a little while?
Later, I put them in a pile and squish them. I look at them a lot. Then I have a give away. What's left over I keep. They usually don't match. They get dirty, stained, faded, stinky. Then I have to make some more.
My version of the famous Ballband dishcloth:
With main color cast on a multiple of 6 minus 1 (e.g.47, 41, 35, etc.).
Row 1: Knit (right side)
Row 2: Purl (wrong side)
Row 3, 5, 7:Color B, *knit 5, slip 1 with yarn in back* end with K5
Row 4, 5, 8: Color B * knit 5, slip 1 with yarn in front* end with K5
repeat these two rows three times, so that the carried yarn is always on the wrong side of your cloth and you have three ridges with the slipped stitch crossing in front.
Row 9: Color A: Knit all stitches making sure the slipped stitch is not twisted.
Row 10: Purl with color A
Now you do the same thing all over again except that the pattern is shifted over three stitches to make a brick pattern.
Rows 11, 13, 15: color B,* Knit 2, Slip1 With yarn in back, Knit 5* end with knit 2.
Rows 12, 14, 16: color B,* Knit 2, Slip1 With yarn in front, Knit 5* end with knit 2.
I think you have the idea now. . .
End with rows 1 and 2. Bind off. repeat as needed.
