Crochet a Useful Dishcloth

Here’s another super easy, useful  and very practical thing you can crochet…a dishcloth. You know you need them to wash those dishes and making your own just gives you something fun to do while chilling.

You already have all you need somewhere in the house if you’ve been trying those basic crochet stitches. I wrote out the instructions to make it easy for you, but since I explained common crochet terms and their abbreviations last time in the post about how to reading crochet patterns, I thought you should to see what they look like here. Abbreviations will be in parentheses after the written out directions, just so you can get used to them.  I’m sure if you practice reading them you can follow along with no problem.

What you’ll need:

Contrasting color yarn makes for a nice look

Two contrasting colors of yarn about 2-3 oz  (each ball should be about the size of your fist)

Crochet hook I or  J-This is a rather big hook but as you will be using two strands of yarn together, it will make for a bulky sort of yarn and using a big hook will make it easier and faster to make this project.

Instructions:

You'll soon see what this tail is for

1. Holding both strands of yarn together, chain 22. (ch22 with both yarns held tog)
2. In second chain from hook, single crochet. (in 2nd ch from hk, sc)
3. In the next fourteen chains work 1 single crochet, leave 7 chains un-touched, turn. (sc in ea st to end, 15 sc.
4. Single crochet in each stitch across, turn. 15 single crochets. (sc in ea st across, 15 sc)
5. Repeat step 4 until desired length, ~ 14 rows for an almost perfect square.(rep step4 until desired length)
6. Bind off and weave in ends of yarn.
7. Insert hook into the corner where you left the untouched chain at the beginning.
8. Pull through the ends of yarn and weave into work to secure. This will be a hoop for hanging the dishcloth for drying.

Loop for hanging, just tie yarn ends together and weave in ends

The top dishcloth I made with a variegated yarn coupled with a pale pink and the other is a turquoise with a bright pink. The yarn used were all bits of left over yarn from other projects so I didn’t have to make a special trip to the store to make these useful dishcloths. I like this project especially because get to use small amounts of leftover yarn which would otherwise sit around taking up space. Now they become useful household items. Nifty, huh?

Pretty in pink and blue

Now, that could not have been easier. You can make a stack of these in little time and you’ll never run out of them for use in the kitchen or bath. The fabric is nice and sturdy so it’s good for scrubbing. Make them for quick and easy gift giving, too. I did tell you crocheting would be fun and practical. What could be more practical than a dishcloth for the kitchen?

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Glory Lennon learned needle crafts like sewing, knitting and crocheting from her mother. Visit Glory’s Garden on Craft Tuesday and see what she’s up to in the craft room.