MOD SHORTIE OVEN-DOOR DISHTOWEL - Wide

I had intended to keep MOD hand knit dishtowels long and wide for Hub’s benefit, but I ran short of the light multi-colored yarn last night, so settled for a shortie; Hubs really does not like them because they are not enough towel for him when he uses it … but he’ll just have to make do in this instance ;-) I like the 2-tone dishrag too – wasn’t sure until it was finished, but since I am working my designs around something that will appeal to a masculine male, these colors fit … and they won me over too.

I have never before used the rib stitch I used for the towel hem edge, but it looked interesting and it IS – I will definitely be utilizing it again :-D It is very simple and appears heavy enough to keep the towel’s bottom edge from curling. The sides of all the towels do curl, but that’s just how it goes.

That said, let’s get started and I hope you will enjoy making this towel as much as I enjoyed designing and crafting it. I used a 2 oz. skein of Dark and Light Sugar ‘n Cream yarns; small ball of leftover Chocolate cotton yarn for highlight. 1 plastic button to match. #10 American Needles for both towel and rag. #J crochet hook for towel topper.

STITCHES USED:

Oblique Rib: Row 1 - *K 2, p 2* across row. Row 2 – *K 1, p 2, K 1*. Row 3 - *P 2, k 2*. Row 4 - *P 1, k 2, p 1*.

Window Pane Check: Row 1 (WS) and all other WS row – P. Row 2 – P 1, *K 1, p 1; repeat from * across row. Rows 4, 8, & 12 – K. Rows 6 and 10 – P 1, *K 7, p 1; repeat from *. Repeat rows 1 to 12 for pattern.

MOD SHORTIE OVEN-DOOR DISHTOWEL - Wide

With Dark yarn, CO 75 sts and work 8 row of Oblique Rib patten. Cut yarn.

Attach Chocolate yarn and work 2 rows garter st. Cut yarn.

Attach Light yarn and k 2 rows garter st. Then work rows 4 through 12 of Window Pane Check pattern. Then work rows 1 through 12 throughout for a total of 62 rows counting from the Chocolate g st rows at hemline.

Work decrease rows as follows: Row 1 - *K 4 sts, D 3* across row 10x. Row 2 – Purl across row decreasing as necessary until there are only 24 sts remaining.

Begin crochet towel topper as follows: With crochet hook, sc across sts while removing them from the knitting needle; 24 sts. And then decrease 1 st EA side until there are 6 sts remaining. Crochet 14 rows on these 6 sts. BUTTONHOLE: sl 3, ch 5, sl 3; turn. Make 12 dc in loop and sl st to end st. BO. Add a simple decorative edging if desired. Weave in ends and sew button to the beginning of the 6 sc rows ON RIGHT SIDE of crochet towel topper.

I made a matching garter st dishrag using an old newspaper clipping, but this one online is the same exact pattern – just alternate the colors and that’s it! Dishcloth Pattern can be found at this link: https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Dish/Traditional-Garter-Stitch-Dishcloth

MOD MOCK HOUNDSTOOTH DISHTOWEL – Wide

This hand knit dishtowel set followed shortly after the first worked up. This one is a bit more intricate, but fairly simple to work up. Again, it is about 1 inch wider than the normal store bought kitchen towel … but it is approximately the same size in length when completed.

For this towel set I used a little over 2/3’s of a Dark and a Light 4-oz. skein of Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarns and a bit of leftover White Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn for highlight. And I used the rest of the yarns to make a matching dishrag. I used #10 American Needles for both towel and rag.

I made this set for two reasons – one being because my other sadly frayed store-bought dishtowels and hand knitted dishrags need replaced; the second being as a favor to my husband who has large hands that just do not do well with the scaled back dishcloths I reworked to fit my little petite hands – since he is generously helping me with kitchen detail, I feel it only fair that I should make things easier for him to make things easier for me ;-)

STITCHES USED:

Bamboo Stitch: Row 1 - *Wrap yarn over needle to make 1, k 2, pass wrap st over 2 sts* across row. Row 2 & alternate rows - P.

Mock Houndstooth Stitch: Row 1 – Dark, *sl 1 purlwise, k 2*. Row 2 – Dark, p. Row 3 – Light, *k 2, sl 1 purlwise*. Row 4 – P.

MOD MOCK HOUNDSTOOTH DISHTOWEL – Wide

With Dark, CO 76 sts and work 9 rows in Bamboo St. DO NOT CUT YARN; carry it up the sides as you work knit side of work.

Attach White, and work 2 rows garter st. Cut White.

Work Houndstooth pattern for 106 rows. Cut Light yarn.

Attach White, and work 2 rows garter st. Cut White.

Work 2 rows st st and then 7 rows Bamboo st pattern. BO last row loosely in garter st.

I worked the dishcloth using an old newspaper clipping pattern, but it is exactly the same pattern as shown on this internet site (pattern following); I alternated the colors for a striped effect to match the towel. Dishcloth Pattern can be found at this link: https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Dish/Traditional-Garter-Stitch-Dishcloth

MOD BRIGHT STRIPED DISHTOWEL – Wide

With my husband home all the time now since retirement I have come to realize that the kitchen needs to be outfitted with dishtowels and dishrags that will fit his big hands since he is helping with the breakfast (I have never been a breakfast person, so he and the kids are pretty much on their own in this regard) and the occasional lunch cleanup when I am otherwise occupied.

So since he is such a good sport, I have decided to repay the favor by designing and making up dishtowels and dishcloths that fit him; they are really too large for my little hands, but I’ve had it my way in the kitchen for 43 years … this is a small price to pay for the help he now lovingly offers.

I made this first towel/rag set out of leftover balls of cotton yarns I had on hand. I figure each ball used for the dishtowel was a third of the 4-oz. super-size Sugar ‘n Cream yarns. Any colors will work, these are the ones I had in my yarn bag. For the dishrag, I started with a new skein of yarn for the main color and 2 small balls of leftovers for the contrast edging. I used a pair of #10 American needles for both the towel and rag.

The dishtowel took a few days to complete – the dishrag 1 night. This towel will look ridiculously large when completed, but in actuality it is the same length as a regular store bought dishtowel … and about an 1-1/2 wider on both sides.

Stitches Used:

Rice Stitch – Row 1: *K1, p1* across. Row 2: As row 1.

St. st: Row 1: K across. Row 2: P across.

MOD BRIGHT STRIPED DISHTOWEL – Wide

With blue, CO 76 sts and work 7 rows of Rice st. DO NOT CHANGE COLOR. Work an additional 10 rows in st.st.

Change to green and work 5 rows st. st.

Change to pink and work in st. st.

This pattern established, follow it in such manner: 5 g – 10 b – 5 g – 10 p – 5 g – 10 b – 5 g – 10 p – 5 g – 10 b – 7 b Rice st. and BO last row.

Though the dishcloth pattern I used is at least 35 years old clipped from the local newspaper when they did such things back in the ‘good ‘ole days’ (hahaha), my head is about to explode with sinus pressure so instead of spending more time than necessary with my head bent over the keyboard and pressure making my eyes throb even more, I will just refer you to an internet site featuring the same pattern – the only difference being that I have used 2 contrast colors along the edges; just add them to the increase row that will give you 5 sts and keep tracking the CC up the sides as you work the dishcloth: very simple to do. Dishcloth Pattern can be found at this link: https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Dish/Traditional-Garter-Stitch-Dishcloth