I made a few garter stitch dishcloths the other night. The one on the right is called Grandmother's Favorite from The Dishcloth Boutique. The one on the left I made up myself.
I had a scrap ball of yarn and wasn't sure how much was there and didn't feel like measuring the yardage, so I decided to knit a mitered square backward, increasing instead of decreasing, until I ran out of yarn. This one turned out the same size as Granny's Fave, about 7 inches square. Here's how I did it:
Using worsted weight cotton yarn (Lion Kitchen Cotton or Sugar and Cream) and a pair of size 7 knitting needles, CO 3 sts.
Row 1: K1, YO, K1, YO, K1.
Row 2: K across.
Row 3: K2, YO, K1, YO, K2.
Row 4: K across.
Row 5: K3, YO, K1, YO, K3.
Row 6: K across.
Continue knitting alternate rows of increasing (YO before and after the center stitch) and plain knit until you have 63 stitches on the needle (or you have only 1-1 1/2 yards of yarn left, or the side of the square measures your desired size). Bind off.
No matter how much or how little you knit, the piece will always be square.
Edit:
I have gotten a few emails about this pattern. I don't think I've explained it well enough, so I'm going to show how it works.When you try knitting those first 6 rows as I've described, it doesn't really look like much, as you can see in the photo at left.
Just how is this going to become a square? Don't I need to decrease someplace to make enough corners? Where are the corners anyway?
No, actually, you don't need to decrease to make it end up a square shape. Check this out.
Knit a few more rows, increasing before and after that center stitch on odd numbered rows like you've been doing. Start row 11 and stop at the middle stitch. The photo at the left is what you will see.It is starting to look kind of square. Work a few more rows and in the middle of row 15 you'll get something that looks like the photo at the right.
Note: You can only see the square shape when you stop in the middle of a row and hold your needles at right angles to each other the way I have done here.
Now do you see how it works? Each row you add is on the same 2 sides of the square, making it bigger and keeping it evenly square in shape.
I do hope this clears up any confusion.
30 comments:
thank you for posting this v. easy pattern... it *does* make a quite elegant afghan square, too! (knit with large needles & incredibly soft mystery-fibre yarn...) cheers!
Hi, thanks for the pattern. I also like mindless knitting when waiting in the MD's office or at traffic lights... Appreciate your efforts and luck with the baby- they don't stay small long! mary
Thank you so much for this ingenious pattern! I made one yesterday and will be making more, I love how you can customize the size!
I love simple things to knit when I can't sleep, which seems to be often lately.
I am in the process of knitting some 100 smallish bags to give away at Christmas to girls that have ended up on the streets. Another woman and I are getting gift baskets ready. This will be perfect for the cloths that we are giving away in the basket along with other items.
Cora
A very nice mitered-effect cloth to teach someone inc... but where are the dec instructions? I am an enthusiastic beginner, and I started this (it knits from the leftmost edge of the one pictured I figured out) successfully. But if I continue in pattern as written, it will just become a bigger triangle. At 63 stitches, how do I dec and work to the right side while maintaining the yo's? Roll your eyes freely if it seems I am an KNIT-iot about this, I won't be surprised! In the meantime, THANKS for the cool patterns and photos!
I love your new pattern. What are you calling it.
Katherine
GREAT SIMPLE ELEGANT PATTERN - THANK YOU FOR SHARING.
JAN H (MA)
I was looking for information about hair waxing, but instead I've found such a great article! Thank you!
Thank you for this pattern. I was looking for something other than Grandmother's favorite to knit for presents. This will make a lovely cloth.
You are so clever! I'm crazy for mitered anything. Thanks for sharing the pattern.
This is great but how do you do the bind off? From the one needle or at the 1/2 way point off of each half on the 2 needles?
Thanks!
You will want to start binding off at the beginning of a row when the stitches are all on one needle.
I've shown photos of the cloth with needles at the middle of the row in order for folks to see the actual shape of the cloth. When the stitches are all on one needle, it tends to bunch up in the middle and make an unflat piece of knitting that doesn't look quite right.
YOU ARE A GENIUS!
Linda in Detroit
I have to say that I ABSOULTLY LOVE your header! It was so well ....... NEAT!!!! I LOVED IT!
Thank-you for your clear instructions on how to knit this cloth. I watched a lady making one on the train but couldn't follow what she was telling me to do to knit one up.
A great pattern! Thanks. I made it in a few hours last night (Sunday evening). I couldn't quite figure out how it would make a square but as I began to bind off then it all made sense to me.
HI I have knit several of these cloths and made matching soap sacks.Thank you for this wonderful pattern.
hugs
susan
I can't figure out how to decrease either. What am I doing wrong????
You don't need to do any decreasing in this cloth.
When you follow the directions, you are starting in one little corner of the cloth and increasing as you go to make the cloth larger.
When the cloth is large enough for you, bind off. That's it, honest!
this miter is fantastic. the one thing i have always hated about about regular miters was that last bit at the end, this way it is flawless.
paula
How do you know where and when to to do the yo's. I saw another cloth similar to this and it didn't say either. I got stuck after the 3rd row. I can't be this dumb.. :(
Shelly - The YOs are before and after the center stitch. The easiest way to keep track is to place a marker right before that middle knit stitch in the 1st row. Then you know to always YO before and after that stitch.
Hi! Found your pattern through Ravelry and am using it to make a mitered blanket. Thanks so much for sharing!
I just made a pair of booties from a pretty single ball of fingering-weight cotton. Using smaller needles, this cloth will be perfect for using up the rest of the ball. Thanks!
I love this pattern! It is my new favorite dishcloth pattern, and I'm planning to use it to make washcloths to match a hooded baby towel that I'm making. My one questions is this: When you did the bind off on yours, it came out square. On mine, it came out slightly rounded around the middle corner. Did you do anything different with your bind-off?
I have tried two of these. Both have turned out to look like kites, not squares. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!
Any idea? I love the pattern, but mine are turning out wrong!
I LOVE THIS PATTERN!! It's so easy, quick and is just soooo pretty!!
THANK YOU!!
Julee
Mine turned out more like a kite also!!! What did I do wrong?????
For folks that have their stuff look like kites -- make sure you're knitting on the reverse side. A kite shape is what you'll get if you do a *stockinette* mitre or reverse mitre.
You get a square shape if you do a *garter* mitre or reverse mitre.
An easier-to-follow pattern, that I used and someone alluded to earlier in the comments:
CO3
Row 1: K1, yo, place marker, K1, yo, K1
Row 2: K all sts
Row 3: K to marker, yo, slip marker, K1, yo, K to end.
Row 4: K all sts, making sure that the 2nd yo is knitted *after* the marker is slipped.
Repeat rows 3 and 4 until there are 63 sts on your needles, or until size desired. BO all sts.
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