Sunday, September 16, 2007

Dishcloths, and Goals, and a Review, Oh My!

First the dishcloths....


I decided on two classics. Here's the 4 Corners Dishcloth designed by Abigail of 1870 Pearl. I finally used her garter stitch grafting tutorial on this one, and it looks fabulous! You can't even see where it's grafted.
Next is the Garterlac Dishcloth from Criminy Jickets. I love this pattern. I've knit it several times, and will knit it many more times.

I found a huge 340 gram ball of Lily Sugar n' Cream at Michaels a few months ago (usually I have to cross the border for S&C), so expect a lot more cloths in this color. The color is called Sunny Sky.

On top of my goal to reduce my stash by the end of the year, I've also decided to set myself a dishcloth goal for the end of the year. I am going to knit 40 dishcloths between now and December 31, 2007. The cloths above represent cloth 1 and 2. I find that these cloths make such good gifts, I'd like to have a bit of a surplus.

On to the review...

I picked up this book today at Chapters. It's a book that I normally would not give a second glance to, but for some reason I picked it up. I was so pleasantly surprised, I wanted to share it with you.

It's called Under Cover: 60 Afghans to Knit and Crochet, and it's a Sixth & Spring book.

It's not super expensive either. It was only 19.95 CAD 17.95 USD.

You may be surprised to learn that I do not like to knit afghans or throws. I do love to crochet afghans thought.

The patterns in this book are simple, but look engaging enough to hold most crafters' attention.

There are several patterns in the book that I'm planning to crochet, but the best thing about the book is that each afghan is made using yarns that can be found at Michaels, and so all of the projects are budget conscious, and show that less expensive yarns do not necessarily mean a cheap looking project.

Stu and I are starting to talk about buying a condo, so I am trying to be very budget conscious and not spend anymore on yarn than I have to. Besides, for most people is just isn't reasonable to spend $200+ on yarn for an afghan. Imagine my joy to find a book that advocates doing it for under $50!

6 comments:

Dave said...

The dish cloths are looking good -- what a nice, cheerful colour! I'll have to check out that book. It sounds interesting.

Anonymous said...

Both dishcloths look like fun patterns. (At some point, I'm going to knit them). Having them knit up and ready to go for presents is a great idea. Good luck on your goal of knitting 50 by year end.

It's definitely getting to be afghan weather. Look forward to seeing what you make.

lexa said...

Nice dishcloths! I want to make myself a couple of new ones, and I plan on giving some as part of Christmas gifts this year. I think besides my own I need at least a dozen or so. (Plus I found a Transformers pattern and have a ball of blue and a ball of red to make the boys each one for the tub.)

The book looks very nice.

Ann said...

The dishcloths look great. I am also planning to knit dishcloths for X'mas presents & will need about 10! Now to find the cotton!

Robyn said...

Oops, I commented on the wrong post! Sorry. :0)

Abigail said...

The grafting is excellent! Well done my dear.

Have fun with the afghans.