Friday, July 08, 2016

don't just stand there, bust a...

one of the things i did while i was rfhs was go through the yarn stash to see what was what.  one of the stash bins stores left over yarns from all of my knitting projects.  while organizing the bin, i discovered a gob of  various bits of sugar 'n cream.

there was a time when i bought a few balls of sugar and cream every time i went to a joann's or michael's.  which resulted in this...

various lily sugar 'n cream yarn
yup.  39+ balls of sugar 'n cream.

some of it was because i knitted a throw rug many years ago.  some of it was to knit a set of pac man washcloths for the big guy when he went to college.  and some of it was just because.

i alloted quite a few balls of s 'n c for another throw rug that is currently on the needles, but there are still quite a few leftover and non leftover sugar 'n cream balls of yarn to contend with.

after a little thought i decided to experiment.  i have never found a practical washcloth pattern.  there are washcloths with hearts on them, or wild geese designs or lacy ones or golden snitch ones.  but i wanted a washcloth that felt a little softer than a loofah, not as soft as store bought.

i grabbed what was left of a lime green ball of yarn, cast on 48 stitches on the suggested size 7 needle and knit one of my all time favorite stitches, seed stitch.  i knit until the yarn ran out which made for a long in width, short in length washcloth.  though the seed stitch gave it that nubby feel i was looking for, after a few uses, the washcloth stretched out to much to be useful.  hmmmm...

thank you gifts
for the next washcloth i cast on 38 stitches with a size 6 needle.  the results of this experiment was much better.  i discovered this width with a length of 7 inches was the perfect size washcloth.  and since the knit was tighter due to the smaller needle size, the washcloth held its shape and nubby-ness.

pretty in pink
so off i went, knitting one washcloth after another.   i decided a washcloth and a beautiful bar of soap would be the perfect thank you gift for those who had been covering for me while i was rfhs.  then i needed to knit a washcloth for each of the girls.  and finally a new one for myself.

the beginning of the face cloth
another discovery i made was that sugar 'n cream was to rough to use on my face.  so i looked through my stash and found a couple of balls of knit picks cotlin yarn.  i cast of 48 stitches on a size 5 needle and knit away.  the cotlin and seed stitch together made a wonderful face cloth that scrubs my face squeaky clean without taking off the first few layers of skin.
best friend washcloth
i doubled the cotlin to make a washcloth for my sweet friends best friend.  38 stitches on a size 6 needle.  the colors were sage green and dark cream.  nice color compliment and she loved the wash cloth.

all in all, i am pretty pleased with these experiments, as well as the ability to get rid of some stash.  and though i am trying very hard to  knit from my stash, i find myself checking to see if knit picks is having a sale on cotlin, just so i can have some yarn for face cloths around, you know, just in case!