Washcloths – or dishcloths? That’s up to you!
Crocheted washcloths. These are something that I crochet every few years when I’m looking for a project that is straightforward and achievable. Perfect pandemic crochet, in many ways! I have found my concentration lacking over the past few months, and washcloths can be crocheted in an evening while watching television. Or during a morning coffee Zoom call with friends!
I used leftover cotton/acrylic from my stash to crochet these three washcloths. You can pretty much use whatever yarn you have available. It needs to be fairly sturdy, so keep that in mind. Cotton is good, linen, hemp, acrylic, things like that. And of course these washcloths can be used to wash whatever you like – they can be used in the kitchen as dishcloths or in the bathroom/shower. My girls really like handmade washcloths – they use knitted ones made by Grandma quite regularly. They’re also a great gift with a handmade soap. Personally I buy the handmade soaps, but you may be more competent than me in that area and be able to make soap yourself too!
Pattern wise, my go to is Ravelry. There are SO many knitted and crocheted washcloth/dishcloth patterns on there, and the vast majority are free. Alternatively, just google! I look for a textured stitch pattern; I prefer that to colourwork etc. These three are the Textured Dishcloth by Kara Gunza, Sun Rays Washcloth by Amal Saleh, and Spread the Dishcloth Joy by Catherine Richardson. I use these patterns as a base, and alter them a little to add a border or edgings or change the size etc depending on the amount of yarn that I have available and my mood. Crocheted washcloths are also a great way to test out new stitch patterns – you can just select from a stitch dictionary. This is a project that allows significant freedom, and still ends up with a useable product.
Another fairly instant gratification project that I’m working on at the moment is a set of crocheted placemats, in Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 8ply. I can do one in an evening – but of course, it’s a set, so there is more than one to do! I had better get back to that soon…
I have way too much “kitchen cotton” at home, and should really start crocheting up a bunch of dishcloths, scrubbies, etc. as Christmas presents for all of the adult friends & relatives. (A good portion of it is in Christmas colors, too!)
I made one but it turned out big and floppy and was awkward to use. So it was a bit useless. What size do you make yours? I wondered if the size of a kitchen sponge would work.
Do you use tight tension or loose?
They need to be tight. Much smaller hook than you would generally use. I usually make them for washing the body in the shower, so prefer 25cm to 30cm square.
With worsted/Aran-weight “kitchen cotton” (the most commonly available for dishcloths/washcloths in the US), I use a 5mm hook (as is usually recommended on the ball bands). For a DK-weight (“8-ply” in Australia/NZ), I would probably go down to a 4mm (or as recommended by the ball band), unless I was making an amigurumi. If I have some “scrubby”-type yarn, which I find difficult to work with by itself, I like to use 1 strand “scrubby” yarn held together with 1 strand “kitchen cotton”, and go up a hook size or two from what I would use with a single strand.
(And if we start talking about Tunisian crochet, I have a Tunisian washcloth/dishcloth pattern book which consistently calls for 5mm hooks with Aran-weight “kitchen cotton”. Otherwise, the rule of thumb is that you usually want to use a Tunisian hook at least 1cm larger than whatever the ball band calls for, because Tunisian crochet tends to be pretty dense to start with.)
As to what size I make washcloths/dishcloths, I’d go about 20cm square for something I’d wash dishes with at the kitchen sink, and perhaps 30cm x 50cm for something I’d dry dishes with. (And for a “scrubby” for scrubbing pots & pans with, quite small, maybe 10cm square.) For a washcloth for the bathroom, a larger size of 25-30cm square as Thornberry suggests sounds great, and maybe 30cm x 50cm for a hand towel. (I haven’t heard of anyone crocheting larger bath towels, and I suspect most people would prefer a nice thick, absorbent terrycloth to dry the entire body with after a bath or shower.)
Thanks for sharing your wisdom Catherine – that’s really comprehensive! Much appreciated.
Mine was knitted way too loose. Knitted using blue and yellow yarn – sort of like colour blocked squares. So it’s quite pretty. Might start using it like an oven mitt.
Thanks to both of you for sharing your experience. That’s helpful. I’ll try and make another one with tighter tension.
When I visited some German friends in Cologne late last year, my friend showed me (and she still used) the crochet wash cloths her grandmother made over 60 years ago. I took some photos.. a couple of little stains that wouldn’t come out on a couple but they were good as new and just lovely to see.
Hi Summerflies, what size were they?
About 12cm x 12cm I think. I have a photo on my blog https://sewdarntired.blogspot.com/2020/04/holiday-spoils-part-2.html
The photo was upside down but there were little square ones like Lara made and also mitts. There were loads of them. I was so impressed they lasted so well and so long. Made with cotton and in excellent condition still.
My mom loved crocheted dish clothes for the kitchen, her best friend Melissa kept her supplied every Christmas. Nice memory.