Modd Job Dishtowel by Jennifer Clemens-Fox http://daftcrafter.blogspot.com
My roommate Nate decided he wanted to knit a dishtowel. Well, he decided he wanted to knit, period, and that his first project would be a dishtowel. Being the pusher I am I IMMEDIATELY took him down to our LYS and we each purchased a skein of Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton (he got red, I got yellow- we figured together we could garnish a cottony hot dog) and we got him some needles (whatever size the label suggested) to go along with it. Nate gave it a very valiant try, but his dishtowel, a simple stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border, after about 15 rows, found its way to the bottom of some basket somewhere in the apartment. My dishtowel, a slightly more complicated whimsy I was knitting up on the fly to give him some cottony moral support, also found its way into my UFO basket, as around the time Nate gave up, I bought my first wheel and could do nothing but spin for weeks. Cut to: one full year later. I'm switching between two projects (both knit from yarn spun on said wheell and decide I need a bit of a break, so I dig out my dishtowel from last summer, and 3 afternoons later, not only do I have a completed dishtowel, I realize I have my very first design! What's more, it has a definite 1960's Mod vibe to it (only a plus, in my book.) So, here's my first design. A Mod towel for all your odd jobs around the kitsch-en. Yarn, needle size, gauge.. all that stuff is really up to you in this project, though I've included what I used. As long as the knitted fabric has enough drape and flexibility, you're golden.
Materials:
Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Cotton Solid- 1 ball- 5 oz./140g (236yd/212m) Needles: US 7 Note: the pattern tends to get lost in variegated yarn, it seems to come out best in solid colors. Gauge: Knit: 16 St sts $^+$ 24 rows $=$ 4"x4" (10cm x 10cm) on size 7 $(4.5\;\mathsf{m m})$ needles
Pattern Notes:
This towel has 3 parts: 1. The towel border, which consists of the first and last 6 rows of the piece. It's basically just 5 rows of garter stitch plus one row of alternating stitches to set up for the block design. 2. The design border, which are the 18 rows before and after the center panel, consisting of just the blocks. 3. The center, which is a stockinette panel bordered by one block on either side. The pattern distinguishes between "Set A" where the outer ring of the block matches the stitch of the panel, and "Set B" where the outer ring of the block is the opposite stitch from the panel. Instructions: CO 51 st Towel Border Rows 1-5: Knit all st Row 6: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Design Border Row 7: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Row 8: K3, P9, K9, P9, K9, P9, K3 Row 9: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Row 10: K3, \*P3, K3, (Repeat from $^{\star}6$ more times), P3, K3 Row 11: K3, $\star\mathsf{K}3$ , P3, (Repeat from $^{\star}6$ more times), K6 Row 12: K3, \*P3, K3, (Repeat from $^{\star}6$ more times), P3, K3 Row 13: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Row 14: K3, P9, K9, P9, K9, P9, K3 Row 15: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Rows 16-24: REPEAT ROWS 7-15 Center Note: The extra contrasting stitch on the side of the center panel in the Set A (ex, the P1 in Row 25) serves to distinguish the block from the panel. It doesn't exist in the Set B since the block and the panel are contrasting stitches. The first time you knit the Set A, Row 1 will be as follows: Row 1 of Set A, first time: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Every other time, it will be what is written below. The last time you knit the Set A, Row 9 will be as follows: Row 9 of Set A, last time: K12, P9, K9, P9, K12
Set A
Row 1: K12, P1,K25, P1,K12 Row 2: K3, P9, K1, P25, K1, P9, K3 Row 3: K12, P1, K25, P1, K12 Row 4: K3, P3, K3, P3, K1, P25, K1, P3, K3, P3, K3 Row 5: K6, P3, K3, P1, K25, P1, K3, P3, K6 Row 6: K3, P3, K3, P3, K1, P25, K1, P3, K3, P3, K3 Row 7: K12, P1, K25, P1, K12 Row 8: K3, P9, K1, P25, K1, P9, K3 Row 9: K12, P1,K25, P1, K12 \*Remmerwhnkniing eAfothlas te,trelaew9w above! Set B Row 1: K12, P27, K12 Row 2: K3, P9, K27, P9, K3 Row 3: K12, P27, K12 Row 4: K3, P3, K3, P3, K27, P3, K3, P3, K3 Row 5: K6, P3, K3, P27, K3, P3, K6 Row 6: K3, P3, K3, P3, K27, P3, K3, P3, K3 Row 7: K12, P27, K12 Row 8: K3, P9, K27, P9, K3 Row 9: K12, P27, K12 Repeat both sets 5 times Repeat Set A once more When you're done it will be Set A, Set B, Set A, Set B, Set A, Set B, Set A, Set B, Set A, Set B, Set A, Set B, Set A You can add to or subtract from the number of times you repeat the sets, just remember that the center needs to consist of an odd number of sets, so that it begins and ends with Set A. For a more square shaped waschloth, do 3 sets, so Set A, Set B, Set A, then move back to the Design Border.
Repeat Design Border (rows 7-24)
Towel Border K12, P9, K9, P9, K12 Next 5 rows: K all stitches. Bind off, weave in ends.
To my knowledge, Nate never did pick that towel back up. I have faith, though, that he will someday knit again!
