One of my favorite lace cloths, this pattern is delicate in appearance, but still able to do the job.  In my opinion, lace cloths dry quicker after use. An important consideration when your summers are humid.

After I came up with this dishcloth, I found that there are other Lacy Diamond Dishcloths available.  I guess great minds think alike.  In any event, this is my version.

Using the recommended needle size of 6, this pattern will make a cloth about 7 ½” by 7 ½”.  You can have a larger cloth by using a larger needle.  Note you will also require a bit more yardage.

Materials:

Size 6 needles

45 yards of Worsted Weight Cotton

Cast on 31 stitches (Note: You can make a larger or smaller cloth by adding or subtracting stitches in multiples of 6.)

Knit 4 rows for bottom border.

Begin the Lacy Diamonds pattern.  You will always be knitting the first 3 and last 3 stitches as a garter stitch border.

Lacy Diamonds Pattern:

Multiples of 6+1

1^st row (right side): K3, *k1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k2tog tbl; repeat from * to last 4 stitches, k4.

2^nd and every even row: K3, purl across to last 3 stitches, k3.

3^rd row:  K3, k2tog, *yo, k3, yo, [sl 1] twice, k1, p2sso; repeat from * to last 8 stitches, yo, k3, yo, k2tog tbl, k3.

5^th row:  K3, *k1, yo, k2tog tbl, k1, k2tog, yo; repeat from * to last 4 stitches, k4.

7^th row:  K5, *yo, [sl 1] twice, k1, p2sso, yo, k3; repeat from * to last 8 sts, yo, [sl 1] twice, k1, p2sso, yo, k5.

8^th row: K3, purl across to last 3 stitches, k3.

Repeat these 8 rows another 4 times.

Knit 5 rows and bind off loosely.  (I used a size 10 needle to ensure this.)

Lightly block if desired.

A PDF file for this pattern can be downloaded here.

Copyright Nettie DiLorenzo 2009

http://nettieknits1.wordpress.com or Ravelry: Nettieknits

All rights reserved.  Permission to reproduce is required.

Yesterday was a rough day.  On the way to work I had a car accident.  The other driver pulled out of a gas station from my right side apparently making a left hand turn exactly when there was no possibility of my stopping in time.  Her first words were, “I thought you were letting me go!”.  My thoughts, “How could I possibly be letting you go, when I was so close I couldn’t stop in time?”.  I am still getting flashes of that sickening feeling that you get when something like that happens.  I wonder how long the wincing will last.

To add insult to injury, we were supposed to leave tomorrow for a camping trip to Maine for a week.  A week that is shaping up to be one of the best weather weeks of the summer.  Granted we will have the same good weather here, but it’s just not going to be the same when your tow vehicle is now undrivable and stuck in the depths of a body shop waiting for an insurance adjuster.

Because I was on vacation next week, and no matter how shaky I felt, I needed to go to work and finish up a few things.  My husband brought me, and I still feel bad at how I had to call him and turn his “happy to hear from you” voice into one of worry.  Even though it wasn’t my fault, I feel pain that his trip was ruined too.  Everyone at work was wonderful to me and it reminds me anew about how much I like working with them.  I can’t tell you how many people were offering suggestions on how I could get a tow vehicle to use for camping.  Unfortunately, it’s not just getting a tow vehicle, but one that is up to pulling our trailer and that has the right towing package installed for proper braking.   I finally finished up my stuff around 7:30 and my husband picked me up.

So now I am trying to shake it all off and wishing that I didn’t give my Durango a personality, gender, and name.  It been fun hobby most of the time but now it’s become a habit.   I find myself wondering how “Joey” is, and wincing at the memory I have of him leaking pink radiator fluid onto the ground like a mortal wound.  I wonder and fear too that it was the last time I would drive him.  You can say that it’s just a truck and logically I agree, but we had a lot of adventures with that truck.  That truck was part of some of the best and worst camping trips we’ve ever taken, and part of the memories.

I am sorry for such a sad post.  I keep trying to find a way to go funny/amusing with it but it’s still too fresh.  Several people mentioned that everything happens for a reason, and that perhaps we were not meant to go on a trip next week.  Maybe something will happen that will allow me to agree with that.  Probably we’ll never know…..

In new and exciting news one of my free designs Chunky Cable Wrist Warmers, has been accepted for the 2010 Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar.  Look for them on September 10th through September 12th, should you get your own copy.  I just received my copy yesterday, and it’s chock full of really nice projects.  Check it out here.

I have a new dishcloth pattern that I would like to share.  To me, it seems to suit summer time and is listed as Foaming Waves Dishcloths here and on Ravelry.  There are two sizes in the pattern, so that individuals who prefer a smaller cloth, have that option.  The PDF can be downloaded here.

Just in case you want to see, my Kindle came in and, as an avid reader, I am delighted.  This is a Kindle:

and this is the Kindle sleeve that I designed for it:

I am pretty pleased with how it came out and will post info about the pattern once it is neatly written up.  I just spend the morning on the dishcloths and need to do some stuff around the house.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Nettie

Through a combination of events such as getting tinnitus and not being able to comfortably listen to the library’s audio books; reluctance to increase the clutter in our house by adding more books; and my inner child’s longing for a Kindle ever since they first came out, last week, I finally seriously considered getting one.  I had a tiny bit of “found” money, having recently exercised an expiring stock option that, due to the economy, didn’t net too much more than Kindle cost, instead of the financial bonanza it originally aspired to be a decade ago.

For those of you now wondering, “What the heck is a Kindle?”  It is a wireless reading device for eBooks that also allows you to subscribe to magazines, newspapers, and blogs that are all delivered to your Kindle electronically.  I ordered it from Amazon and I am still anxiously waiting for it to arrive. Through USPS tracking, I know it’s been in town since Friday  I am still a bit miffed that it didn’t come yesterday.

However, I have been consoling myself by designing and knitting a Kindle Sleeve.  They sell and recommend that you purchase a protective sleeve to protect your device but as a knitter, I hate to buy something that I can make.  Plus buying a Kindle sleeve uses money best reserved to buy yarn.

The Kindle measurements are 8 by 5.3 inches and for some unknown reason I began the process fixated on the 8 as the narrow measurement.  I am sure you already spotted the problem with that.  Unfortunately, I spend two evenings merrily knitting away using the wrong measurement as a basis while Kindle dreams danced in my head.  Friday evening I went back to refer to my original measurements, since I had begun to have a sneaking sense that something was not well with the sleeve.  After calling myself 9 kinds of dummy, I frogged and restarted the project using 5.3” as my basis.  I can only believe that my inner geek’s preoccupation with getting a new toy was overwhelming my knitter’s common sense.

Below is a picture of the work in progress and I am pretty pleased with how it’s coming out.  I have devised a pattern that uses a k1b stitch and the resulting fabric is thick and should be very protective.  The geek approves, the knitter is content, and harmony reigns.

I think just perhaps my knitting funk may be over.  I have been making a little progress on my husband’s Log Cabin style blanket and have resumed working on my Dream in Color February Lady Sweater.

I attribute this improvement to actually starting a entirely different project.  I wasn’t particularly interested in the others and was starting for force myself to work on them.  Take it from my experience, never do that.  Knitting should be fun and relaxing’ not work. The project that broke my funk: a green Clapodis scarf.

Today I sent an entry to Knitty for their 2010 calendar contest.  The projects have to be Knitty projects and the photos have to be creative.  I am using my silky grey Fetching gloves and did my best with the creative photography, but it’s hands so who knows.  In any event this is my favorite of the three photos sent.

I was working out something creative with the gas grill but hornets have started moving in, and they didn’t take too well to the idea.  Obviously time to fire up the grill if it looks like a good place to live.

We are heading out.  Should be a fun trip.

Edited later for the following:

Yes.  The trip was that wet and worst.  The nice day was Thursday.  The rest of the time it was just camping in the rain.  I mean how many yarn stores can you go to?  Right.  A lot.  But it’s not so much fun when finances are limited concerning yarn.  Below is a picture of our site take on the nice day.

The story of Grandma’s Rose actually starts with my dad, who was, at the time the rose first appears, a young man growing up in Franklin County, Massachusetts.

But first a bit of history.  My grandparents were polish imigrants, and grandfather came to America and worked in the Pennsylvania coal mines.  Grandfather Joseph moved his family north after he developed the “black lung”.  I’m told that they moved because the air was said to be better here.  After  Joseph passed away, Sophie (grandma) made ends meets by using one of the skills she learned while working at her father’s bar in Poland.  She made hooch.  Being that it was probition at the time, Sophie was able to sell her product to many businesses in town.  Yes, Grandma made moonshine.

As a young man, my father said he hunted for meat to help feed his mother and siblings.  He roamed the hills of Franklin County with his border collie, and had many adventures.  Dad was a born woodsman, and whether he was exploring a forgotten trail; finding a natural spring; or checking out the far side of a mountain, that’s when he was the happiest.  That is until he met a cute brunette that rocked his world, but that is another story.

There was an interesting area that my dad and others always called the old world.  No one know why it was called that, but I think perhaps because it used to be a settlement that died out long, long ago.  You could still see the remains of cellar holes, and piles of rocks that may have been a fence or perhaps a fallen chimney.  One day my dad found a rose bush growing near one of those ruined cellar holes; dug it up; and replanted it at home for his mother, Sophie.  The bush took well to the change, and grew there for as long as I can remember.

A cutting of the plant was taken by Sophie’s daughter, Veronica to her new home when she married her farmer beau, Henry.  The rose did well on Henry’s farm and when they retired from farming, a bit of the rose went with them to live in a small town in the Berkshire’s.  Eventually Veronica needed to give up her home on the hill.  She spoke to my dad who bought the house and moved in with my family.   The rose plant was still thriving at the time, and was lovingly tended by my mother.  So the rose had now come full circle and I began thinking of it as “Grandma’s Rose”.

A few years back, my dad passed away, but before he did, he gave me a tiny potted shoot of “Grandma’s Rose”.  Over the years since, I have admired the spirit of this plant.  It was accidentally snipped by shears; mowed down by my husband; mowed down by a lawn guy; and possibly weed wacked once.  Each time it grew back and perserviered through hot summers, cold winters, and (um er) weeds.  Finally we wised up, fenced it in, and today, for the first time, it bloomed for us.  I believe that this tough little rose, that was  probably planted by a hopeful family living in colonial Deerfield, has decided to stick it out.

I have been in a knitting (and crochet) funk for about 3 weeks. This has never happened to me before and I don’t like it one bit. I pick up a WIP and knit a row on faith, just to see if it helps, not really. I thought I was bored, or have some conflicting thoughts about what I am knitting. Examples: I made a Mr Green Jeans sweater, didn’t like it on me and frogged and am now making a February Lady sweater (am I tired of the purple Dream in color yarn yet I am also worried about the pattern not being right for me); socks for my husband – they look so huge that I can’t believe they will fit but the numbers all work; socks for me – purple again. I have tried going thru my 4 page queue trying to find a spark. No sparks yet. Please tell me this will end and I am not broken….

So this morning, I went to the dentist, and that went pretty much routinely except as I was leaving, my trusty Durango didn’t start.  Prior to this, I knew something was wrong and reported that it was starting funny and that it must be the battery.  However, because it wasn’t personally witnessed by the husband, there wasn’t too much urgency attached to the situation.

So I called him.

Me:  Joey (that’s the Durango) won’t start.

Hubby:  What’s he doing?

Me:  Nothing he won’t start.  He just sits here and clicks.  What are you going to do about it.  (After all.  He was warned)

Hubby:  Call Good Sams.

Me:  I don’t have the new card with me.

[What followed was a lively discussion of the fact that he told me to put the new card in my wallet.   I told him that his tendancy to do the "I told you so" thing was one of his least attractive features.  Sadly that didn't stop him.]

Hubby:  Be there in a few minutes.  It sounds like it could be the starter but I hope it’s the battery.

[I then called Good Sam's, and reasoning that if the account was up to date, then the old card might not be an issue, and attempted to arrainge help.  What followed was a very difficult conversation with Good Sam's because well I have the hardest time hearing women's voices on the phone, and it was made even worse by the traffic rushing by on the street.  We muddled along with a lot of whats on both sides until my hubby showed up.  I handed off the phone, and attempted to regain my tranquility.]

A short time later the phone rings.  A (thankfully) male voice states that he is Larry from M & S Towing (so that’s what she said!) and he would be there shortly.  In a remarkable short time Larry shows up and gives a listen and states, “battery”.  He jump starts the truck; nextels his boss to check battery costs; and sends us to M & S Service for a new battery.

We get to M & S Service.  A bay was open for us;  Bruce says, “pull right in folks”;  a battery was sitting there wrapped in plastic; the old one was wisked out; the new one wisked in; credit card swiped; and we were sent on our way with a friendly, “We’re here for you.”  

I was absolutely very, very impressed with the level of service we were given.  I am sure that getting this level of service will bring us back.  However, being only human, I kept thinking about how much I liked saying, “I told you so” to my hubby.  He took it like a man.

Nettie

P.S.  For the record, this was a timing issue.  My husband was planning to have the battery checked this afternoon.  He does listen.  The big sweetie.