Made to do dishes...

We all do dishes, right?  Truth be told, I don't really mind it.  There's something satisfying about standing at the sink for just a bit, with my hands in warm water and bubbles, whispering thanks for the daily blessings, and seeing immediate progress as each piece is cleaned.

I will confess, however, that I have an aversion to sponges.  Bleh!  Someone always forgets to squeeze the water out and the sponge is left waterlogged with who-knows-what in the bottom of the sink.  Gives me the shivers!  I'm a dishcloth kind of girl.

While my mom was still with us, she discovered the joys of crochet.  She made dozens of precious prayer shawls for our church, hats for cancer patients, afghans, scarves... and lovely, useful dishcloths for me.  We have used them, and used them, and used them, until I noticed recently that these lovingly handmade pieces were tired and worn from all those dishes.

I set out to make some replacements.  A dear friend and fellow homesteader has been teaching some basic stitching and one of the projects was a dishcloth.  Armed with this new skill, I branched out to a more difficult (but free!) pattern, found at Blue Boab Crochet and Craft Blog.  The instructions are clear, with a great link to a tutorial on the unfamiliar-to-me stitch.  The pattern was quick, easy, and created a slightly nubbly texture on one side of the dishcloth, great for gentle scrubbing!

I used Sugar and Cream cotton yarn in a self-striping coral/brown/cream blend, purchased at Michael's on sale, 4 skeins for $5.

It always feels good to make something yourself, and the finished product is almost always better quality, handsome, and just plain fun to do.

What are you making for yourself these days?

"The ordinary arts we practice everyday at home 

are of more importance to the soul 

than their simplicity might suggest." 

Thomas Moore