OK, every once in a while, the Muse, she decides it’s time to step away from the cables. Jump back from the lace.
Stop and smell the roses…
Hee. Or, in the spirit of “love the one you’re with”, I’ll smell these instead: two lovely Peonies a gracious lady gave me out of the blue while shooting a story a couple of days ago. They’ve opened up and are so very fragrant! Thank you! I adore Peonies — they and the Iris are the true symbols of late spring in the Midwest (Forsythia blossoming the early harbinger)…
I’m attempting to unwind from the unseemly task of getting a show on the road and every little bit helps! We’re going to be at the TNNA trade show in Columbus in a few days and let me tell you — the Hydra Head Effect is in full swing at Studio Chic. Get one detail wrapped and ten pop up to mock you to your face!
But the knitting is almost done and my brain clears to make way for something completely different.
Here’s the ingredients:
These popped up while I was digging in the closet looking for something else and the Idea just smacked me silly.
Bathroom, meet Rug.
And who ya gonna call? The Magic Mistresses of household knitted goods, Mason Dixon Knitting (number one). As I was fantasizing about my knitting break while stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic coming back from way out in Joliet, I seemed to recall something called the Log Cabin style — where you knit in strips and modularly build a square or rectangle out of other squares or rectangles.
After getting back to the crib and doing some light investigating, I discovered there were several possibilities for making just what I needed. Would it be the original (but smaller) Log Cabin? Or how about a Courthouse Step rug? I went a few more pages in and found the very lovely Tailgate Rug!
But people, who could resist something, from page 82, called, The Absorba?!?!?!?!
Yarn: 1200 yds Kitchen Cotton (check)
Gauge: 9 sts + 17 rows = 4″ (10 cm)
Needles: #15
Now this type of knitting satisfies two things: decompresses a brain that’s been whacked silly the last few weeks by deadlines and commitments AND produces a lovely, lovely Useful Object for the house using STASHED YARN! W.O.O.hoo.
My kind of party! I might even have enough for two!
Oh! I remember seeing this in their book. Can’t wait to see your work on this!
Wow. If you have enough for 2 then you have a mondo amount of kitchen cotton!
Pardon my ignorance, but what’s kitchen cotton?
I have made that! It’s hard on the hands to knit (size 16 needles are so not my friends!), but wonderful to have beneath my feat when I step out of the shower.
Be sure to share pics!! When I think of “kitchen cotton” I think of the stuff for dish cloths, but yours appears smaller. I’ve had this pattern bookmarked to do….so I’ll be waiting to see what/how you do.
Take good care of your elbows and you’ll do just fine!
I always enjoy looking at the photographs you take for your blog. I am heading in the direction of my Mason-Dixon Knitting book now.
I made one of these a couple years ago and love it! I remember it being a little hard on my hands, but I really enjoyed how quick it knitted up and the finished product is incredibly useful — nice-looking and very absorbent outside the shower.
Lovely, lush peonies! All best at TNNA, B. Marie.
I used their Ball Band Washcloth pattern to make a bathroom rug last year (I double stranded the yarn) and it’s so soft and squishy, we love it!! Check it out: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/rosehorton/ballband-dishcloth
Make sure to bind of VERY loosely, it is incredibly hard to pick up those stitches. If I ever made another one would even consider not binding off at all but putting it on a piece of scrap
I used that yarn in a different color for a bag; it’s very sturdy! It doesn’t stretch much, so you may need to alternate knitting it with something wooly or otherwise stretchy. LOL
“Stop and smell the roses…” Wait a minute, I thought, aren’t those peonies? Ah, yes, a fav of mine, too! In fact, I just rescued one of my (ONLY) three peony buds from errant basketball damage, and it’s in the house waiting for “go time.” Irises are done, but I’ll have to plant more peonies!
Have fun in “OHIO, the Heart of it All!”