Easy to Knit Dishcloths

These dishcloths are fun to make and are a good way to work on increasing your knitting speed. Each of one can be completed in a night or two. They are all made with cotton yard (I use Peaches and Cream but there are other brands) and if taken good care of will last for many years.


This one is the easiest to make. Cast on 32 stitches, knit 72 rows and bind off. Can't get any easier than that! This is a good first project for kids. It doesn't take as long as a scarf and they have a usable product right away.

This is my favorite pattern to knit. It gives the cloth a bit of a design and the pattern is so easy you don't have to pay close attention to what you are doing - which is great for a really intense movie or t.v. show.

Cast on 32 stitches, knit the first row.

In the second row knit 4, purl 4, knit 4, purl 4 to the end. Do this for 4 rows and then switch to purl 4, knit 4 to the end of the row and continue for 4 rows and switch back to knit 4, purl 4. Continue this pattern for 40 to 44 rows (how ever big you want your cloth).

Knit the last row.

Bind off.

To make this zigzag pattern in the cloth, start casting on right where the color changes in the yarn.

Cast on 32 stitches.

Knit the first row.

Row 2: knit 2, then knit 1, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, to the end knitting the last two stitches.

Row 3: knit 2, then purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, knit 1, to the end knitting the last two stitches.

Repeat row 2 and 3 until it is the desired size.

Knit the last row.

Bind off.

This one is quite a bit larger than the others but uses almost the entire ball of yarn so you don't have the left over yard to hang on to and keep thinking that you will do something with it some day. I know I am never going to use some of those little balls of yarn in my knitting basket but I can't bring myself to just throw them away.

Cast on 4 stitches.

Row 1 - 3: increase in the first stitch and then knit to the end of the row. By the end of row 3 there should be 7 stitches on your needle.

Row 4: knit 2, increase in the 3rd stitch (4 stitches on the right needle) yarn over and knit to the end of the row. There should be 9 stitches on your needle.

Row 5: Knit 3, yarn over and knit to the end of the row.

Repeat row 5 until there are 60 stiches on the needle. The cloth is now half done.

Begin decreasing. Knit 2, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together and knit to the end of the row.

Continue decreasing until there are 8 stitches on the needle.

Decrease to 4 stitches by knitting 2 stitches together for the entire row.

Bind off.