A knitted dishcloth is the project to hand anyone who has just learned to knit and purl. It is small, it is cotton, and nobody inspects a dishcloth for wonky rows. Norman at NimbleNeedles finishes one in under an hour.
The cloth is a moss stitch center with a three stitch garter border down each side and garter bands top and bottom. All those raised bumps are the point - they grab at a dirty pan the way a flat stockinette square never will. A white row under the bind off and a short strap turn it into something you would give away. Never held needles before? Start with knitting for absolute beginners.
What you need
Worsted weight cotton, size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, scissors, a tapestry needle. That is the entire list. Norman uses Schachenmayr Catania Grande in teal with a little white for the edge; any worsted cotton works the same way.
Stay away from wool. A dishcloth lives in hot water and eventually in the washing machine, and wool felts down into a stiff little coaster. Cotton, linen or a cotton blend all hold up, and one ball makes two or three cloths. Straight or double pointed needles both work, since nothing here is knitted in the round.
The pattern, written out
Cast on 32 stitches, leaving a tail of 5 to 6 inches.
- Rows 1 to 5: knit every stitch
- Row 6: K3, then *K1, P1* to the last 3 stitches, K3
- Row 7: same as row 6
- Row 8: K3, then *P1, K1* to the last 3 stitches, K3
- Row 9: same as row 8
- Rows 10 to 41: repeat rows 6 to 9 eight more times
- Rows 42 to 45: knit every stitch
- Row 46: join the contrast color, knit one row, then bind off
Two rows leading with a knit stitch, two leading with a purl stitch. That switch every second row is the only thing to hold in your head, and it assumes you can already knit and purl.
Moss stitch or seed stitch
The two names get swapped for each other constantly. Seed stitch flips every row. The moss stitch here repeats each row once before flipping, which gives chunkier bumps and is easier to track. Both are reversible and both have grip, so a cloth knitted in seed stitch by accident still scrubs.
Changing the size
Thirty two stitches and 36 rows of moss gives a cloth around 8 inches square. For a smaller one, cast on 26 and work 32 rows of moss. Going bigger runs the same way: keep the stitch count even, and add rows in groups of four so you finish on row 9 of a repeat.
The stitch pattern in the middle is swappable too. Double moss, basketweave and star stitch all give the texture a dishcloth needs. Avoid lace - holes are lovely and useless on something meant to scrub.
Common mistakes
Extra stitches out of nowhere. This is the big one. Moving between knit and purl sends the yarn from back to front and back again, and it is easy to hook it over the needle on the way. That makes a yarn over: one extra stitch and a small hole. Pass the yarn between the two needle tips, never across the top of one.
Losing your place. Use a row counter, or read the fabric: two bumps stacked under the first stitch of your row means switch the repeat, one bump means work the stitches as they appear for one more row.
A top edge that pulls in. A bind off worked at your normal tension ends up tighter than the fabric. Work it loosely, or use a needle a size or two larger.
Curling sides. If the edges roll, a border stitch has probably slipped into the repeat. Those six stitches, three at each end, are garter and stay garter on every row.
If a stitch escapes mid-row, pick the dropped stitch back up first. Want the same project with a hook? There is a crochet dishcloth that takes about as long.
