Not the expected choice.

Terry, the leader (co-leader?) of my S-n-B group asked me at our last knit-night to host our next knit along, a proposition that stood a good chance of scaring the hand-knit socks off of quite a few members given my current lace-addiction phase (Mystery Stole #3 anyone?) I just laughed and said "are you sure about this?!"

So. My choice?

Dish Cloths.

Yes, really. They are fast, fun, very portable, perfect summer knitting. Not a lot of commitment here! If you are like me you may not even use dishcloths. Quite a few people use them as face cloths, and I'm given to using the ones that I've received as hot-pads to pick up pans or my tea kettle (they look so much nicer that my much-abused hotpads!) I've also seen them used as liners for fruit baskets and one was upsized and became a "biscuit warmer" – a star-shaped liner used in a basket full of biscuits, or a square "biscuit blanket" Presented in a gift basket along with a fancy bar of soap, bath salts, etc., it can make a nice hostess gift. A cloth made of wool and then felted would make good trivet or (again) a hot-pad. Upsize a bit more and you have a placemat.

I think that this will be great opportunity to check out a challenging pattern stitch, try some color work or slip-stitch patterns, or learn short-row techniques. Want to do cables? Lace? Figure out how to do a P3tbl? I may practice working two-hands/two-colors for an upcoming Fair Isle project I want to tackle.

Terry made a totally cute "Ball Band" version from the Mason-Dixon book, and I found this terrific site: The Dishcloth Boutique is a great starting place for patterns. I really like the star-shaped ones and may make a basket liner too. Quite a few of the patterns here are from the indispensible Barbara Walker Treasury books. Check out The Walker Treasury Project for a couple hundred stitch pattern ideas. The stitch patterns aren't given at this website, but the books are available from the county library system.

I'm going on vacation and will return August 16th well rested, tanned, and (hopefully) with a couple of finished objects. Until then - Happy knitting!