KNIT: Trio of Dishcloths

I found this adorable idea for the "We WASH you a Merry Christmas" soap gifts from Darling Doodles.  (Pinterest to the rescue!) I paired it with my handmade dishcloths for an extra special touch. And voila! Happy teacher gifts all ready to go. In fact, I've been a crazy knitting lady these past couple of weeks. Late nights of knitting + early mornings to get kids ready for school = what my 11 year old calls "a cranky mom".  True. But the gifts are all done & made! In fact, the girls are delivering the last of the bunch at school today. Christmas break starts this afternoon. Woohoo! (Which means any more late nights of knitting can be met with a morning of sleeping in. I am loving life right now!)

I've had requests for these patterns, so I thought I'd share the trio that, so far, are my "go to" patterns. 

The instructions are listed below. For a free printable version, click HERE.

This pattern, & the next, were given to me by my grandmother. They were typed out onto a piece of paper, complete with scribbles & notes & check-marks to keep track of rows.

SCALLOPED CIRCULAR DISHCLOTH

Cast on 15 sts. 

ROW 1---knit 

ROW 2--- K3, YO, K11 (1 st left on needle) TURN 

ROW 3---knit 

ROW 4---K3, YO, K11 (2 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 5---knit 

ROW 6---K3, YO, K11 (3 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 7---knit 

ROW 8---Bind off 3 sts. K2, YO, K8 (4 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 9 ---knit 

ROW 10---K3, YO, K8 (5 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 11---knit 

ROW 12---K3, YO, K8 (6 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 13---knit 

ROW 14---Bind off 3 sts. K2, YO, K5 (7 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 15---knit 

ROW 16---K3, YO, K5 (8 sts left on needle) TURN 

ROW 17---knit 

ROW 18---K3, YO, K5 (9 sts left on needl) TURN 

ROW 19---knit 

ROW 20---Bind off 3 sts. Knit to end. Repeat ROW 1 thru 20 six more times. (Row 1 thru 20 forms one section of dishcloth. Complete dishcloth has 7 total sections.) 

Once completed, bind off & sew ends together.

CIRCLE DISHCLOTH

Cast on 17 sts.

Turn---Slip 1 st, K16 

Turn---K15 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K14 

Turn---K13 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K12 

Turn---K11 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K10 

Turn---K9 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K8 

Turn---K7 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K6 

Turn---K5 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K4 

Turn---K3 

Turn---Slip 1 st, K2 

Knit 17 sts & repeat 

Makes a total of 12 sections 

Bind off & stitch ends together

WAFFLE STITCH DISHCLOTH

I have found there are many different variations on the waffle stitch. This, of course, is just one of the many. This dishcloth looks quite cool in a solid color too. 

I cast on 40 sts, & got a dishcloth approximately 9"x9". But make it whatever size you prefer.

ROW 1---*K1, P2* (repeat from * to *) K1

ROW 2---*P1, K2* (repeat from * to *) P1

ROW 3---Knit

ROW 4---Purl

Repeat ROWS 1-4 until you reach the desired size.

Happy knitting!

♥

Correspondence

Yesterday the girls & I pulled out our notecards & writing paper & got a big chunk of thank-you notes written. My mom taught me the importance of the penned "thank you" & I feel it's a pretty special ritual to pass on to my girls too.

One of the favorite Christmas gifts I gave this holiday was something I put together for my 7 year old, Zoey. She loves writing letters & ends up using MY stationery most of the time. So, I put together a little "letter writing kit" for her. (This was her "NEED" gift from the "Want. Need. Wear. Read.") I purchased a pack of fun writing paper, some bright pens, her own peel-n-stick envelopes, some stickers (to decorate the envelopes), her OWN book of  postage stamps & I even printed out some return address labels with her name & info on them. (If I would have thought about it at the time, I would have also added a little address book with all her family & friends' info written out.)

She felt pretty special!

♥

Happy Advent Love.

I know some of you already heard about this, but it's a must to repeat.

One day Tia was telling me about a family she knew who were new to town & it was around the Christmas holiday. They heard a knock at their door & opened it to find a basket of 24 goodies, all wrapped & numbered. An advent basket!  Each night, before Christmas, they opened the numbered present that corresponded to that day. What a special gift!

Did you see my happy advent basket from Tia? She gave it to me before we moved. Our road trip adventure began on December 1st. So, I got to start opening prezzies in the car along the way. It has been SO fun opening up a wrapped suprise every day. (Once I opened 2 in one day. *gasp* I couldn't contain myself.)

I do believe we're going to keep this tradition alive & do one for each other every year.

If you plan on doing one for next year, I say: shop early! It's fun to start getting items gathered throughout the WHOLE year. Sometimes cool little doo-dads pop up unexpectedly when you're out shopping. Or, how about MAKIN' STUFF too! (You'll need to buy/make 24 items.)

It's an especially fun thing to do for a faraway friend. I can attest to that.

My goody basket has been packed with: a blanket, a bookmark, mulling spices, an iTunes gift card (to use with my new iPhone. Wheee!), holiday paper plate/napkin/cup set, body wash, picture frame fridge magnets with our silly faces already attached inside (one of my faves!), cupcake fridge magnetic notepad & recipe cards, a book, a small set of yummy lotions, holiday notecards...You get the idea.

♥

Rudolph the Red-Nosed...Root Beer?

I made a visit to see my family at our auto mechanic shop today. Mom, dad, bro & sis all work there. My pops brought out this very large basket full of goodies (a gift from one of their vendors) that we could all munch on & I immediately saw these root beer bottles dressed in full-on reindeer costume & I knew I HAD to share!! Aren't they super silly & festive?? I LOVE them!
I also thought, "Wouldn't it be hilariously awesome to grab a really expensive bottle of wine & do this as a present?!" haha!

What a great little last minute gift to put together, right? Brown pipe cleaners, google eyes, red pom-poms, ribbon & jingle bells!

Yo bro! Here's my little brother sampling the goods. Hey, I think this is his first time on my blog.

Whatever you're doing today--whether wrapping presents, sipping cocoa, or dancing to rockin' holiday tunes-- hope you're all staying warm & cozy!

Luggage Tag Tutorial

I learned of the idea of this project from one of my MOPS buddies Julie. (**Hi Jules!!**) This luggage tag would make a GREAT quick holiday gift for the traveler in your family. You can even take this basic concept & make awesome fabric gift tags.

Supplies: The supply list seems long for such a small crafty project, but don't let that intimidate you. You know I only do simple, easy & fabulous tutes! First on the list is to gather different fabrics &/or felts. You'll also need a plain light-colored fabric for the "I.D." part of the tag. I've just recycled an old flour sack for that part.

You'll also need scissors, (optional: decorative zig-zag scissors), iron-on adhesive, an iron, embroidery threads, needles, grommets & a grommet setting tool

Another optional item is some transfer paper.

The first thing you'll do is cut the front piece of fabric for your tag AND a piece of iron-on adhesive a hair-bit smaller. Iron these together following the directions on the package.

The next step I didn't photograph very well. You'll want to decorate the front of your tag now. I cut out some pieces of felt in the shape of hearts & sewed the green & yellow heart together. Then, I stitched them onto the front piece of fabric with a simple running stitch using orange thread.

Once that is done, you'll want to lay this piece aside & work on your back fabric piece. I took a piece of green felt to use as my back piece. Take a piece of your plain light-colored fabric, cut just a little bit smaller than the back fabric piece & stitch it on in a haphazard way to the felt.

Now you'll want to sandwich your front & back pieces together & iron them -once again following the directions that came with your iron-on adhesive. I laid a piece of fabric over my design before ironing so I wouldn't scorch or ruin the felt heart design.

Use your decorative scissors to trim the tag to desired size.

Now for the grommets! Once you learn how to use a grommet you're going to want to do this technique on EVERYTHING! Make a small hole at the top of your tag. There are two parts of the grommets: One part is just a flat disc--kinda shaped like a flattened donut---sometimes referred to as the "female" piece, & the other grommet has a part stickin' out--sometimes referred to as the "male" piece. Put the "male" part of the eyelet/grommet into the hole you just made, through the top of the fabric.

Turn the tag over & slide the donut shaped piece onto the part sticking up. (Rounded part up.)

The grommet kit also comes with a little heavy circular piece. Rest the front part of the grommet (the "male" piece) into the grooves of this heavy circular piece. Gosh, I hope this doesn't sound too confusing.


On a hard surface, position the grommet tool into the back of the hole...

...& hold it with one hand while hammering with the other.

This is what it looks like on the back.

This is what it looks like on the front. A nice tight squeeze!

In the blank area where the light-colored fabric was sewn, you can use a permanent marker, like a Sharpie, to enter your name, address & other info. OR, you can print out the same information on some transfer paper through your computer. Remember to print it backwards (mirror image).

Iron it on.

And you're done!!
I used some plastic cording stuff that I recycled from an older luggage tag---but you can also use those rubber/plastic bracelets that are really bendable & flexible that look exactly like my cording piece.

Give a personalized gift this holiday season! A set for a family would be super sweet! (You can leave them blank for everyone to fill out themselves if you want.)

You can also make this project without sewing. And you can decorate your luggage tag in a bajillion different ways. Have fun gettin' all creative-like! Rock on with yer crafty self!