I am in a group on Ravelry where the members can opt to join a monthly dishcloth swap. You make a dishcloth for the person you get paired with and send along a postcard (most people include a little something extra as well). There are members from all over and you can choose to only swap with someone in your country or elsewhere. The group is called Dishcloths R US and I think it’s a cute way to connect with crafters from different places. If that interests you, you can check out here.
For the month of May, I got paired with someone who not only also lives in Canada, but also lives in Labrador (about 5 hours away by car). It gave me a little chuckle. But there’s only so many people who join, and not everyone participates every month, so I suppose something like that happens once in a while. I had been playing around with my Tunisian hook and just thought I’d wing it when it came to the pattern that I used to make a cloth for her. That’s how the Textured Tunisian dishcloth came to be.
This is the front (or right side) view. The cloth body is made up of Tunisian simple stitch and Tunisian knit stitch. I know the cloth isn’t square, and that a lot of people like their cloths to be square (personally, I don’t mind if they aren’t), but the beauty is you can adjust the number of rows you crochet to change the size, or the number of stitches to start with, if you were so inclined.
The back side (or wrong side) is bumpy and nicely textured also. I haven’t tried this particular pattern with a variegated yarn yet, but I have tried with a speckled print yarn and I thought it still looked alright.
There are a couple of things I’d like to note before getting to the pattern. First off, I am the only person who’s used this pattern. It hasn’t been tested and so if there are any problems, I apologize, but please let me know about them so I can fix them. Secondly, you have to remember that one complete row of Tunisian crochet consists of both a forward pass and a return pass. If you want a little refresher in Tunisian crochet (or if you’re just getting started), I would suggest checking out this post from mooglyblog. She has a wonderful tutorial, complete with photos and a video.
Materials:
6 mm Tunisian Crochet Hook
6 mm Crochet Hook
Bernat Handicrafter (#4 worsted weight) cotton yarn (approx. 66 yards)
Yarn needle (to weave in ends)
Gauge:
7 stitches and 7 rows = 2″ in Tunisian simple stitch
My finished size is 7.75″ X 8.75″. If you want a different size, adjust rows/stitches as needed.
Instructions:
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Chain 25, pick up a stitch in the back bump of the 2nd chain from the hook and each subsequent chain across
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Complete a return pass in Tunisian simple stitch
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Work 8 more rows in Tunisian Simple Stitch
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Complete 8 rows of Tunisian Knit Stitch
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Work 7 rows of Tunisian Simple Stitch
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Finish the body with slip stitch bind off
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Join contrasting color (or continue with main color if you choose to use only one color), Chain 1, single crochet around the entire dishcloth, making sure to place 3 single crochets in each corner stitch
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Chain 1, single crochet around the cloth, placing 3 single crochets in each corner stitch
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Chain 1, slip stitch around the cloth
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Fasten off and weave in ends
I find that these cloths work up rather quickly, and create a nice dense, strong cloth with good texture. If you make these and decide that you’d like to sell them, I say go for it. They’re your cloths to do with as you please, all I require is that you use your own photos and link back to my website to credit me for the pattern. Also, please don’t copy my pattern anywhere, just link to it.
Have a great day, and enjoy making your own Textured Tunisian Dishcloths!
Comfy/Cozy/Warm 