How to Turn Any Stitch Pattern Into a Washcloth or Dishcloth

Whether you’re a newer knitter or crocheter or have been creating things with yarn for years, mastering a new stitch pattern can give a rush of excitement. Maybe you’re thinking about starting a new sweater that uses a pretty lace stitch. Or perhaps you were perusing a stitch dictionary when a beautiful cable pattern called your name, begging to be stitched up. Either way, it can be a good idea to practice before diving right into a larger project.

I think we’ve all cast on or chained a large number of stitches and dug into a new stitch pattern, only to get rows in before we realized that something wasn’t going quite right. Frogging then occurs, followed by disappointment—and maybe we don’t even want to start that project again.

Practical Practice!

Instead of starting with such a large “practice” piece as the actual item, it can be a smart idea to swatch a new technique first. But many of us (raising my own hand here!) are not fans of swatching. It may feel like a waste of time since you’re eager to dig right into that project.

But what if, instead of making a swatch, you were making a useful item instead? Enter the washcloth. (Swatch-cloth?) By making a few tweaks to your swatch, you can easily make a functional washcloth or dishcloth while you test out your stitch pattern.

If the yarn you’re using for the actual larger project doesn’t make sense for a cloth (wool, etc), check out this article for some great ideas on washcloth yarns.

Planning Your Swatch-Cloth

The first thing to consider is what you’d like the finished size to be. A standard washcloth is 12” square, while a dishcloth is 8” square. When swatching, it’s typically suggested to make one that is at least 6” wide in order to accurately measure for gauge. 8” isn’t much more than 6”, so why not just add a few more stitches? And honestly, the exact size doesn’t much matter.

Once you know roughly what size you want your cloth to be, then it’s time to determine how many stitches to cast on for the stitch pattern. You’ll also want to add a few stitches to each side to give a more finished look, and to prevent curling for stitch patterns that are prone to do so. And that’s pretty much it!

Let’s look at this in practice for both knit and crochet.

Swatch-Cloth Method: Crochet

Let’s examine the Wheatfield Cabled Capelet by Bonnie Barker. There are several stitch patterns going on in this gorgeous design. But the one that most catches my eye and that I think I’d want to practice is the Celtic weave pattern, seen on the lower edge and collar.

First, let’s look at the gauge listed in the pattern. It’s 14 stitches x 13 rows = 4”. I’m only interested in stitch gauge for the purposes of my cloth. If 14 stitches = 4”, the 3.5 stitches = 1”. If I want a cloth that’s about 8” wide, then I’ll first calculate the approximate number of stitches for the Celtic weave pattern. 8 x 3.5 = 28. This stitch pattern requires a multiple of 4 stitches + 2, which doesn’t work for 28, because it’s an exact multiple of 4. I’ll go ahead and add 2 stitches and come up with 30 stitches to work with.

The pattern doesn’t state how to begin this pattern from scratch, meaning how many chains to begin with, because it’s worked directly after another stitch pattern for the capelet. I could figure out the number of chains. But I’ll plan to begin with a row of 30 foundation double crochet stitches instead, and then end with a row of plain double crochet as well to balance things out.

Because this piece won’t quite look finished after it’s done, I’ll also plan to add a border once the swatch-cloth is done. This is a place you can experiment with to see what looks good to you. But a good place to start can simply be a round or two of single crochet around the entire piece.

Here’s what our game plan will look like:

Swatch-Cloth Method: Knit

The Pinewood Pullover by Ela Torrente is such a pretty staple sweater. I love the lacy chevron stitch in it, and I think it would make a very pretty washcloth.

The gauge listed in the pattern is 23 stitches x 35 rounds = 4”. That means, 1” = 5.75 stitches. If I want to make a washcloth that’s 12” wide, I’ll need approximately 69 stitches. I have two things to think about here: the number of stitches required for the stitch pattern itself, and the number of stitches for edges to give the washcloth or swatch-cloth a finished look.

The Body stitch pattern requires a multiple of 10 sts + 1, so, either 61 or 71 stitches would work. Since I want my finished piece to be around 69 stitches total, I will use 61 stitches for the chevron pattern. And then I’ll add 5 stitches to each side to be worked in garter stitch, for a total of 71 stitches. Since I’ll be working garter stitch edges at the same time as the stitch pattern, I’ll also want to begin and end with some garter stitch rows. 5 garter stitches will be about an inch wide, so for balance, I’ll want my beginning and ending edges to be about an inch tall for balance.

Here’s what our game plan will look like:

Just a teeny bit of math and a different outlook can make a swatch (cue sad trombones) transform into (cue upbeat dance music) a SWATCH-CLOTH! This same technique can be used to make a custom scarf, blanket, or other flat item that’s tailored to the yarn and gauge you want to work with, and your desired finished size.

Did this spark any ideas for future projects? Let us know in the comments—we’d love to hear about it!

Originally from Iowa, Amy Gunderson lives in sunny Reno, NV. She’s been the creative director for Universal Yarn, yarn director for Jimmy Beans Wool, and all-around yarn enthusiast for over a decade. Her knit and crochet designs have appeared in most major magazines including Interweave Knits. When she’s not dreaming up a crazy sweater idea, you can find her violining, knitting at the dog park or smashing balls on the tennis court. Follower her on Instagram as @amyyounggunderson or on Ravelry as @amygunderson.