Announcing the Come Stitch with Me Virtual Stitching Club
If you don’t have time to read the blog post, here are the details for how you can participate in the virtual stitching club:
1) Join the Facebook group: Hearthside Comforts: Come Stitch with Me
2) Order the materials shown in the materials list later in this post.
3) By Monday, I will be sharing a tutorial video and downloadable pattern in the group. Once you have the materials, go ahead and attempt the project so that you will be ready with your questions for the Zoom call.
4) Join the Zoom call on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. You will need a computer with internet access that can handle a video call. In the Facebook group, I will be providing a link for you to click on to join the meeting. At that point, you will be prompted to download the Zoom app. You do not need to set up a Zoom account before then.
Let me know if you have any questions about the above instructions! My email address is marilla@hearthsidecomforts.com.
And now on to the post…
This week, I had another schedule of projects and posts, but I decided to change my plan to adapt to the current situation. I don’t know about you, but for me one of the best ways to deal with stress is to do handiwork—whether it’s sewing, knitting or crocheting. The rhythm of the motion, the contemplative creating, soothes my soul. And even though I am definitely an introvert, there are times when I need the social connection of talking to other adults. This week during my Mustard Seed Mentoring group meeting as we discussed current events and how important sharing beauty and creativity during this time is, the thought occurred to me that I could offer a free virtual stitching club for the next few weeks as we are supposed to be practicing social distancing. As you know, I enjoy knitting and crocheting and hand-sewing, and I can share these skills with you in addition to providing a space for social connection and community building.
And so, I set up a Facebook group Hearthside Comforts: Come Stitch with Me. If you are interested in learning how to knit or crochet, please join the group! Or if you simply desire to be part of a virtual community with people who have similar interests and work on your projects with us, please join!
For those of you who have requested that I provide instruction, I will be posting a tutorial video in the group for you by Monday. Our first project will be knitting a dishcloth, which is how I learned to knit. The beauty of knitting a dishcloth is that mistakes don’t really matter! I wish I had kept or at least taken a picture of my first dishcloth—it had so many mistakes in it that it was quite unsightly. But it still worked fine, and I knitted a few more dishcloths and then took a knitting class, and you know what—I still make mistakes, but not as many. :-)
So, if you have ever wanted to learn how to knit or crochet, now is the time! I have a guest lined up for the following week’s tutorial to teach you how to make a crocheted dishcloth. Although I have been crocheting since I was a child, I tend to knit more than crochet, and on Wednesday, I reached out to my mentor, Marian Parsons a.k.a Miss Mustard Seed to share a crocheted dishcloth tutorial with you.
Here are the details of how I plan for this stitching club to go (subject to change as circumstances require):
I will provide a materials list and pattern for you on Fridays. Then I will provide a video tutorial by Mondays. On Thursday nights at 8:30 pm (Eastern), I will host a Zoom meeting, where we can meet to work on our projects together, chat and share any questions. To receive all of the information, join the Facebook group: Hearthside Comforts: Come Stitch with Me. If you do not have a Facebook account, but wish to be a part of this social and learning group, please let me know via a comment or email (marilla@hearthsidecomforts.com) and let me know.
Yesterday, I quickly knitted this dishcloth so that you can see an example. This is smaller than the pattern just because I was in a hurry to make it. (It’s only 36 stitches at the widest point. The pattern that I am sharing is 44 stitches across the longest row).
Here is the materials list for the knitted dishcloth:
Cotton yarn (I used Lily’s Sugar and Cream, which I purchased a while back at Hobby Lobby. It is also available on Amazon.) Large cones and small skeins are available. Note, you will probably want the large cone if you want to make a supply of dishcloths!
Knitting Needles - I would recommend getting size 8 or 9, because they are fairly universal. And the gauge for this project doesn’t matter. My favorite brand is Addi, but any inexpensive set of knitting needles from size 7 to 10 will work for this project.
Scissors
Blunt tapestry needle to weave in ends
I have found the pattern for this type of dishcloth all over the internet, with varying number of stitches for Row 2; however, I am sharing with you the free pattern that my friend Carol gave to me when I was learning to knit. She altered the ending of the pattern, which makes it unique to most found on the internet.
Note: I will be posting this pattern in a pdf form in the Facebook group by Monday so that you can print it more easily.
Knitted Dishcloth Pattern
Cast on 4
Row 1: Knit 4
Row 2: Knit 2, Yarn Over, Knit to end of row
Repeat this row until you have 44 stitches. (Of course, you can vary this number of stitches to make your project larger or smaller.)
Row 3: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, Yarn Over, Knit 2 together, Knit across the end of row.
Repeat this row until you have 6 stitches left.
Final Row: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, Bind off first stitch, Knit 2 together, Bind off next stitch, Knit 1, and Bind off.
Weave in Ends.
I hope to see many of you in the group as we join together to learn and encourage one another during this time.
Update: I have posted the video tutorial and downloadable pattern, which you can find here: Knitting a Cotton Dishcloth Tutorial.
If you are interested in reading more blog posts, please click here: Hearthside Comforts Blog.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.