Dishcloth Care Instruction - Hang Tag Template

God is good. We have been having such perfect days after many hot and humid ones - the air has cleared into something close to perfection. The breeze gently touches our skin, and we are reminded that our Creator is indeed present everywhere. I was reminded of this passage: "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8 Our summer is definitely in full gear. Bustling along even. I have to make an ongoing effort to simplify and slow things down. When we were little I can remember thinking that our long summer days lasted forever. Endless daylight hours lasting well past our bedtime. Now that we are old(er) and have the knowledge of when summer officially starts - on June 21st - our days then begin to shorten and as adults, our minds can be tricked into thinking that summer is nearing its end. I think that I like being naive to the calendar much more than being a slave to it. ... I promised to post the template for the dishcloth care instruction hang tag. This is a simple guide to creating them. Many of you will not need these steps written out - as I am sure that there are more than a few scrap bookers artists and computer experts out there, but here it is... I will be posting many more styles in the days and weeks to come, as well as other packaging ideas too. I would love to hear any of your ideas. There are lots of great wording variations - this is only a start. Supplies needed: Heavy weight card stock - 64 or 110lb. (White will feel crisp and clean, ivory will have a vintage or "earthy" feel, scissors or a paper cutter, small hole punch, corner trimmer (optional), hemp, ribbon or yarn strips of a coordinating color to tie on to your cloth. Step one: Print out page 1. Turn your page to appropriately feed your printer - and print page 2 on the back. Page 1 will have margins or guides where you will trim your tags while page 2 will be printed over most of the entire page. This allows room for error when you trim them. Step 2: After your pages are printed, trim on the borders on page one (this is the front of your tags). Use a scissors - or even better use a paper cutter. Start by trimming the complete outside border, then trim vertically into 3 strips. Lastly cut each tag apart individually. Step 3: After your tags are cut apart, punch the hole where the graphic is located. Step 4: If you desire you can cut the corners of these tags. Rounded corners give it a professional look! Step 5: Take a coordinating color of yarn, ribbon or hemp, double it up and thread it through the hole of your tag. Step 6: Voila! Attach it to your cloth and enjoy gifting it! *Download this file below Dishcloth Care Tag Page 1 Dishcloth Care Tag Page 2 Update: this is a very large file - You can right click: save as on your computer - OR - open each page individually in your browser. Since the file is large, your browser may take several moments to open this, depending on your connection. please let me know if you have any problems with this file. I will try to work with your special needs! ...

Color Impact! Alpha Stripes Dishcloth

I took a little time during the past couple of days to finish this pattern. I have had a few requests for it. This is such a simple pattern - but great for color impact and a good way to use a few small leftover remnants of yarn, not to mention therapy knitting, which we can always use. Let me know what you think! The pattern is written here, or you can download the .pdf near the bottom of this post. If you are a dishcloth knitter and love to show off your cloths, please consider posting your photo on a new flicker group site For the Love of Knitting Dishcloths. You don't have to joint the group to post but it is simply for those who enjoy color and prettiness in their kitchens. And if you have found any new and different patterns to try - I would love to hear about them. I am always looking for a fun cotton cloth to knit! Next look for my dishcloth care instruction tag. You can preview the care tag on my previous post. I will be adding that template for downloading very soon. As always - I would love you know your thoughts. Be blessed.   alpha stripe dishcloth All color changes are added on the wrong side of your work. Use three colors as shown - or as many colors as you wish! Difficulty: Easy Stitches Used - sl 1 = slip one stitch purlwise, k = knit, p = purl Materials : U.S. size 6 needles (4.25 mm) 3 Partial balls of coordinating colors of kitchen cotton worsted yarn. Cast on 43 stitches. 1. (All odd rows will be knit in this pattern) K6, P1, * K5, P1 repeat from * to last 6 sts. K6 2. (All even rows will be knit in this pattern) K6, sl 1, *K5, sl 1, repeat from * to last 6 sts. K6 41. Using color B, K6, P1 *K5, P1 repeat from * to last 6 sts. K6 Continue same pattern rows (1 odd - 2 even ) until row 55 or thereabouts where color change is desired) 55. Using color C. K6, P1 *K5,P1 repeat from * to last 6 sts. K Continue same pattern rows (1 odd - 2 even) until row 69 or until you reach your desired length. Bind off on right side of work. Alternate Pattern: Alpha Hotpad Follow the same as above but use your favorite mercerized cotton and decrease each side to 2 stitches rather than six. Use cast on tail to crochet a loop for hanging. *click here to download the alphastripe .pdf   ...

Hammock Days of Summer

Summer! What a wonderful week it has been - so much in contrast to our week of last, which was very cold and rainy. I do believe I could live and be perfectly content with these days all year long. Well, maybe it could rain a bit to keep things green... at night. I have said it before and I will say it for all of eternity... God is amazing! Well, wouldn't you say that it is about time that I finally finished my Vineyard Dishcloth Pattern? This probably took me six weeks! Although very pretty and quite simple, it somehow took the back burner for these last many weeks. I finally decided to finish up a few UFO's and this was one of them. As I finish a few cloths that I have ... I wonder... will I EVER graduate beyond dishcloth knitting? In my mind, I have given myself a year of dishcloths to perfect my tension and stitches and to find my favorite tools. Will my attention span be able to take a larger piece? I hope so! But I can definitely see why other knitters follow with sweet little baby things. Perfectly small sized and dainty stitches. Here is a photo of my now complete cloth. This dishcloth pattern can be found here and is entitled "Vignes". Remember, this site sometimes has high traffic and may not come up immediately - but keep trying! Here is a tag that I designed to attach to my gifted cloths. It gives simple care instructions and adds a bit of charm to a gift as well. I will be posting this style tag and a few others for you to download if you should need to. A few knitters have inquired as to where they could be found  - so now you have it! These can be printed front and back, cut with your paper cutter or scissors and rounded with your corner die cut stamp. If you have any input or ideas - I would love to hear them. Is this at all useful for you? Now I know that I promised to post my Alpha Stripe Dishcloth Pattern. I am so sorry that it is not here as of yet...but look for that within the next day or two at the very most. I simply have not had a large enough space of time to finish that project. I encountered a large problem with my beloved Illustrator program and I am trying to work around it. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read my pages. ~  :  ~ Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many that go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 17:13-15 ...

We Press On

Such a rainy dreary day! Buckets of rain are pouring down here in the Midwest. My son had a makeup baseball game today - for a tournament game that was supposed to be played yesterday. I don't know how it happened, but they managed to get it in between the buckets. The outcome was a loss, though. The good news is that he was able to play at multiple positions! He has been a catcher forever - and a very good one. Being very good, one can get cornered into that position all year long, without learning the valuable lessons that playing other positions bring. Today he played short, second base and tried his hand at pitching - and did fabulous! The Lord has blessed him with ability and a true love for the game. Perhaps that is the most important thing of all. He has had a busy week - with eight grade graduation on Thursday evening  Boo hoo... my baby! I can not truly feel somber because each and every new milestone brings joy! All the way to adulthood. I will be posting the Alpha Stripe Dishcloth pattern very soon. I hope to have it up by Monday evening - but it is possible that it will be a tad bit later than that. Keep checking in!   Be joyful and keep pressing on, even though you may feel like giving up! Hand it to Him! He is there to carry on. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ...