Finished Objects : A Hand Towel and a Washcloth

I have been ripping out a cotton sweater that I did not like. The free Cedar Point pattern from Espace Tricot was perfect, I think I missed something either in my calculations as I did not meet gauge, or something else. Anyway, I did not like the look of the body on me. Too wide, too wavy, I really was not feeling comfortable in it.

So after a few month in the cupboard, I decided to knit the body again. So I ripped up to the sleeves and started knitting again omitting the increases and even incorporating deceases along the sides. Everyone says cotton has no memory. Not in my case, not with this Egyptian cotton I found in a trunk, in my basement, and being 30 something years old. A beautiful white and a beautiful golden yellow.

When I started knitting the body again, the look of the fabric was very different. The stockinette was completely irregular and the cotton strands were all curled and keeping their curls.. No problem, I’ll wash a ball and see. No change, to my surprise !

So I left it aside for the winter, up to now. I came across the free Colorful Half + Half Washcloths pattern from Purl Soho and decided I was going to repurpose this wavy cotton in washcloths. They could even stack up for small presents. Good.

So I knitted one with the recommended needles (the ones recommended on both the pattern and the coton information) and the 72 stitches from the pattern. The finished washcloth is too big, more like a small hand or face towel. Casting on 40 stitches is way better and this is what I will do as the second attempt was good.

But, buuuuut !

I do like the very irregular garter fabric it produces, to my surprise. I did not like the irregular stockinette, in particular next to the very smooth one produced with the cotton just out of the ball. But this irregular texture reminds me of a very old tee-shirt I knitted over 35 years ago, and still wear. Made of raw thicker silk, it is quite irregular too and I like to wear it with a slick skirt.

So be it, for now I have casted on another version of this tee-shirt I appreciate to wear every summer. More on that later.

I was so desperate as to what to do with the cotton from this sweater. In every sad story there may be a happy one ☀️💛

Companion YouTube Video : https://youtu.be/C8a04IiXS0g