05-17-2016

Don’t want to say too much about this cloth just yet as it’s a secret still - a swap with the Dishcloths R Us Ravelry group, for my new friend Abieliza! Hopefully she enjoys this - I’m super excited to send it along with a few other goodies to her!

05-18-2016

Arrghh! Got halfway through my cloth and somehow my crochet hook has disappeared. I think someone - namely a certain little boy in my household - has “borrowed” it and now no one knows where it is. Kids!

05-26-2016

My hook has been found! And, while I was out of town, my swap package from my partner arrived. I was really spoiled! How fun! She sent me three beautiful cloths including one made with sparkley yarn (love the sparkles!). She also sent me a great selection of pattern leaflets, a skein of pretty yarn, and some delicious looking teas, hot chocolates, and a chocolate coffee. Can’t wait to try some of the goodies! The last three photos shown are of the swap package I received from her. <3

05-28-2016

My cloth is done - and the other goodies I have ready to send are also ready to go. Unfortunately there won’t be time to mail it before the holiday weekend so it will have to be sent after Memorial Day has passed.

06-02-2016

My swap partner has received her package, so it’s time to reveal the progress photos and the concept! My swap partner loves comics, so I decided to make a comic-themed cloth and swap package. I was a little bit nervous about the theme just because most swap packages are a bit more “traditional” than this.

Fortunately she loved the package - and actually made a really cool comic strip post about it in our swap group! Love it!

Along with the cloth, I also sent one of the little fabric “reusable zip lock baggies” I’ve been making lately. More details about these bags in this post. This fabric is so fun and matches the theme of this package so well!

I also sent fat quarters of Batman fabric and color-coordinating solid fabric - my swap partner also enjoys sewing and I thought she’d like to make something interesting out of the fabric.

About the Cloth - There isn’t a pattern, because I just made it up as I went along.

I used a pretty small hook for the thickness of the yarn because I wanted the cloth to hold its shape - stability was more important than drape since the cloth is more for “fun” than for practicality.

First I made the letters. I knew the overall cloth size would be determined by how big the letters were, so they needed to be done first. There were a LOT of loose ends to weave end, but for once it didn’t seem like too much of a chore because they helped stabilize the letters. The tails were sewn across the gaps where each new piece of yarn was attached.

Then I made the blue background. I started by working a flat oval in the round, “placemat” style. Then I worked short rows across small sections, decreasing every row or so as necessary to make a flat point. Then I worked down the side of the point back to the main oval and began another point. I had to rip back a few rows at a time here because it was trial and error to find a good rate of decrease that kept the points from puckering up too much. I worked my way around the oval until I got back to the beginning. Then I worked one round of sc in blue around the entire “splat.”

I then did one round of pink (a favorite color of my swap partner) around the edge of the blue “splat” and outlining each letter.

Then, using blue yarn, I sewed the letters in place on the cloth.

At the end, I decided the edges needed a bit more stability, so I did a round of crab stitch in pink to help keep things flat.