The Rewards of Giving

Not long ago I went to an open house, hosted by Melynda Bernardi of French Press Knits.  I was very excited to see her new knitting studio, which is gorgeous, and to see some of the amazing products being created by these young knitting entrepreneurs .  I was not disappointed!  I came away with beautiful yarn which has been great to work with, and some graphic art work for my knitting gifts.  Great job ladies!

I learned a long time ago, that when someone invites you into their home, you bring them a token of appreciation.  I have been knitting dishcloths, (since it was the easiest project to make) and giving them with a bottle of Mrs. Meyers aromatherapy dish soap as these type of gifts.  I was concerned though, because Melynda is a talented knitter, and I wasn't sure about giving a fellow knitter a gift they could make for themselves.

So off I went to her home, with my gift in hand.  Much to my surprise, she was thrilled! She explained that of all the knitting she has done, she has never made herself dishcloths.  I was relieved and content.  Imagine my surprise when I saw her recent posting about a visitor presenting her with dishcloths and fancy soap!  Take a look at her posting on Versus.  Melynda has written a pattern for organic facecloths, inspired by me! She tells the story so much better than I can.  This put a smile on my face and a bounce in my step!  It's great when someone appreciates even the little things you do.
Here's the pattern for the easy dishcloths:

Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth
Designer: Unknown
Rating: Easy
Materials: Sugar and Cream yarn; Size 6 or 7 needles (US)

Instructions:
Cast on 4 stitches
Row 1: Knit 4
Row 2: Knit 2, yarn over, knit across the row. Repeat Row 2 until you have 44 stitches on the needle.
Knit 1, Knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row.

Repeat  until you have 4 stitches on the needle. You can now either bind off or do a round of single crochet and make a little loop of chain stitches in one corner so you can hang the cloth to dry when you are finished using it.

Felted Kindle Kozy

This is my first attempt at writing a pattern.  I wanted
to start small, then try something a bit more challenging
for pattern writing.  If you can cast on, knit, purl,
and bind off, then you can make this!
The most difficult part of this
is the felting, but the process of felting was fun to
watch.  If you can't do the binding off and back on
for the button hole, you can actually skip it and cut
a slit into the felting after it's dry.  You can download this
from my blog or from Ravelry.  If you make this kozy, let
me know how it goes; I'd like to learn how the pattern needs
to be improved or changed.