Dachshund Cloths - On Their Way

Frank and Phoebe, 
the Dachshund Cloths I knitted for my son and daughter-in-law are on their way as a late holiday gift. Since Max, another mini-doxie, joined their family, it looks like I have another Dachshund Cloth to knit!

My project page tells a little about how I wrote the pattern. I had to test-knit several designs to get the body shape and the face I wanted with textured knitting in garter-stitch ridges on a stockinette background.

I use these little cloths to save on paper towels. I like the rectangular shape and they're the perfect size for wiping up spills or drying and polishing glassware. I hope my son and his wife like their cloths!

Update 1/3/2020: Darling Son and Daughter-in-Law say they love their "Weenie-Dog Cloths"!

Bowl Mat in Textured Picture Crochet - Free Pattern

The Bowl-Mat for Mulligan pattern uses Groundhog Peggy’s technique, a version of tapestry crochet, for crocheting a picture afghan. A video for the technique was formerly available on Groundhog Peggy’s channel,

https://www.youtube.com/user/groundhogpeggy/about

This picture afghan technique is worked in blocks of six stitches:

—     one row (the “odd row”) follows a dc, sc, dc repeat,

—     the next row (the “even row”) follows a sc, dc, sc repeat.

For every row, work stitches over a second strand of yarn as in tapestry crochet.

The sample was crocheted in cotton worsted-weight (standard weight 4) yarn using a size 8-H (5.00 mm) hook. Gauge is not too important, but you want your stitches to be dense to make a sturdy cloth. Use a hook that is comfortable for you with the yarn you choose. For the sample, my gauge was 14 st = 4 inches (14 block = 12 inches). At that gauge my bowl mat was about 17” wide and about 9” tall.

This bowl mat is useful for sopping up spills from our over-eager eaters!

I hope you enjoy making and using Mulligan's Bowl-Mat. You can download the free pattern here:

Bowl-Mat for Mulligan Crochet Pattern - Free Download on Ravelry.com

A Dachshund Cloth in Textured Knitting - Free Pattern

Designing pictures in textured knitting is challenging. Horizontal purl stitch rows pop out against the stockinette background (as they do in welting), but vertical purl stitch columns recede (as they do in ribbing). What looks good on a chart may translate as a different image when knitted.

The design for this dachshund cloth was test-knitted and revised several times. I wanted my dachshund’s body, feet, and tail to be in scale with each other, and I wanted a wagging tail with at least an indication of ears. The dachshund’s face was challenging since one stitch difference on nose or ears can make the design look like a mouse or a bunny! You can see two versions of the face on the gold and brown dachshunds in the photo. The chart is for a face more like the gold dachshund.

The samples are knitted in cotton worsted-weight (standard weight 4) yarn on size 6 needles (4.0 mm) needles. Gauge is not too important but you want your stitches to be dense so that the design shows clearly. For the samples, my gauge was 5.5 st/in and 8.5 rows/in (22 stitches and 34 rows in 4 inches). At that gauge my cloths were about 10 ½” wide and about 5 ¼” tall.

You might want to go up to size 7 needles if your worsted cotton is more like an aran-weight. Or you might want to make a smaller cloth in dk-weight cotton on smaller needles. Have fun with your dachshunds!

Dachshund Cloth in Textured Knitting - Free Pattern Download on Ravelry.com

To keep your dachshunds looking frisky, be sure to treat kitchen cottons for color fastness and block them to shape!