My bountiful basket is complete!

I put the finishing touches on my bountiful basket donation for our church's Harvest Festival today. I wrapped it up in cellophane and even printed up a little card with all the necessary info. The basket contains two ball band, one "swish with a twist" and one garterlac dishcloths. A small bottle of hand lotion and a bottle of dawn dish detergent was also added. Then I came up with something cute to perk the basket up. The special little something that I crocheted last night really does adds a little bit of fun to the package. I had to give the basket a name (theme), so I'm calling it "Joyful Dishwashing". Anyone who receives the basket should find the chore of dishwashing just a little bit more fun with the hand knit cloths and a cheerful daisy scrubbie, don't you think?


If anyone is interested in making the daisy scrubbie, you can find the pattern here. The pattern is really easy. What's nice about it, is that it's a pot scrubber and dishcloth combined. A very clever idea and it was fun and quick to make. I found the pattern link on Yarn Tomato's blog. Thank you, Yarn Tomato, you had just what I needed to complete my basket. Isn't "google" wonderful? Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends at MDKal for helping me with all your wonderful advice and suggestions. With your help I now have a basket that I think is pretty wonderful.

Sneak Peak

This is just a tease. I'm showing you a small portion of my felting project that I have been working on for a while now. I'm not going to tell you what I am making...yet, as I want it to be a surprise! The yarn is Paton's Classic Merino. I've been working on this off and on...more off than on! I've just been too sidetracked with other things.

Today I gathered supplies to complete a basket for our church's Harvest Festival bountiful basket auction this coming Saturday. I have a small basket that I'm filling with two ball band, one "swish with a twist" and one garterlac dishcloths. I'm including a bottle of dawn dish soap, a sample sized bottle of hand lotion and I bought a nylon scrubbie that I'm going to transform into something special. I will post soon with the finished results. I need to get the basket to the church by Thursday.

Then I'm going to be busy Friday morning baking pies in the church's kitchen. We are very lucky this year as the local orchard is donating the apples all peeled and sliced! Isn't that nice :) Then Friday afternoon I'll be baking in my own kitchen. I have promised two coffee cakes. I'm going to make the swedish coffee ring, but cut the dough in half to make two. Thought I'd fill them with apples, nuts, raisins and of course lots of cinnamon! Saturday afternoon I'll help sell at the baked goods table. We are all praying for a beautiful day and hopefully our fundraising will be fruitful for our church!

Ball Band Mop Cover Pattern

This is my pattern for knitting a mop cover to use instead of the disposable dry and wet pads.This should fit a standard size mop, but the pattern could easily be adjusted to fit a larger mop.**The pattern is based on the "Ballband Dishcloth" pattern and can be found in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. The pattern can also be found on the back side of the Peaches & Cream label. I found mine on the 1lb. cone I purchased in Walmart. Another place you can find the pattern is on the Dishcloth Boutique website where the pattern is known as the Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth. **

Edited 8/8/08 You can also find the ball band pattern at elmore-pisgah.

Edited: 8/9/07
Please email me if you would like the PDF file of this pattern for easier printing. I would be happy to email it to you. I am looking for another site to host my patterns in the PDF format. If anyone can recommend a reliable free site please let me know. Thanks :)
Edited: 9/28/2007
Click here to download pattern PDF file. Please email me with any problems or questions. Thanks!

Materials:
Worsted weight cotton yarn. 2 small balls, 2 colors A and B. Most worsted weight yarns should work. My thoughts are acrylic might be a good choice for dry dusting, especially in the winter with all that static electricity flying about. Just rub briskly before using, but beware there might be sparks! I have not tried doing this, but it is on my to do list!
Size 7 circular 16" needles, or size 7, double pointed needles
Crochet hook, size 5 or H
4 stitch markers

Gauge: 18 stitches / 32 rows / 4" in pattern stitch

With A cast on 45 stitches, loosely. Work Ball Band pattern( ** see above for pattern stitch information) for 6 bands.

With the yarn you began with, knit one more row. You should have 45 stitches on your needle. Place marker on needle, pick up and knit 32 stitches (short side), then place another marker on needle and pick up and knit 45 stitches, place another marker on the needle and pick up the last 32 stitches and put the last marker on the needle. You will continue from now on in the round.

Knit one round.

Decrease rows: Beginning with the next round * SKP(slip a stitch on the needle, knit the next stitch and then pass the slip stitch over the knit stitch) after marker, continue to knit until 2 stitches before next marker. K 2 tog (knit those 2 stitches together), repeat from * until there are 6 stitches left on your needle on the short sides.

Ribbing: At the beginning of the next round do K1 P1 ribbing for 3 rows.

Eyelet round:*K1, YO(yarn over) k2 together, repeat from * for one round ending with a p1

After eyelet round do K1 P1 ribbing for 2 more rows.

Bind off loosely in ribbing, join last stitch to complete ribbing.

Weave in ends.

Drawstring: With crochet hook, loosely crochet a chain of desired length, turn, skip one chain and crochet a slip stitch in each of the chain stitches until the end. Weave in ends and thread drawstring through eyelets.

Happy mopping!

Be advised: I would not recommend washing the dirty mop heads in with my regular wash. Brush off dirt and dust with a brush or wisk broom first and then wash separately.

If you have made an item from one of my patterns, please send me an email
[ hakucho19(at)yahoo(dot)com] and I would be happy to post it in my gallery!

Copyright ©2006 hakucho, All Rights Reserved.