Waves of Grain Washcloth

Hello and welcome everybody to our live event. My name is Brenda KP Anderson. I am a crochet designer and also an instructor, and today I am excited to show you guys this technique that we use for creating collar work. So we're gonna be working on these washcloths today. I call them the Waves of Grain washcloth, excuse me.

OK, that's better. This is called the Waves of Grain dishcloth, actually. And then you can go ahead and download this. It's free for everyone to download. The link is in the description.

If you want to follow along, also if you're gonna be working on this project, it'll really help a lot to have the chart to go to read from, to, to go through all your stitches. So this particular technique, this style, is influenced heavily by swing knitting, also short row knitting, and those two, there's a short row color work knitting and also swing knitting, which are two related techniques in knitting for making these types of sort of botanical shapes. Where you have sections of color surrounded by another color and so it's a similar technique that we're gonna be using for this. Of course, this is crochet, so it's a little bit different, but this whole project actually was inspired by our friend Cindy Wolf who is oftentimes watching these live events and I feel like I know her because we've had lots of dialogue over the years about the kinds of projects she's interested in making and she has lots of helpful tips for us oftentimes, so I'm very excited to make this for you, Cindy and for everybody else who is interested in learning this technique. She had asked if I could do something related to swing knitting but for crochet, so here it is.

I worked on this project for a while. I wanted to create something that was easy to make, and small enough that would be approachable so that you can just sort of learn the basics of how this works. And then end up with something useful and beautiful when you are done, of course, because that's always the bonus for learning something and making a project at the same time. So I'm very excited to show you guys how to make this. We're gonna be doing this step by step, Um, but I probably will only be getting part of the way through the washcloth during this live.

Event, but the rest of it you'll be all set up to know how to create the rest of it. And we've got charts, full instructions, and everything in your pattern download. So one thing I want to mention is if you downloaded your pattern previous to this live Event, if you downloaded it either early this morning or before that, Then you may have the old version, and the old version has some mistakes in it. Some typos, and let me just show you in case you have an old version and you don't want to And you've already printed it out and you don't want to print out a new one. Let me.

Show you where those issues are. So basically, uh, I made the mistake of abbreviating the technique that I'm gonna be Using instead of slip stitch, which is SLST, I wrote yarn over slip stitch. Which is a cousin to the slip stitch. It's a version of making a slip stitch, Um, and I use that a lot and I think that's why it kind of came from my brain. Onto the paper, but it is not a yarn over slip stitch in this project.

So if you look through your pattern, you can see all these little purple spots in in my Download here. That's where all of the mistakes were made. Um, but if you're looking through it and you see yarn over slip stitch, Just cross out the yarn over. We're just doing a slip stitch through the back Loop, OK, so, um. But I will be showing you how to work up the stitch so you don't need to worry too much About it, but I just wanted to let those of you know who have already downloaded this pattern That you just have to scribble out any anytime you see the capital YO right next to each other.

Um, within, you know, next to the slip stitch just cross out the YO part and then your Pattern will be correct. Or you could just download the new, you know, the new version which is ready for you already Right now. So thanks to our friend Greg who got on that Very early this morning. I'm sorry, Greg. All right, so, oh, we've got some people popping up in the chat already.

Hannah says, uh, good morning. These wash cloths are so cute. Oh thank you, Hannah, and we've got a hello from um Kara or Kara. I'm not sure how to say your name, but good morning and hello to you and Betty says hello From North Carolina and Kara says hi from Michigan. Excellent.

Hi guys, thanks so much for saying hello. I appreciate that. Ok, so for this project, uh, I chose a worsted weight yarn, um, that was kind of a softer, worsted weight cotton. So it's a dishcloth cotton, but it's a little bit, a little bit softer than some, and I do have the exact yarn that I'm using in your pattern download. Um, and after I worked up a sample on that, I, I had some other yarn in my stash that even though it's listed as a DK weight, which is the number 3, it's the same exact thickness when I laid them next to each other as the original yarn that I had used.

So I've got a second, um, I basically have two different brands of yarn. One was a DK weight, one was the worsted weight, and they're both cotton. Um, you can do this with any weight you want, but if you're using a lighter weight cotton, your washcloth is gonna turn out much smaller, so it'd be like little, you know, just kind of a little small, um, cloth, or if you're using a, a heavier weight yarn, like a, a bulky weight or something like that, um, then it's going to be a larger piece. So and also maybe you're not interested in so much the making of the washcloth as you are just sort of the learning of the technique and if that's the case, then you don't need to use cotton. You could use acrylic, you could use um wool, you can use whatever fiber you want to.

So I chose an H hook, which is 5 millimeter hook, which is about the size that I would use to make a washcloth in this type of yarn usually anyway. Um, so just go ahead and grab whatever hook seems to make sense, compared to the yarn size that you chose. But like I said, this is a 5 millimeter hook, and I'm using this is technically a DK weight cotton yarn, but I also the other yarn that I use, which is the same thickness, is listed as the worsted weight. So it's kind of like a lighter worsted, heavier DK and a nice soft cotton. All right, and you don't need that much, like 65 yards of the main color, so that would be the sort of the background color here and then 15 yards of the contrasting color.

Oh, and let me just show you what these look like so you get a little sneak peek of where we're going here. So this, this is the right, what I think of as the right side of the washcloth. And then here is the opposite side. So it actually looks pretty good on the back. Yes, it's not quite as perfect because you get a little bit of the color kind of intermixing along those edges.

It's just not quite as perfect looking as the right side, so if I turned that over, um, but it does look nice. I don't think that it looks bad. I think that that works for a washcloth that's perfectly fine, um, but I just want to let you know it's not quite reversible, but it does look good. So like if you wanted to make a scarf with this technique or something like that, um, you know, it would still look very nice. These are actually pretty stretchy because they're made in a slip stitch to the back loop patterns, so they've got a little give to them and they're nice and sturdy.

Um, they're not gonna get all super stretched out when they're wet. Um, yeah, so there's our little tour of the washcloths, what we're making today. All right, so let's get started. See if we have any questions here quickly. Yeah, if you guys have any questions, have, oh, we've got Kara, yes, and you have been on here before because you did this for me before with the Kara.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm just forgetting. OK. Oh, we've got Tanya, hello from Cape Town.

Hello, thanks for joining us and we've got a hello from Bloomington, Minnesota, Tracy, we're neighbors now, um, and oh, another Tracy from the Isle of Wight, uh, England. Wow, welcome. Thanks for saying how you guys. I love it when I hear where everybody is from. It's so amazing to me that we can all get together on the internet and just talk about yarn together like.

No big deal, but we're from all over the world. This is so cool. OK, so actually, here, let me get started with this. So we're going to start out with a foundation chain. So I'm just gonna place a slipknot on my hook.

And I'm gonna go ahead and chain 31. So 1, 2, 3, and I'm making them slightly loose here, um, because we're gonna have to work into them, of course. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. So that's how many stitches we're working across, and then one more is going to be our turning chain.

So we're not gonna work into that. So I like to have a neat and tight edge on my washcloth, so I am going to begin my first row by working into the back of the stitch. These are a bunch of little V's sitting here on the table all interconnected, and I think of that as the top of my chain. And if we roll that over so they're touching the table, you can see all those little horizontal bars. That's where I'm going to work under.

So I'm skipping the first one and I'm going to put my hook underneath the second one. And I'm gonna yarn over, grab that yarn, pull through the chain, and I'm gonna pull through that loop on my hook right there. That's my first slip stitch. So let's do that again. Insert, yarn over, pull through the chain, pull through the loop.

Insert yarn over, pull it through the chain, pull through the loop. All right, we're just gonna continue that all the way across our chain. So one thing about making slip stitches is it, because there's not as much yarning over going on, I feel like you're just doing that one yarn over and pulling it through and pulling it through. I think there's a tendency for us to have a harder time controlling our tension. Um, when we're doing this, sometimes it ends up making people's slip stitches too tight.

And sometimes they'll be a like to lose. So that's just one of those things with the slips that you may need to practice a little bit as you're working up this fabric. I think the main issue that people have too often is that, um, that it makes your stitches too tight. But if you're just being mindful of not letting this loop get smaller as you. As you are making those stitches, it becomes more obvious on the next row, but if you just grab that and then pull it through and pull through here, and then, here I'll do it on the next stitch.

If you watch, watch the loop, watch this loop when I'm making my stitch. So, I'm going to go grab that yarn and I'm going to pull through and now watch this loop. When you pull through and you pull through a little farther, see how that loop is getting smaller actually when I'm pulling. It's making it tighter. I think that, I mean that was very exaggerated, but I think that that is kind of the biggest issue that people have with making a slip stitch fabric.

Cause slip stitching is extremely easy to do. It's just, you know, it's very simple. It's like the most simple motion in crochet practically. Um, but if you're pulling on that too much, you might be shrinking that loop up and then it's really hard to get your hook in there later. Makes your stitches too tight, and that's frustrating.

So I know it's one thing to just tell people like, oh, just, you know, just make your stitches looser, or just, can you just relax when you're making your stitches? Well, it's, you know, that's one thing to say that, but if you're already frustrated and having a hard time, it really does help to just actually crochet extremely slowly and watch all the loops and see where when it is getting smaller or how it is getting smaller. That's one thing that I've learned to do over the years, especially as I started teaching, I had to really slow down and pay really close attention to what I was actually doing. OK, so there's our first row. It looks more like a cord at this point.

It's a very short stitch. Then we're going to chain one, and when you make that chain, make it fairly tightly because that's going to be the edge of our work and those tighter chains really help keep it neat and tidy, and we're never going to work into those turning chains. Then we're going to turn our work just like we're turning a long skinny page in a book here, so we're turning it like this, and then we're going to be able to work across the opposite side. So now we're going to do a slip stitch through just the back loop. So normally when we make our crochet stitches, we're working underneath both loops, both of the loops that kind of make that V on top on the top of our work.

So here it would be under both loops like that. Um, but in this case, we are going to be working just under that back loop, so right there. So we're going to insert our hook in that back loop, grab that yarn, pull through the back loop, and pull through the loop on our hook. And sometimes that very first loop gets a little stretched out. So let me do an exaggerated version of that.

Sometimes when we're, you know, working on that first stitch, we do this, and then it just becomes kind of loose. you can just see a little window here. It doesn't look so great. So one thing you can do is if I anchor this with my finger and pull on that and pull up on my hook, I can tighten this loop down here. just like that, okay?

so sometimes you may want to tighten it on purpose, especially on that first stitch. As long as you can still see it and you know you can work into it on the next row, and you can go ahead if you're newer to this, especially the stitch pattern, it's hard to see that first and last stitches of the row, especially the first stitches of the row right after you turn, work that first stitch. Then when you're coming across to the end of the row, it's hard to see that. And so you can use a stitch marker and just place it in that very first stitch of the row so that you don't miss it on the next. Um, on the next row.

all right, so we're just going to be doing slip stitches all the way across in that back loop, all the way across, um. And one in each stitch across. and I'll do just a few more so you can see, it's just making a very dense, very short. Um, little fabric here, you don't see a lot of space between the stitches. and if you are having trouble, if you feel like it's too tight, you can, you know, use a washcloth.

You can certainly go up a hook size if that helps you to just keep things a little bit looser. Because like I said, oftentimes people have trouble with their slip stitches being too tight. All right, so you're just going to continue working a slip stitch into the back loop of each stitch across. And then when you get to the end, you'll chain one and turn. So if I, let's just say it was at the end, you would just chain one tightly and turn your work, okay?

And then you're going to continue doing. Same thing. Just making those slip stitches one into the back loop of each stitch across, because from now on, we're just working in the slip stitch through the back loop only stitch pattern. So it's always going to be through the back loop. All right, so after you've worked 4 rows, like a, including that very first row, Your piece will look like this.

Still not very tall. That's okay. Um, and this is where I want to bring in the chart. So, for this particular stitch pattern, because there's so much, um, working back and forth and back and forth, actually. Um, I just kind of want to explain to you how this fabric kind of comes about, how you create it.

So here we just work back and forth and back and forth like this, and then, after we get four rows in, we're gonna come and work partially, partially across the row, and then we're gonna turn around in the middle of the row and go back. So it's getting a little taller on this side than it is over here, okay? And then we're gonna work all the way across and we're gonna then we're gonna continue down here so we kind of get to the end of the cliff where we had turned around and gone back and then we just continue. And we have, you know, worked back and forth and back and forth over here actually too, and then we can come back up here. And then we'll go all the way back down here, turn this way, we're gonna change color and then here we're working back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and this way.

So we're doing all these little sections and if that doesn't make any sense to you, don't worry because I'm gonna be showing you like in real time. I just wanted to kind of give those of you who wanna picture where we're going, um, what to expect because basically what we're doing is we're just making these little short rows like a partial row turning around and and going back in the opposite direction and this way we can build up, um. You know, more height in certain areas of the washcloth compared to others like we'll build up more height here and more height here and then we can come in, we can fill in this little kind of sunken spot with this color and then we build up more up here and back and then we can build up some more here to kind of make up for this, you know, this area of the gold that comes up and build up a little extra here and then we can work all the way across, you know, so it's basically a way to, um. Have little sections where there's color, where you're building up just one section at a time, and then you kind of get out of there and change back to another color, and you come back in and fill in the areas that that didn't get as tall as the one that you just did, if that makes sense. All right, so, um, in order to make things a little easier, I made a chart for those of you who have watched me before, you know how I love my charts.

I'm a very visual person. It really helps me both teaching people, but also just understanding where all the stitches go and how they relate to each other and all that stuff if I can see a chart. Now, this chart is unlike any chart I've ever made before. It's a little weird, so let me just kind of talk to you a little bit about the chart here. So, in this, and this is included in your download, of course.

I just printed it out a little bit bigger so you guys could see it a little bit better. OK, so each little brick in here, each little rectangle stands for a stitch. And every time we're making a stitch after the first row where we just do a slip stitch all the way across, after that, we're always doing a slip stitch through the back loop only. And each one of these represents a slip stitch through the back loop only stitch. So, if you are, um, oh, and also if you are a left-handed crocheter, I want to mention you should print out your chart reversed.

And, you know, in a lot of printers, there's a section where you can actually make a, like, a horizontally flipped image or a mirror image of what you are about to print out. So look for that on your printer if you've never done that before. Um, or you can take a picture of it with your phone and then you can flip it on your phone. You can make a reverse, uh, photo basically. So that way it will help you follow along because you're a left-handed crocheter.

It'll help you follow along, um, with the stitches. It'll be going in the same direction and if you watch me in a mirror also, then I will look left handed, so that may help as well. So I just wanna, you know. Help those of you who are left-handed because there's a lot of turning our work going on and I think that that would just help you follow along a little better. OK, so, um, so, we're gonna start over here in the corner and we're working.

Each one of those, these represents a stitch. And so this was the first row of slip stitches that we worked. And then here's the second row where we did slip stitch to the back loop only, 3rd row, and the 4th row. So we've completed that. In this little sample here.

So the next row here, this would be row number We're gonna be working across here, and when we get to the white, that doesn't mean we change color or anything. Normally, when there's a different color in a chart where we're working color work, normally, we would change to the next color at that point, but the white in this chart just represents nothingness. Okay, so there's nothing there. It's just kind of like a placeholder or a way to space my stitches that I'm adding in here to make it look. Um, more readable.

So right here, there's a little number 16 in the first box. So that means you're gonna be working 16 slip stitches across and then you're gonna turn your work. That means you do a chain one and turn, and then on the next row, which is right here, we're gonna do 16 stitches all the way back. So, because, you know, these are, there's so many little boxes. I didn't want you to have to count every single one of those, so I put a number in the first box of that section telling you how many, so you don't have to count it.

Um, I thought that would be helpful for you guys, but also for me while I'm teaching this, so all those numbers are in your download as well, um, so you'll be able to see those. Okay, so then, we worked 16 this way or we will work 16 this way, and we will work 16 that way. So let's go ahead and do that on our sample. Just gonna move that out of the way. All right, so I already have done my turning chain.

I'm gonna turn my work, and we're going to do 16 across. Looks like we've got lots more people chiming in, you guys. Oh, how wonderful. Okay, we've got. Rajani from Delaware, welcome, and we have a Le Souidal Oh boy, let me see, Le Souel Sousael, I hope I'm saying it right.

Probably not. I'm sorry, but I'm glad that you're here. Hello in Mexico, um, Katia from Mississippi and Melissa saying morning, Felicia saying good morning and hi from Argentina. Wow, you guys are really all over the place. This is so cool.

Um, couldn't you make the leaves and add them as you're making the solid? Like make the leaves separately and then crochet them in as you're working? I'm guessing that's what you mean, and you could do that, um. You could do that if you want, and you could do a little experimenting to see how that goes when you connect to the bottom of the leaf as you're working your last row in that color. Um, but this, you'll see as I, as I start working this up, it's not as complicated as it seems.

So you may want to try this too. Let's see. Oh, Melissa says it makes sense. Yes. OK.

Thank you for the numbers. Oh, you're welcome. I knew if I wanted those numbers, like there would be a lot of other people wanting those numbers too, right? Who wants to count all those squares? Not me.

Um, and, OK. Oh yeah, and Melissa is saying, OK, seeing the chart does make sense more. OK. All right, so here we go. So now I'm gonna be doing those 16 slip stitches through the back loop.

OK, so 123. 4 56. 8 9 10 11 12. 13. 14 15 and 16.

OK, so now we're gonna chain one and we're gonna turn. And again, I like to do that chain fairly tightly. And we're not going to work into that chain. So we turn our work. Here is the first place we're going to work, and we're gonna place a slip stitch through the back loop.

That loop got a little long, so I'm gonna tighten it up. We're going to do a slip stitch through the back loop into each stitch across. So, you know, where, where I turned here, you may want to put a stitch marker in that stitch just so that you can find it next time. If you are good at spotting your stitches, especially those that are on the edges, You won't need to do that, um, or if you are a person who likes to count. Uh, I know that might sound kind of crazy to some of you, but I actually fall into that camp sometimes.

I don't really like counting up the squares in my chart, but when I'm working and I'm just working on something, I kind of automatically count in the back of my head and don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes. I count steps sometimes. I count, I count things. So to me, that's not a big deal, but for many of you, you're gonna just be annoyed if you have to count every single stitch all the time. Um, so when you're coming, working your way across that next row, you may appreciate having a little stitch marker in there so you don't miss that stitch.

OK, so back to the chart. So we've worked our 16 here and our 16 there. And now we're gonna be starting on row number 7, where we just work one stitch across to the other end. So, I'm gonna chain one. Turn my work and make a slip stitch in each stitch across.

So, you know, if you don't mind counting, it does help to make sure you're not missing any stitches, to, you know, to be counting up your first 16. And then if you continue working across the whole piece, you basically, you're working across a total of 30 stitches on every row. There's no increasing or decreasing or anything like that. We're just, um. Doing short rows.

So sometimes you will work just a few stitches and turn your work. But if you were counting every single stitch from one end of the washcloth to the other. Here we go. That one wants to hide. Um, then, then you would have 30, 30 stitches across.

OK, so we've made it to those, those 16, and now we're going to start working down here, and you don't have to do anything special. You just put your next stitch down there, your slip stitch, and it'll kind of bring curve that down a little bit. To meet up with the row that's a little bit lower here. So I also wanted to let you know the first section, like the first 20-some rows of this pattern are all written out telling you exactly where to turn, where to switch colors, all that stuff is just written out in the pattern. But that's really just to kind of get you accustomed to working from the chart so that you can double check and make sure you're on track.

Um, so if you are, if you want to make this pattern, then definitely, um, you know, have your chart out so you can look at it. And at the same time, if you're relying more on the directions for the chart or the directions for the stitch pattern, be looking at your chart also to make sure you understand how this chart works because I did not write out every single row and every color change in this whole washcloth because there's so many rows. So we're doing this slip stitch, this very short stitch pattern, there's so many little tiny places where we're turning. And it just seems so tedious to have to read through all that, so I would rather be, you know, I have a, a pretty good section where I wrote every single thing out, which you never have to refer to if this chart makes sense to you. You can just work from the chart, um, but if the chart doesn't make sense to you, you can read through that as you're looking at the chart, double checking, making sure you fully understand how this chart works because after a little ways, it's gonna be like the mama bird pushing you out of the nest and you're gonna have to do the rest of it just by looking at the chart, which to me.

Seems like pretty doable. Once you learn how to do it, it's very easy to tell, um, what you're doing. OK, so we've made it across to the end of row 7, and here's row number 8. So we're gonna work 5 stitches, and then we're gonna turn our work, and then we're gonna work 5 more stitches. So we're going to chain one and turn and work those 5 stitches.

So 1, 2, 3. For 5, and we're gonna chain one, turn our work again, and work 5 stitches. 1. 2, 3. For Oh, that one got a little tight there.

There we go. And 5. All right. So, we've just finished working row number 9, we ended right here. And then the next row, row 10, we're gonna work 3 stitches, and then we're going to turn, and we're gonna work 3 stitches in that direction.

So chain one and turn. We're going to work 3 stitches, so 1. to and 3. Chain one, turn our work. One to and 3.

All right. OK. So, this is what's happening here. You can see this is a little bit wider here than it is right here, just a little bit. But here, we've raised up this section right there.

And now we're going to chain one and turn, and we're going to work all the way across to the end. So we're gonna go ahead and make that turning chain. Turn our work and work all the way across. So we're gonna do these first To and 3. And we're gonna move down here.

Remember, we had done 5, so we've got 2 stitches kind of sticking out here. So 1. And 2. There we go. And now we're gonna be working slip stitches from this point all the way to the end.

So 1. To all right. And then on the next row, the excitement starts, you guys. Cause for working in color work, we sure didn't change any colors yet, did we? But that's gonna happen on the next row.

So if you're finding that your stitches are tight. You know, slow down, see what's actually happening and where that's getting tight, but one thing I can tell you is when, when you're pulling this through the, the loop on or the loop from your fabric and then pulling it through here, if you do this sort of swinging upward motion with your hook, you have less of a chance of this loop getting shorter because you're pushing on it if that makes sense. So so I think I automatically kind of make my hook bent upward. I have a little swoop when I'm doing these slip stitch patterns because I think it's my way of making sure that I'm not allowing that loop that's, uh, You know, the loop that's already on the hook shrinks as you bring the other one through it. All right, so I'm gonna chain one and turn, and we're right here in our chart.

Uh, row number 13. We're gonna work two slip stitches through the back loop. So here's one. And then on the second one, we're gonna yarn over with the new color. OK?

So that's how we change our color. So we get our next color all ready to go. I'm just gonna hold it back here. And I'm hanging on to the blue one as well, just to keep that loop from getting too stretched out. So, here's our second stitch.

We're going to insert yarn over with the new color, bring that through, and bring that through the loop on our hook. Now we can go ahead and continue with that orange color. Or whatever color you're, whatever color you're working with here. So we're doing a total of 17 stitches in the new color, so because there's my number 17, I'm gonna be working across in 17 stitches. So 12, 3 for 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16.

17. All right, now we change 1. Turn our work and then we're going to work 3 stitches back in the opposite direction. We're right here at that number 3. So we're going to do 3 stitches.

1. 2, and 3. And we're gonna chain one. Turn our work, and we're gonna do 6 stitches in this direction. So, we'll do the first 3.

Those are pretty self-explanatory, right? So we've got these 3. And then here we are. But we can just go ahead and continue. So don't be afraid to keep going, cause I think for some people we would hesitate, we would get to that stitch and be like, well, now what?

There's no more stitches, but they're just down here. So we have to do 3 slip stitches from down here, so 1. 2 3 Jane. One, turner work. So we've just worked this direction, and now now we're gonna work 44 stitches in the opposite direction here.

So, one. Two, three, four, Jane. One and turn. And now we're going to do seven stitches, seven stitches in this direction. So, one.

two, three, four, and then down here, five. Six, and seven. Chain one and turn, and now we're gonna do four stitches in this direction here. So, one. two, three, and four.

Chain one and turn, and we're gonna do six stitches in this direction here. So, one, two, three. Four, and then down here, five. And six. Chain one and turn, and we're gonna work six in the opposite direction here.

So, one, two, three. Four, five, and six. Chain one and turn. So we've worked this direction. And now we're gonna work from four in this direction.

So, one, two, three. And four. Chain one and turn. And we're gonna work seven. So, one, two, three, four.

And see, this is a pretty big jump, but that's okay. You just can go down here and get the next 35. Six and seven. Chain one and turn. And we're gonna do four.

So, one, two, three, four. Chain one and turn. And here's six in this direction. One, two, three. Four, five, and six.

Chain one and turn. And we'll do three. So, one, two. Three. So that's right here, and then we're going to work 17.

So we're gonna chain one. And turn. So even though there's, you know, no symbol here for the chaining one, anytime you get to the end of a row or like where it becomes white just after your square, that means you're always going to chain one, turn your work at that point. You, in order to turn around, you always have to make that little turning chain. Otherwise, it makes it very hard for you to get into your stitches.

All right, so we're gonna be working across these 3, and then across 14 more for a total of 17. So there's the 3. To 3 or 5. 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 11, 12.

13, and then on this 14th one, we're going to drop the contrasting color, and we're going to drop that to the wrong side of our work. So you can, um, that's the side that's facing us right now. So if you're ever not sure if it's the right side or wrong side, you can, once you've stitched a little, you can see on this side, you can see there's like little orange on the other side of the blue they're intermixing here, but on this side that doesn't happen. OK, there's a very, um, obvious line between the orange and blue here. So this counts as the right side, this counts as the wrong side.

So you're gonna drop that. Um, orange color toward you. And you're going to pick up the blue color. So the blue color we just sort of dropped behind us, and we're going to pick up that blue color. So when we go in that next stitch right here, this is the last orange stitch.

We're going to yarn over with that blue. OK, so the yarn over is really coming from the front of the work, which is weird. That's because we want it on the wrong side of the work. So, and when we had switched color before, we dropped it to the back side, OK? Um, so we're just gonna grab that blue, pull through the loop or pull through the stitch, and pull through the loop on our hook like that.

OK? So now we can continue making the next two stitches in the blue. There's one stitch, and there's the next stitch, just like that. And then we're going to chain one and turn our work. So isn't that lovely?

We have like a little leafy branch thing here already. All right, so we've already worked through. Uh, row number 26 is where we had finished. So, 27, you can see here, we're gonna wear one stitch all the way across, and then we're gonna do some short rows at the other end. So we're gonna work into those back loops all the way across, making those slip stitches.

And we're no longer switching color for a little while here. So at this point, we're going to start kind of filling in the spaces where it dips down, um, and then we're going to get rid or get ready to create a space, like a little curved space for that next um sort of leafy motif after that, OK? So, here we are, making those slip stitches all the way across the row. And just take your time and if you're ever like if you get confused about how many stitches there should be, or like, is this a stitch? Is that a stitch?

I can't tell where to put my hook. It does help to look at the chart and know how many stitches before you get to a place where you had turned before, like, for example, right here where this little bump is. So we've got 3 more stitches, 12. 3 OK, so, right, right now, I've just worked this stitch right here. That little bump is formed by, you know, turning our work right here.

And then you can see we have 123 more stitches until the next little bump. OK, so you, if you're looking at the chart, if you're having trouble telling how many stitches you really have there because it's hard to look at your stitches and know, is that a stitch or is that not a stitch? I can't tell, then look at your chart and see how many you have. So you know you have 12, and 0, that is a stitch over there, OK, because you know you're supposed to have 3 here. So 1.

To and that 3rd one likes to hide. Like that. All right. And then we're gonna, we're gonna get to the next little section, so we can do 1, 2, 3, and then there's another bump. So, one to three.

There's our next little bump. And then we're going to do two more. One to. And then we have three more stitches, you know, left over after we've stopped doing the color work. We can see that there are three stitches here, okay?

So, I hope I'm not confusing anyone by pointing down here. We're not actually here in the chart. I'm just looking at this because as we're making these stitches across row number 27 here, they are actually falling onto the tops of these stitches that we sort of left alone down here. And here is our last three stitches. So those three stitches are actually going into these three stitches in the chart, if that makes sense, directly below.

Or, you know, another way to think about it is just, if you're not sure where those stitches are going, just look directly below. Whatever is directly below, that's where those stitches are landing. Like, these two stitches were worked into these two stitches cause it's directly below. All right, so we're going to just chain one turn our work, and we're right here, so we're going to work five, and then we're going to chain one, turn, and work five. Oh, and we've got another hello from Joyce from the Netherlands.

Awesome. And a good morning from Illinois also. Hi, you guys. I always appreciate when you guys say hello. If you guys have any questions or any comments about anything, definitely let me know.

Um, if this is making sense, that's great, but if there's, you know, if there are things that aren't making sense, I'd like to help, so definitely let me know. Um, so we've got three stitches so far. We're gonna do two more. For a total of five in this little short row, then we're gonna chain one, turn our work, and we're gonna work five in this direction. So, one to three for and five.

We'll chain one. And you can see here in row number 30, as we work across, we're working just one stitch into each stitch all the way across. It's not a short row. It's just a regular row all the way across. So, but we know we're going to be working one into each of the next five stitches, and then there's gonna be a little bump.

So here's one. To 3, 4, and 5, and there's our little bump, and we're going to work into the next stitch. And if you're ever not sure, is this a stitch? Is that a stitch, you can just kind of tell when you pull up on it, you can see there's a loop going through that stitch right there. So that you know that this one by my thumb has already been taken.

All right, here we go. Working those slip stitches, you back loop all the way across. So you can, I don't know if any of you guys are wondering this, but you can do this with other stitches. It does not have to be with the slip stitch if you really want to try this out, but you just really do not like doing slip stitches. Um, you could try it with single crochet through the back loop.

I think that that would work. Your, your pattern is gonna be much wider, um, because these stitches are so short in slip stitches, um, but you'll be able to see what, you know, how to build up the color in certain areas. You'll be able to see kind of how it works. All right, there we are at the end. We're gonna chain one and turn.

And here we are in row number 31, so you can see we have 16 stitches in this direction, 16 stitches back. For 5, 6 7, 8, 9 10, 11. Whoops. 13, 14, 15, and 16, and then we're going to chain one, turn our work, and work those 16 stitches all the way back. So one, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7 8, 9, 10, 11 12, 13, 14, 15 And 16, chain one and turn.

So here we are in our chart, and then there are two rows where we just work back and forth and you know, with one stitch into each stitch across. So I forgot to mention you can certainly cut this yarn here. You don't need to leave it dangling there because you're not going to be carrying it up. To the next motif. It just doesn't look good to have your yarn coming across the back unless you are never ever going to see the back side of your piece.

I mean, then you could just sort of let it hang out there if you wanted to. Um, unless you wanted to rely on the stretch here. So I, I think there would be. Very few and far between instances where I would actually want to strand here. I just kind of use that yarn for that little localized section of color there and then cut it and then use it again in um in the next section where we would need it.

OK, so we're just going to be doing one stitch into each stitch across, kind of evening everything out here. And I'll just show a couple more, a couple more rows after that, um, before we kind of wrap up, but I, I hope that this explains, it helps you understand this kind of wacky chart here. I know it's a very strange looking chart, um, but if you just keep in mind that, you know, we're only using two colors here, the white is not representing a stitch in this chart. It is just sort of like a placeholder or You know, it's just there. It's just the, the, the chart is just there because we we need to be able to, you know, add more rows in certain sections.

So just ignore everything that's in white in those little bricks in white, and then just look at those other two colors, the gray and the yellow. And this would be a good time, like when you have a when you have a row that's worked all the way across one stitch into each stitch across, that would be a good time to actually count your stitches and just make sure that you still have 30 stitches because, uh, you know, you could, you might have missed a stitch or added an extra stitch when you were doing all those little short rows and it would be good to find out. And if it's just off by one stitch and you're everything looks OK so far, then you could really just sneak another little stitch in there or do a little. Um, you know, when a little decrease or something or skip a slip stitch, that would be fine to, to get it back to the stitch count that it's supposed to be at. I would always recommend doing that somewhere in the middle of the piece and not near one of the edges, because then it might show up.

Unless you can figure out exactly where you made your mistake. Then you can decide if you want to rip it back. or not, but if it looks good so far, uh, I feel like who's gonna know? All right, we are almost back to the bottom of our washcloth here. Just a few stitches left.

So, um, another thing, if you guys have suggestions for future live events, if there's certain techniques you'd like to learn about, um, or certain types of projects you'd like to make. Um, let me know because I do request, obviously this is uh, Cindy's request to do a project like this. This one's for her and of course for all of you, but, um, yeah, let me know if there's anything in particular you're hoping for. OK, so now we are right here in the chart. Let's see, where are we right here in the chart.

Um, we've just worked back and forth, and now we're ready to do 8 stitches in this direction, 8 stitches back. So, oh, I already did one stitch. I didn't even realize I had done that. OK, so, chain one, turn. Here's our 8 stitches.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. There's our 8th. 1, chain one, turn your work. Uh, slip stitch through the same 8 stitches here through the back loop. 3, 4, 5, 6.

7 and 8. Chain one and turn. All right, so, so we're building up a little bit of area down here and then the next couple of sections here. We're going to go all the way across and then we're going to build up more up here, OK, so that we'll end up with like a little hollowed out section there. You can see, I'll bring this in here.

You can see this time, so that's that one. This time we're making a sort of like that little dip a little further down in our piece. OK, so this is this short row here is a little shorter than the one we made over here, and the reason why is because it's a little shorter before it kind of gets to that part where this swoops down. OK, so then we're gonna come over here. We're going to build up some extra fabric here, come back down, and then we'll do that, you know, a couple stitches and then change color back to the orange and then create.

Um, basically the same motif as we did up here. OK, just has a little shorter stem. All right, then we would just continue. Basically, this is the process throughout; you know, these are at different places or the, the little section that is the leaf. It's not, um, they're not all lined up here; it's just for a little bit of visual interest and to keep things a little bit more interesting.

Um, so you're just going to have to watch for that. It's not a full repeat of exactly the same thing, but the motions are all the same; the theories are all the same, how to read the chart is all the same. Basically, you're just looking at those numbers and making the appropriate stitches during your work and making sure you do that little chain one. If you need to use stitch markers on the ends of your rows or every time, even on the ends of your short rows, um, you know, to keep those last stitches from disappearing or getting too hard to work into, hard to see, um, that's, you know, definitely a good tip there to use stitch markers so. All right.

Oh, it looks like we have a question. Oh, and hello to Fiona from France. Hello. Bonjour, let's see, I wonder what time of day it is. Is it like 10 hours later?

I don't know. Try to think of what time is it evening for you? OK. Debbie, should I want to use this as a potholder should I make another one and sew them together to make it thick enough? Yeah, well, it's pretty thick.

You definitely could do that, and it would be quite thick. Let me feel what that's like. This is thicker than a normal potholder when I put these two together, but it has good flexibility, so I think you'd still be able to use it, you know, because if you have a potholder that's too thick, then you, I worry that you wouldn't be able to feel the edges of the pot through it well enough. Um, another thought though is maybe if you could find a bulky weight cotton yarn, those are a little harder to find or. If you could do like a worsted weight yarn and hold it together with like a fingering weight yarn or something like that to bulk it up just a tiny bit, I really feel like this would be good enough.

I mean, even as a worsted weight yarn, actually, because this worsted weight yarn is a little thinner than other worsted weight yarns, you probably will have an easier time finding a slightly thicker worsted weight yarn, um, something in one of the big box stores like those Lily, Sugar and Cream, those are a little thicker than this, um, and I think that that would probably do it honestly, because this is, it's quite thick. I wish you could like feel through your monitors and your screens so I could feel what I'm making here, but um. I mean, I feel like I, I could use this probably for a potholder. I don't know. I don't want you to burn yourself though.

I would say do a little swatch, you know, start working it up and then feel it yourself, but I, I. For me, I would hesitate to use. Two layers because it might, I mean it would make a great trivet, but like picking, I'm just thinking picking up like a little, like the edge of a pan if you're, if you're, you know, worried about dropping it. I don't know, it's kind of thick. I don't know, do a little swatch and do your own little test and decide, I think, but I think it's a great idea and it looks lovely.

It wouldn't and you could definitely, um, if you just bumped it up to a slightly thicker yarn, it would be for sure fine, I think, um, to just use one layer. So good question. 6 p.m. In France. OK, all right, well, I hope you have a lovely dinner and a lovely evening making these washcloths.

All right, thank you guys so much for joining me. I really appreciate you guys being here. Um, if anybody is interested in learning how to read a crochet stitch chart, um, reading stitch diagrams, I'm gonna be teaching that up next in about half an hour, so I'll be back, um, kind of walking you through basically how to read stitch charts if you've never. Uh, if you've always kind of wondered what those diagrams are really like, what, you know, what does this all mean, all these crazy symbols, you don't really understand how to use them. They are so, so, so useful.

So if anybody falls into that category, please join me in about a half an hour, and I will be showing you guys how to read them. So thanks you guys for joining me. I really appreciate it. Bye everyone.