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Every year for Valentine’s Day I give my mom a set of pretty holiday-themed washcloths. She never uses any of them. They are for decoration only and possibly for showing off to her friends what her daughter can do. These washcloths are only for looking at. They never get anywhere near a dirty dish.
(They probably do get cat hair on them though. She has two cats and as an owner human attendant for two cats I know that there is cat hair on everything I have. I’m sure its the same for mom.)
Last year I designed and made her this set of washcloths with cables. You should probably grab that pattern too while you’re here right? Right.
So this year I went with lace.
And I’m sharing the pattern with all of you of course! Maybe you have a mom whose kitchen is organized enough to keep one set of washcloths for cleaning and another for just looking at. Maybe you’re that organized yourself (guess what? I’m not) and want a set of your own.
Free Hearted – a free knit pattern
Yarn: I used about 20 g of Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton for each.
Needles: I used Size 6 (4mm) straight needles.
Stitch Key:
- k – knit
- p – purl
- kfb – knit into both the front and back loops of the same stitch (an increase)
- k2tog – knit 2 stitches together (a decrease)
- YO – yarn over (an increase)
- ssk – slip two stitches as if to knit, knit them together (a decrease)
There is a Print/PDF button down near the bottom of this and every post so you can always take a copy with you.
Written Instructions…
Cast On 13 stitches.
Row 1 (RS): k1, kfb, k9, kfb, k1 (15 sts)
Row 2 (WS): k
Row 3 : k1, kfb, k11, kfb, k1 (17 sts)
Row 4: k8, p1, k8
Row 5: k1, kfb, k13, kfb, k1 (19 sts)
Row 6: k7, p5, k7
Row 7: k1, kfb, k6, k2tog, YO, k7, kfb, k1 (21 sts)
Row 8: k7, p7, k7
Row 9: k1, kfb, k6, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, ssk, k6, kfb, k1 (23 sts)
Row 10: k7, p9, k7
Row 11: k1, kfb, k6, k2tog, YO, k3, YO, ssk, k6, kfb, k1 (25 sts)
Row 12: k7, p5, k1, p5, k7
Row 13: k1, kfb, k6, k2tog, YO, k5, YO, ssk, k6, kfb, k1 (27 sts)
Row 14: k7, p5, k3, p5, k7
Row 15: k8, k2tog, YO, k7, YO, ssk, k8
Row 16: k6, p5, k5, p5, k6
Row 17: k7, k2tog, YO, k9, YO, ssk, k7
Row 18: k5, p5, k7, p5, k5
Row 19: k6, k2tog, YO, k11, YO, ssk, k6
Row 20: k4, p5, k9, p5, k4
Row 21: k5, k2tog, YO, k13, YO, ssk, k5
Row 22: k4, p4, k11, p4, k4
Row 23: repeat Row 21
Row 24: repeat Row 22
Row 25: repeat Row 21
Row 26: repeat Row 22
Row 27: repeat Row 21
Row 28: k4, p5, k3, p3, k3, p5, k4
Row 29: k1, ssk, k4, YO, ssk, k3, k2tog, YO, k4, k2tog, YO, k4, k2tog, k1 (25 sts)
Row 30: k5, p15, k5
Row 31: k1, ssk, k4, YO, ssk, k1, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, ssk, k1, k2tog, YO, k4, k2tog, k1 (23 sts)
Row 32: k5, p13, k5
Row 33: k1, ssk, k17, k2tog, k1 (21 sts)
Row 34: k5, p4, k3, p4, k5
Row 35: k1, ssk, k15, k2tog, k1 (19 sts)
Row 36: k
Row 37: k1, ssk, k13, k2tog, k1 (17 sts)
Row 38: k
Row 39: k1, ssk, k11, k2tog, k1 (15 sts)
Row 40: k
Row 41: k1, ssk, k9, k2tog, k1 (13 sts)
Bind off & weave in ends.
Charted instructions…
People say all the time that Valentine’s Day is a nothing-burger of a holiday and companies made it up just to get us to spend money. That may be true. I used to complain about Valentine’s Day every year. But… I’ve changed my mind. Now I think Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday for giving handmade things. All handmade things come from the heart don’t they?
You only have to spend money if you want to (or if you screwed up big with your sweetie and need to make that up in which case, yeah, a washcloth is probably not going to be enough). Its a crafter’s holiday. I hope these make it onto your crafter’s to-do list!
On a completely unrelated topic, Craftsy is giving away 5 free classes. But you need to enter before Jan 31, 2016.
To enter, you’ll need to have a Craftsy account. If you do, and you’re logged in, click that link and then you’ll be entered. Otherwise the link will take you to a sign up form. Once you create your account, come back and click to enter.
I can, and do, personally vouch for Craftsy. They have a nice newsletter and they aren’t obnoxious with it. And once you have an account, you can:
- watch any of their 46 free mini-classes (which I covered in detail in a post last month)
- download any of their free printables to jazz up your handmade things
- download any of their 2000+ free knit patterns or 3000+ free crochet patterns
Yeah I get some mileage out of my Craftsy account. Its definitely worth a sign-up.
"There is no failure. Only feedback." - Robert Allen
10 Comments on "Free Hearted – a free knit pattern for Valentine’s Day"
My absolute favorite thing to knit–dishcloths/washcloths, whatever you want to call them and you so generously give 2 free patterns for them. Thank you so much.
I’m happy to give them out. Its wonderful to design for this community. The support is uplifting and just encourages me to do more.
These are fabulous! Your Mom will love them. Your Mother is bless to have a daughter as talented and thoughtful as you.
She is a great mom and she deserves all the best in knitted washcloths. 🙂 She has appreciated and saved all the handmade stuff I’ve ever given here…. including a few things I do wish she would just toss! lol But Mom’s never toss out their kids handmade stuff do they? Nope.
These patterns are absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to try them tonight! Thank you so much for sharing.
Most welcome! I hope you like working it up as much as I did developing it.
They are beautiful and thank you so much for sharing. I know your Mom will love them.
She does (She got them this week!). And you are most welcome.
I belong to a Valentine’s swap, & I like to be different & knit mine. So I typed in “heart” in Ravelry’s pattern search, & after dozens of pages, THIS is the one most do-able.
It made me smile, because this is my favorite blog, & if I had looked here first…
lol
Thanks for that. It made me smile too!