Ricky's Special Washcloth

A few months ago my husband, my 19 month old son Ricky, and myself were strolling around in the store enjoying some family time.  We went to check out the yarn aisle because I'm mildly obsessed with yarn and my husband enjoys looking at yarn with me (I know, I'm way lucky!).  If he had enough money to, he'd probably buy me a whole store full of the most luxury yarn imaginable.

As we walked away from the yarn aisle to go look at other things we took notice that our adorable little toddler was proudly carrying around a small ball of blue variegated cotton yarn that he had picked out all by himself.  My favorite thing about his little treasure is that it was just the right size for his little hands and only about $2 or so.  Hubby and I decided we had to buy it (as you can tell, he has us wrapped around his tiny little fingers) and just this morning I finished crocheting him his own personal washcloth.

It's nothing too fancy.  I lost one of my knitting needles that I was going to use so I crocheted it instead.  I used a size I crochet hook which may be a little big for the yarn but since crochet fabric isn't as stretchy as knit fabric I don't think it will have a negative impact on the washcloth at all.  It seems like it'll be pretty sturdy and I like it.

I chained 26, then HDCd (half-double crocheted) the entire thing for 12 rows.  Then I did an HDC border around the whole thing, placing one stitch in every row on the sides, 1 stitch in every stitch on the top and bottom, and 3 stitches in each of the corners.  Like I said... Nothing fancy, but since the yarn is variegated it has a nice color pattern throughout.  I'll try to put up a picture of it soon, within a day or so, but below is a picture of the yarn I used.  I didn't take the picture, I got it off Google, but I think this is the same exact kind that he picked up.  I lost the label, but it looks pretty much the same to me and I know it's the correct brand.  The lightest shade of blue seems lighter in person (almost white-ish) than in this picture and it stands out more against the darker shades of blue.

I still have to weave in the ends of the washcloth but it's 6:30 AM and I don't feel like getting out of bed to take a picture.

As I was working on the washcloth, in the beginning, I kept thinking that the color design looked like waves in the ocean.  The whitish-blue color reminded me of the foamy bubbles you see whenever a wave crashes, and the darker shades of blue reminded me of the still water.  As I progressed there started to be a more distinct pattern, however, and it lost some of it's ocean vibe.  Looking at the finished washcloth I can see that the whitish-blue makes a diagonal criss-cross pattern and there are darker blue diamond shapes in between all the criss-crosses.  It looks a lot better than I thought it would.  Normally I stay away from variegated yarns when crocheting (I like them for knitting better) because I never EVER like the pattern the colors form.  When I first started crocheting I picked out every variegated yarn I saw, thinking it would be exciting to use, but the hats I made always ended up looking like a rainbow and I didn't wear them.  When I started wanting to make more complex projects (blankets, for example) I was frustrated to realize that my entire yarn stash was variegated yarns and who in their right mind would make an entire blanket full of variegated yarns in dozens of different, random, color schemes.  I was tempted to try it a few times just to get rid of my stash.  It sure would be a weird, quirky blanket, don't you think?

Speaking of Sugar'n Cream yarn, I want to show you my favorite Sugar'n Cream yarn.  It's in the picture above this paragraph.  It's called Holly Jolly Prints, and it reminds me SO MUCH of peppermint stick ice cream.  It looks delicious and I only ever got 1 ball of this yarn but whenever I get money I'd love to get a few more and make some more washcloths with it.  And below this paragraph you will see a lovely, delectable, picture of peppermint stick ice cream.  *Sigh*  How I would love to have some of that stuff.  I guess I have to wait until Christmas time.