When I first started designing dishcloths, my youngest son was an infant and I had all the time in the world to knit while my older two boys were in school. Now that my youngest son is 3 1/2, designing and knitting time is rare. So I may be a lot slower than I used to be at adding patterns to the site and they may come in smaller bunches, but I’m trying to get more patterns out there for you.

As I mentioned, I’ve been working on a musical theme. I’ve got four patterns ready right now and have about five more that are still being worked on. Here are some pictures of the four patterns that have just been added to the site:

Double Eighth Note Dishcloth

Trumpet Dishcloth

Piano Keys Dishcloth

Treble Clef Dishcloth

Each of these patterns are designed with a garter stitch design on a stockinette background and are 37 stitches across and 55 rows tall.  They would be wonderful for a music lover stitched together in an afghan, or gifted as a set of dishcloths.

I hope you enjoy these new patterns and I hope to have more musical patterns added soon!

In the spirit of the beginning of school, it’s an ABC pattern.

Clicking on the picture will bring up a .pdf file of the pattern. I hope you enjoy it!

You can still get the pattern free by clicking on the picture.

I’ll be updating my Designs by Emily site very shortly with seven new designs. I have three for Cinco de Mayo (I know it’s cutting it awfully close but without some great help from some test knitters the patterns would never have gotten done!), a Mother’s Day Heart, an American Flag, and two more dogs: a Cairn Terrier and a Boston Terrier.

A super big thanks goes out to Joan for the two dog cloths. Joan had requested those patterns, but I was having a really hard time with them. After a flurry of emails, she test knit the patterns as I had last attempted them, and she proclaimed them to be fine! I think I just had been staring at them waaay too long for me to even recognize them anymore.

The Monthly Dishcloth KAL starts today, so I’m updating my site as quickly as I can so as to get to knitting! I can’t wait to see what it will be this month!

I have finally gotten a Ladybug Dishcloth ready for Designs by Emily.

I’m offering this pattern for Free for the month of May. Click on the picture to get the file.

I have many other dishcloths designed for May, including four for Cinco de Mayo, one for Mother’s Day and one for Memorial Day. I’m thinking I’m going to have to ask for help from some test knitters or I’ll never get them up on the site. I’ve just not been able to knit quite as much lately, with all the craziness with the boys’ schedules and that my neck has been hurting me so much.

I also have to admit defeat on trying to design two more dog patterns. I simply cannot make a Boston Terrier and a Cairn Terrier. I have charted each one out at least three times, and I’ve even knit the pattern for the Boston Terrier, but it just doesn’t look distinctive enough. It looks like a regular dog with nothing that stands out and says ‘Boston Terrier’. So, if you are the kind person who requested these patterns and you’re reading this, you’ll be getting a very apologetic email shortly.

I haven’t knitted it up yet, but I have the pattern all typed up and available for free. If anyone knits it and can send me a picture of it, I’ll post it to my site and give you knitting credit. If not, I’ll get around to knitting it eventually! LOL

Since this hasn’t been tested at all yet, it is possible there might be a mistake in it (although not likely because I triple-checked it).

**EDIT: It’s been tested and I have a picture of it now!

Clicking here will get you the pdf of the pattern, free for the taking:

Hope you enjoy the pattern! Now I have to finish typing up that darn Ladybug pattern I’ve been working on and struggling quite a bit with to get it looking just right.

It only took me all day! LOL

Here are pictures of the new designs. The patterns are available for purchase for $1.49 each.

The free pattern of the month is for this first dishcloth, Out Like a Lamb. It is a reverse stockinette design on a stockinette background.

Out Like a Lamb goes very nicely with the companion cloth: In Like a Lion.

Next, I have a Four Leaf Clover to bring you some luck in March.

Along with a Lucky Horseshoe.

And if you’re lucky enough to catch a leprechaun….a Pot O’ Gold.

All five of these patterns can be found on the New! page at Designs by Emily.

Now that I’ve finally gotten that project done, I can start working on February’s Mid-Month KAL. Everyone is making some really nice comments about it so far, so I can’t wait to get started. Then, next in line to do are some cloths for April. I’m thinking Easter designs.

They are all of a “March” theme. Three for St. Patty’s day — Pot O’ Gold, Lucky Horseshoe, and a Four-Leaf Clover. Two in general — In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb. The last two are slightly different than all the others I’ve designed. I’ve used reverse stockinette to create the pictures instead of garter stitch. I’m not so sure I’m convinced reverse stockinette is the way to go. The garter stitch designs “pop” out better and are easier to knit. Also, they don’t really require much blocking. The reverse stockinette designs have to be blocked to see the pictures nicely.

For the voting results….it seems that Out Like a Lamb is the winner with 12 votes. Pot ‘O Gold came close with 10 votes. I’ll be working hard tomorrow to update Designs by Emily with the new patterns. Out Like a Lamb will be offered for free, with the remaining patterns for sale for $1.49 each.

Tonight is girl’s night out so there won’t be any knitting or web design tonight!

I’ve gotten two more dishcloths done and the patterns written up. I’m working on a third with two more to knit after that. Once they’re all done, I’ll be adding the patterns to Designs by Emily. I’m aiming for Friday to have it all done, but don’t hold me to it.

Don’t forget to vote for the free pattern of the month! It’s a tight race between Pot O’Gold and Out Like a Lamb. Just to give you a hint of what they look like, Pot o’Gold is a garter stitch design with rays from shimmering gold shooting out of the pot. It’s quick and easy to knit. (It’s also my favorite of the two.) Out Like a Lamb is a very cute sheep/lamb. The view is looking directly at his face with his ears sticking out and his fluffy wool poofed out. It is done in a reverse stockinette and requires blocking for the design to show up the best. It’s a little more tricky and you need to pay attention to the pattern.

As soon as I can, I’ll post pictures of those two new cloths to show you what will soon be on Designs by Emily.

First, I finished the January mid-month KAL. I ran out of yarn about 4 rows from the end and had in my stash another ball of the same color but a different dye lot. It looked the same to me (and since it’s only a dishcloth) I figured it wouldn’t matter.

Well, it does.

A lot.

You can’t tell so much in this picture (if you look really closely you can somewhat tell that the top rows are different), but when I dampened the cloth for a light blocking, it was glaringly apparent. Thank goodness it’s just a dishcloth for me and not a gift to give away.

I was a bit disappointed by this cloth. I was super excited to try out a cable pattern — my first ever. After I got a few rows into it, I realized it wasn’t a “traditional” cable pattern. One side of each cable is done in a garter stitich while the other side is stockinette. It really doesn’t make the cables “pop” too well.

So, I took it upon myself to try again. I designed this cloth and knit it up today. It’s just a simple three cable design like the KAL, but without the garter stitch. And I changed the width of the cables. I felt that crossing over four stitches was pulling at the cotton too hard. So I dropped it down to three. I just finished it tonight and didn’t even block it a bit, but it still looks pretty good.

Not too bad for my first attempt at “real” cables and I didn’t even have a pattern. I’m really pleased and I love how easy cables are. It makes me feel like an experienced knitter.

The next two pictures are my latest patterns that I’ve finished for Designs by Emily. I meant to upload them the other day but I forgot. In keeping with the “Winter Theme” they are a pair of mittens and a winter hat.