Sunflower Dishcloth

In the last few years sunflowers have become a favorite flower. One of the local farmstands sells boquets of them during the summer and there is just something about them sitting on my kitchen table that makes me smile. I thought adding a dishcloth to my kitchen rotation seemed like a great idea.

This is another pattern from Leisure Arts out of print leaflet A Dishcloth a Month 75558.

While I've been making a decent dent in my old dishcloth cotton I realized I'm starting to run out of certain common colors. Walmart has an in house brand Hello Hobby that is quite a bit cheaper than the other cotton I normally use but it has good reviews.

I decided to give it a shot. I will say it splits quite a bit less than the other brands I've been using from my stash and that is a huge plus. How long these last with use vs the other brands remains to be seen.

For my own notes I did the center with the suggested H hook and switched to a g hook for the petals as I found it was harder to get the triple combos to keep their shape with the larger hook.

Our Generation Mermaid

The 18 inch dolls are next up for the 2026 Mermaid Challenge. I have a couple of different patterns to try. The first is a free pattern you can find here.

While I've liked some of the designs over the years with the free Yarnspiration doll clothes patterns I've not always had the best luck with making them. This was one of the first I've completed in a bit and required the fewest alterations to the pattern to complete it

I used Lavender Big Twist that has been in my stash since the days of Joanns. The blue and pink are Red Heart Super Saver.

To get the top to close with the lavender I needed a K hook and to change the starting chain from 34 to 45. I think if I made this again I'd experiment with what it took to close with suggested I hook as I ended up switching to an H hook for the tail as it was bulky.

Changing the original stitch count changed row 8. I needed to sc in the first 19 skip 2 sc 5 dc in the next sc and sc in the last 19.

At some point I realized to make the tail point I needed to get down to the original stitch count. This happened by reducing the tail count to the original stitch count before starting reduction for tail point. This happens between row 19-20. Then I returned to row 20.

I started the first fin sc into the back bumps of the chain. This made it so much easier to start the second fin. I sc the fin to the body and then sc around the fin to give it a more solid finished look.

The first two rounds of the crown were made with a K hook to get it to fit on the doll's head. I made the final row of the crown with an H hook so I wouldn't ruin the spikes of the crown.

Chain 40 for the ties sc in center crochet around sl join and chain 40.

Neither of my other mermaid patterns has a crown so I'd consider using this with those patterns. It will be interesting to compare the three to see which one I prefer. This is the only one piece set.

I'd also like to make a tail for the Our Generation Boy like I did for Ken.

Leaf Dishcloth

I've been reworking a Mermaid pattern to fit the Our Generation doll. Likely my gauge and fiber choice not the pattern but it is nice to walk away with a practical project for my house.

This is another pattern from Leisure Arts out of print leaflet A Dishcloth a Month 75558.

Notes:

One of the thing I've enjoyed about making these dishcloths is working off some of my older stash.

I wasn't sure I had the yarn for this but I found Lily's Sugar and Creme Terra Firma in my stash and avoiding buying some Hobby Lobby cotton. For future reference Hobby Lobby's Crafter's Secret Variegated Olive Branch was what I was thinking I'd buy as Terra Firma is no longer available to buy. Classic Brown would also work. Mango would give it a more orange leave look.

I needed an H hook for this project.

The directions are correct but the format of these directions required more attention than I expected as there are multiple changes in each row.

It is nice to see my replacement fall dishcloths take shape.