My Friend Jen Knits A Princess Dress Dishcloth

My friend, Jen posts the Leisure Arts Blog.  Recently she knit the Princess for a Day dress dishcloth.  I wanted to share her post with you.  So here it is!


"I realized that it’s been a while since I knitted a dishcloth dress, so I had to remedy that immediately!  I love all of the patterns in DishclothDresses but the Princess for a Day pattern really grabbed me.  So I made it!
 
This takes about 55 yards of yarn, and you have to be sure to set aside a little separate amount to work one side of the bodice. 
 
Other than that, this is one of the few patterns that doesn’t require switching up your yarns.  Sometimes I’m in the mood for that sort of thing.  Sometimes I’m not.  I had a blast knitting a patriotic version of Happy Day #2 for the 4th of July last summer, but this time I felt like the variegated yarn would be enough.  I know these colors aren’t especially princessy, but they’re so cheerfully summery!  They make me think of kitchen decorating styles back when shows with names like “Princess for a Day” were on the air.
This was a quick and easy knit, and I had a blast making it just like I was always do.  My work tends to get a bit gappy when I have to make a lot of decreases in just a few rows, so I was careful this time to pull my yarn tight after each decrease stitch in the bodice so that the knitted fabric looked tight and tidy.  I love how this looks!  Maybe it’s my favorite dishcloth dress yet?  I won't know if it's my favorite dishcloth dress of all time until I knit them all, and I do plan to find out which one is my favorite someday.
 
One thing I do want to note: the vertical lines of knit stitches on the skirt.  I love them. But the pattern calls for slipping your stitches as if to purl them, and then purling them on the next row.  Maybe it’s because I twist all of my stitches (I could have tried to learn how to knit correctly once I discovered this, but I quickly realized I wouldn’t have a handy excuse on which to blame all of my problems and pattern misunderstandings if I fixed that), but I just don’t see how that’s going to make a stitch that looks like a knitted stitch.  So I unraveled my first attempt because it was only a few rows long, sang “Lorrrrrrrrrrrd, I can’t chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaange” under my breath because summer is coming and that’s just how I get, and went ahead to just slip that stitch as if to knit it, and then I purled it on the next row.  And ta da!
 
Lynyrd Skynyrd lyrics and a few rows of concern aside, everything about knitting this little dishcloth dress was a dream.  I always feel a little silly when I’m making these, but in a good way.  This is fun!  It’s a nice reminder that I have fun knitting and that sometimes you can just make things to be pretty.  And yes, I know these can be used as dishcloths but DON’T YOU DARE.  I almost never feel this way about dishcloths, but this is a dishcloth dress.  You don’t just take some princess frock and use it to scrub some greasy pots and pans!  This is the dishcloth dress of royalty!
I mean, this is not a whisk.
It’s a scepter.  I bid you good day.
This post originally appeared on Everyday Life at Leisure."