The Origami Menko Cloth has a unique construction that is well-suited to maximize color placement in standard variegated dishcloth cotton yarns. It’s a small project with a big payoff: it’s an easy way to practice skills (reading your knitting, short rows, and grafting) and judge their effects, and the investment in time and materials is small. As a bonus, cloths are used for scrubbing dishes and people, so any mistakes are no big deal! This cloth is a simpler variation on my Cootie Catcher Cloth. The name comes from the origami menko folded paper square. As a child, I fancied up my notes to friends in this shape.

Sizing and Finished Dimensions: Small (5” / 12.7 cm square), Medium (7” / 17.8 cm square), Large (9” / 22.9 cm square)

Yarn: Worsted weight cotton or cotton-blend yarn; finer gauge cotton-blend yarns would also be suitable but may change yardage needed.

Yardage: Small: 32 yd / 30 m; Medium: 55 yd / 50 m; Large: 95 yd / 87 m
(Cloth may be worked in one or more colors. Refer to the put-up of your chosen yarn, as many dishcloth cottons have several different put-ups. Most knitters will use less than one ball; the pattern is also lovely for stashbusting with multiple colors.)

Tools and Notions: US 7 (4.5mm) straight needles, or size needed to obtain desired gauge; cable needle; 1 removable stitch marker; waste yarn; tapestry needle

Gauge: 16 st / 16 ridges = 4” garter stitch, blocked. Matching gauge is not critical. If your projects are knit to a different gauge, the cloth will be slightly larger or smaller than the sample.