The Cootie Catcher Cloth has a unique construction in order to maximize knitting interest and color placement for short-run variegated dishcloth yarns. The small project size is an ideal place to practice techniques (“reading” your knitting, shadow wrap short rows, intarsia colorwork, grafting) without a large investment of time or money. Bonus: the central motif is excellent for scrubbing both people and dishes. The name comes from the infinite knot of the central motif, which also resembles the folded paper cootie catchers of my childhood. For a simpler variation, see my Origami Menko cloth.

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

Yarn: Worsted weight cotton or cotton blend yarn (finer yarns will not show the central design effectively)

Yardage: Cloth may be worked in one or more colors. Refer to the put-up of your chosen yarn on its ballband, as many dishcloth cottons have a number of several different put-ups.

• One Color: 58 yd / 53 m (Small); 105 yd / 96 m (Large)
• Two Colors: 37 yd / 34 m MC, 21 yd / 19 m yd CC (Small); 67 yd / 61 m yd MC, 38 yd / 35 m CC (Large)

Tools and Notions: US 7 (4.5mm) straight needles, or size needed to obtain desired gauge; cable needle; 6 removable stitch markers; waste yarn; tapestry needle

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