Stash Buster Round Dishcloth Crochet Pattern

Do you hoard save small amounts of yarn in your craft closet, hoping for the perfect opportunity to use them all up someday?  Guilty!  I crochet a lot of dishcloths and always have small amounts of cotton yarn left over, not enough to make another cloth with, but too much that I don't want to throw it out.  I tuck it away in a bag somewhere, knowing that someday it'll have a purpose.

I decided the other day that 'someday' had come, and I was going to figure out a way to use those bits of scrap yarn or it would meet the trash can after all.  I was going to make scrappy dishcloths, starting with one color until it ran out, then just grab another, not really caring how ridiculous it might end up looking.  I make square dishcloths in a back and forth pattern instead of in the round, so yea, they would be crazy, but still useful.

I thought about granny square-type dishcloths, but they have too many holes for me.  I then whipped up a solid granny and that worked out better, but I still wasn't satisfied.  I then searched for round dishcloth patterns, but none of the ones I found seemed to be 'the one'.  Then I remembered a star-like baby blanket pattern that I'd made before, and decided to see what would happen if I crocheted just the first few rounds of that.  BINGO!

What I started with is called the Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket  which is a 12-pointed star pattern.  It doesn't really turn into a pointed star shape until much later into the pattern, but the first few rows make it just a little less plain than a straight (circular?) round shape, with 12 gentle peaks rather than points.  Because it's worked in the round rather than back and forth like my other favorite dishcloth patterns, the first rounds require very little yarn, then gradually requires slightly more yarn for each round.  It's a simple pattern too, strictly DC throughout, so even a beginner should be able to  make it.

You can make your dishcloths all one color, have the center two rows one color and the remaining rounds another color, solid color with just the last border round in a contrasting color, every round a different color - whatever suits your fancy (or the size of your scrap stash).  You could even just keep attaching the new yarn whenever you run out and not just at the end of a pattern round ... there are no rules!

I made a few dishcloths working the pattern through round 6 and a couple of them through round 7, and I personally like the smaller one better.  It's just the right size for me and doesn't stretch out too much when wet.  Oh, and I used a size G crochet hook so that the holes would be just a little smaller too.

I'm so glad that I didn't give up on my quest, and now have a use for the scraps of cotton yarn I've saved.  Do you save your small bits of yarn, or trash it all before your stash overtakes your life?

~ Marie Anne