Combining knitting instructions for a knitting project

A couple of days ago, my cotton worsted yarn was calling.

Instead of the usual dishcloths, I decided to knit  washcloths. You know, the kind that are often referred to as spa washcloths. Many patterns for spa washcloths use garter stitch, which makes a good scrubbing surface.

However, it’s not as fancy as I wanted.

I like the two colors of a Ballband dishcloth. And making one the opposite or negative of the other economically uses 2 small balls of cotton yarn almost completely.

In looking closely at some of the dishcloths I’ve made from the Ballband knitting instructions, they looked unfinished. This one is a dish towel adapted from the Ballband knitting instructions.

The top and bottom have a nice border, but the sides look irregular and unfinished.

The knitting instructions give an option for crocheting a border. Part of me has always wanted to find a satisfactory knitted border option.  Somehow the crocheted border still looks unfinished to me. Or maybe sometimes I just like to make a 100% knitted item. Just because. 

I’ve been reading Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. And her I-cord instructions seemed just right. She even provides instructions for how to turn an outside corner!

So, I combined the knitting instructions: putting an I-cord border on a Ballband dishcloth.

And the result is a spa washcloth:

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