Introduction: Instructables Robot Knit Dishcloth

About: Community Manager for Instructables and Tinkercad.

I have recently discovered the joy of knitting dishcloths. I previously published how to do a very basic knit dishcloth and now I want to share with you the Instructables Robot pattern I made up. It is only my second original design, so I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with it. You might see an improved pattern of the robot from me one day, but for now, enjoy this cute little robot's head on a dishcloth.

Step 1: Supplies

Like I just mentioned, this is the second patterned knit dishcloth I've designed so I'm still learning how I want to do things. To try to make things as easy as possible I've provided the directions in this Instructable, attached the graph/pattern, and attached the written out pattern if you want to print it off to help you keep track of where you are.

End washcloth/dishcloth is about 7" by 8".

Supplies:

Stitches you need to know:

  • Cast On (C/O)
  • Knit (K)
  • Purl (P)
  • Bind Off (B/O)

Step 2: Pattern - Bottom Edge

After casting on, we are going to start with the bottom border which is sometimes referred to as a seed stitch.

Now, you are going to need to keep track of where you are as you go and there are different ways you can do this. Since I was writing this up from the image as I went 1) I used the counter to keep track of what row I was on, 2) used the pattern to get the right count with the stitches, and 3) crossed out the rows on my printout as I finished them.

That might be overkill, so do what works for you.

Pattern:
(Total Stitches Across: 43 - Pattern Stitches Across: 35)

C/O 43

Rows 1-6: (K1, P1) to last stitch, K1

Step 3: Pattern - Robot Image

Alright, I did this dishcloth similarly to this knit cat dishcloth. So, I started from the bottom right of the pattern, essentially, and worked my way up to the top left of the pattern.

Since the beginning of this pattern is basically long rows of knit, lots of purl, then knit again, I used a marker to show me where to stop purling so I could just go at it on that row and not have to pay attention as closely. This is optional, of course. This won't really work for the rows when they get more complicated, but do whatever works for you.

Pattern Continued:

Row 7 and all odd rows through row 61: (K1, P1) x2, P to last 4 stitches, (P1, K1) x2

Row 8: (K1, P1) x2, K35, (P1, K1) x2

Row 10: (K1, P1) x2, K1, P31, K3, (P1, K1) x2
Row 12: (K1, P1) x2, K1, P30, K4, (P1, K1) x2
Row 14: (K1, P1) x2, K2, P29, K4, (P1, K1) x2
Row 16: (K1, P1) x2, K3, P27, K5, (P1, K1) x2
Row 18: (K1, P1) x2, K4, P26, K5, (P1, K1) x2
Row 20: (K1, P1) x2, K5, P24, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 22: (K1, P1) x2, K6, P23, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 24: (K1, P1) x2, K7, P20, K8, (P1, K1) x2
Row 26: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P17, K2, P2, K6, (P1, K1) x2

Row 28: (K1, P1) x2, K25, P4, K6, (P1, K1) x2

Row 30: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P16, K1, P4, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 32: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P16, K1, P4, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 34: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P16, K1, P4, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 36: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P2, K12, P2, K1, P4, K6, (P1, K1) x2

Row 38: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P16, K1, P3, K7, (P1, K1) x2
Row 40: (K1, P1) x2, K7, P17, K1, P3, K7, (P1, K1) x2
Row 42: (K1, P1) x2, K6, P1, K1, P8, K4, P4, K1, P2, K1, P1, K6, (P1, K1) x2
Row 44: (K1, P1) x2, K5, P2, K1, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P4, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, (P1, K1) x2
Row 46: (K1, P1) x2, K1, P6, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1, P2, K1, P2, K1, P4, K1, P2, K1, P6, K1, (P1, K1) x2
Row 48: (K1, P1) x2, K5, P2, K1, P3, K3, P2, K1, P2, K1, P4, K1, P2, K1, P2, K5, (P1, K1) x2
Row 50: (K1, P1) x2, K6, P1, K1, P8, K4, P3, K1, P3, K1, P1, K6, (P1, K1) x2

Row 52: (K1, P1) x2, K7, P16, K1, P4, K7, (P1, K1) x2
Row 54: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P2, K10, P3, K1, P4, K7, (P1, K1) x2
Row 56: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P15, K1, P3, K8, (P1, K1) x2
Row 58: (K1, P1) x2, K8, P15, K1, P1, K10, (P1, K1) x2
Row 60: (K1, P1) x2, K35, (P1, K1) x2

Step 4: Pattern - Top Edge

Pattern Finished:

Rows 62 - 67: (K1, P1) to last stitch, K1

B/O in (K, P) pattern (or just bind off as you normally would by knitting across)

The second image shows the back. I'm always curious what the backs of people's work looks like so I thought I would share. As you can see, it isn't the exact opposite as the front because of the way I stitched the odd rows, but he still shows up.

Step 5: Finishing

After you are all done, cut the yarn, stick it through the last loop, and hide both of your ends.

You can block it if you want, but I don't see a lot of sense in doing that if it is just going to get wet, but it is nice to block this if you are going to give it as a gift. (I'm not very good at this.)

The ball of yarn you see in the picture is what I had left when I was done, so this pattern does take up quite a bit.