Simple Fall Kitchen Towel Set

MOD 'Simple Fall Kitchen Towel' Set ;-)

I designed this simple kitchen towel, using my own basic towel pattern that I designed in 2016; this towel design utilizes the Andalusian Stitch for a simplistic textured effect.

My currant kitchen is Farmhouse Style; and there is a man in the house now - this widow remarried January 7th, 2023. Holland is a "man's-man", so all my home designs will now be fitting for masculine acceptance … while my new husband likes my femininity, he prefers not to be sitting amongst pink frilly lacy things ;-)

My currant kitchen is also in a 5th Wheel RV: we decided in April 2023 to sell the home I shared with my first husband - buy an RV - and travel the lower 48 States of the USA as Road Gypsies; this has been a dream of mine for decades ... and Holland is willing, so this is the new life I am living with my new husband :-)

Betsy (truck) & Independence (5th Wheel); we drove from WA to WV to purchase our New Home.

Farmhouse RV Kitchen.

Materials:

Cotton yarn in Orange, Orange Ombre, White; 1 skein of each

# 10-1/2 knitting needles

#J/10 crochet hook

Scissors

Tapestry Needle

Resin Button

Terms used:

st. st. stockinette stitch (1 K row = RS - 1 P row = WS)

RS = front facing side of work

WS = backside of work

k = knit

p = purl

tog = together

EO = end off yarn

CO = cast on stitches

INC = Increase

DC = decrease

EA = each

Garter St. = Knit every row

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

sl st = slip stitch

With Orange, CO 73 sts & knit 20 rows st. st.; then work 1 row as follows: *K 1, p 1*; repeat from * to * across row. P next row. EO orange yarn.

Attach Orange Ombre yarn, and repeat previous 22 rows. EO Ombre yarn.

Attach White yarn, and work 17 rows st. st.

Row 62 (WS): With White, P 3 tog across row to last 2 sts: end P 2 sts. There should be 29 sts on needle.

Change from knitting needles to crochet hook and work in sc as follows: dec 1 st EA end until 7 sts remain.

Sc for 13 rows.

Sl st x5; ch 6 and sl st in same sp; sl at to end. Turn.

Dc x12 in chain loop; EO.

Add a decorative loop edging of your choice (or leave plain).

Sew button in place and weave in loose ends.

Such a simple thing says, 'we live here; we are building a Home'.

I also designed a simplistic dishrag to match my towel. My design is based on the tried-and-true garter st 'Granny's Dishrag Pattern' … my difference is that I start with less sts, dropped the openwork edge, and added more sts to fit a man's hand ;-)

MOD DISHRAG: Cast on 2 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 1-Inc 1 st in next st.

Row 2: Knit 1-Inc-knit across the row.

Row 3: Knit 2-Inc-knit across row.

Row 4: Repeat Row 2 until you have 50 stitches on the needle.

Row 5: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row. Repeat Row 5 until you have 3 stitches left on the needle; K 3 sts tog - EO off and weave in loose ends.

Knitting kitchen towels and dishrags may seem like such a small thing, but they are a kitchen necessity, and I like a splash of color here and there to give off warm and welcoming vibes. I enjoy designing and creating … currently, replacing old kitchen towel sets with new kitchen towel sets for my new home :-)

BLEU'S FIRST HOME BATH

August 30th: Today Bleu got a bath.

His first home bath; he's been to a couple groomers, but we've never bathed him at home. We took him to the groomers because he needed his nails trimmed … but after forking out big bucks from one end of America to the other; and still dealing with untrimmed nails, Holland tackled the job himself.

Apparently Blue Heelers do not take well to having their feet messed with - so, the groomers just took the money and flat out lied to us about the nail trims, "Oh sure, we can do that for 'ya." And then we'd pick him up and Holland's arms would suffer more bloodletting: so, nail clipping at home will be our next {fun} experience ;-)

Holland bought a Dremel tool kit in Wyoming; and tried to use the Dremel tool on Bleu's nails, but Bleu was twisting and turning so much we decided to wait a bit before trying again.

It's time now to try again.

This time Holland says he's going to hog-tie him and get down to business. We bought the soft cord yesterday. As soon as Holland gets his shoulder X-rayed and some kind of relief from the pain, Bleu is getting those chinese-emperor-length toe nails cut.

These nails gotta go.

Dremel Tool set, and soft cord.

It will be an adjustment for him - but it's necessary: for his sake, for our sakes.

I also called several veterinary clinics to try to get Bleu in to be neutered - NO GO; every single one of them insisted he need to be vaccinated, with a 3 week wait before surgery. So, I said, "Sorry, but we do not want to vaccinate our animal: we don't vaccinate ourselves, either. I am not going to fill my animal full of toxins to get his nuts removed - that is nuts."

So, not only will we have toenails to deal with … but we will also have testosterone issues to deal with: I am not looking forward to that :-(

But I'd rather have a healthy dog than a poisoned one.

Holland has worked on ranches - he knows what to do to safely  immobilize an animal in order to finish a job that needs doing. The soft rope won't hurt Bleu - and we are hoping that eventually it won't be needed, once Bleu realizes nail clipping is part of his grooming routine.

The bathing episode went well, all things considered; bleu only escaped the shower stall once, and Holland kept a soothing tone throughout. The floors didn't get too wet, and all in all, Bleu handled the soaking with an acceptance adjustment :-)

Bleu was pretty good … but he was also pretty wiggly.

It sounded like Bleu had escaped the confines of the shower stall - but Holland reined him in, again.

Bleu is clean … and very wet; shaking water all over the upper landing.

And me?

I worked steadily on a new kitchen towel set - which impressed Holland with how speedily I finished.

Sporting some of daddy's cologne, and snuggling next to mama.

Starting a new kitchen towel.

'Simple Fall Kitchen Towel' Set finished; Holland was impressed with the speed from start to finish ;-)

The other towels are showing signs of wear … and in all honesty, I'm glad to be working up new towels that fit my new life with my new husband: these are all welcome adjustments :-)