dishwasher.

if there is one thing i hate in terms of housework it's dishes. i am the girl for whom the dishwasher was invented. and i am overjoyed that our new flat comes with a dishwasher! but it's a small dishwasher, a plates and glasses kind of dishwasher. so we'll have handwashing. we'd have handwashing anyway, i know, but i don't like it one bit.

i'm hoping to improve my attitude toward dishwashing. i thought i'd start by making some long-lasting, hard-wearing, pretty-looking dishcloths. my grandmother made dozens of these every year and dutifully supplied her daughters with a new set for christmas. i grew up with homemade dishcloths and was utterly surprised as a child to realise that not everyone had such things hanging from their kitchen taps. in my humble opinion handmade dishcloths are superior to all other cloths, they don't fall apart, they've got great nubby bits to scrub with you can make them in bright and fun colours...and they are SIMPLE to make. plus their fairly inexpensive, seeing as they last for years and cost less than $2. oh and they make great gifts - people get genuinely excited about them!

i'm working with a new pattern this time. called 'chinese waves' it's making a denser cloth than i'm used to, but i think it will be built to last.

the pattern is from maggie's rags. i'm going to try out many different patterns and decide which ones i like...