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Beginner Crochet Project: Make a Dishcloth

Have you always wanted to learn how to crochet? Here is your chance! Making a dishcloth is an easy beginner crochet project. Want to try something more advanced? Try this baby doll crochet pattern.

Teaching kids to crochet. Dishcloths are the perfect beginner crochet project! Crocheted cloths are perfect for scrubbing dishes, and they don't have to be perfect to work.

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Nine-year-old Emma has wanted to learn how to crochet for  quite a while, and over winter break she finally had the break-through that she needed to get going! We picked making a dishcloth as the perfect beginner crochet project. Dishcloths can be made using any stitch, they are absolutely love to wash dishes with, and – since they are utilitarian in nature – they do not have to be perfect in order to be useful. Emma’s cloth has a few skipped stitches, a few added back in (towards the end), and some very creative interpretations of the basic single crochet stitch, but she finished this project and has started up on a second, (much more neat-looking now that she has the basics down) doll blanket. Her dishcloth is getting a lot of use in our kitchen, and this has made for a wonderful quiet activity for Emma (she does often listen to Audible books while she crochets)!

Beginner Crochet Project: Make a Dishcloth

Dishcloths are the perfect beginner crochet project! Crocheted cloths are perfect for scrubbing dishes, and they don't have to be perfect to work.

Dishcloths are the perfect beginner crochet project! Crocheted cloths are perfect for scrubbing dishes, and they don’t have to be perfect to work. Here is how to make  a dishcloth:

  • Pick your yarn. Emma used red Lily Sugar ‘n Cream yarn. I love this 100% cotton yarn – it is soft to the touch and is excellent for scrubbing dishes. Acrylic yarn will have more give, which some people like. Emma unfortunately inherited my acrylic yarn skin allergy (where this seemingly soft fiber destroys our fingers).
  • Pick your crochet hook. The larger your hook, the fewer stitches you need – also the larger the holes, which can be helpful at the beginning especially. I have a nice set of Clover Amour Crochet Hooks, and Emma used my H hook (5mm). There are a lot of copycat hooks that have been released since I bought my set; I’m not sure how well they compare but this ergonomic set gets good reviews.
  • Pick your stitch. I started Emma off with a double crochet, but that was hard for her to keep track of so we switched to single crochet. One Day Crochet Mastery is a wonderful resource if you are just starting off and don’t have someone to teach you in person. A to Z of Crochet and Teach Yourself Visually Crochet are excellent resources if you want to branch out to new stitches.

Crochet Dishcloth Step One

Chain however many stitches you need to get the width you want, plus one extra to turn and start your first row.

Don’t know how to start chaining? Here’s a video to help.

Step Two: Single Crochet

Single crochet all the way across this first row. Here’s a nice demonstration of single crochet:

Once you’ve gone all the way across, chain one at the end of the row to turn.

Repeat until your dishcloth is as long as you would like it to be. If you skip a stitch, it is easy to pull out, or to add an extra stitch later on.

Emma is working on her doll blanket right now, but I think when that is finished she is going to try a project from the book My First Crochet, which was written with kids in mind. After that she has her eyes on Ana Paula Rimoli’s books.

Do you have a crochet project that Emma would enjoy?

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

13 thoughts on “Beginner Crochet Project: Make a Dishcloth”

  1. Awesome! I’m about to make some knitted dishcloths…1. because I haven’t knitted in a while and I need and project, and 2. I need some dishcloths!

  2. I found a great app on my phone with pictures of each stitch that helps me when I get off on how the stitch should look on my hook.

    I love that you didn’t fix her mistakes, and used it as is.

  3. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants

    This is great! I should look into resources you recommend and perhaps A and I will join Emma at crochet :)

  4. This is fantastic an ideal first project for kids as well. I’ve just made a few myself but using Bamboo wool as I had some left over from a blanket I made years ago. It’s working really well much better than my attempt in acryllic.

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