I have been working through a stash of cheapish cotton for a few years and am nearing the end of the road. These mats (they are really Everything Cloths) are easy to make and quite useful, and they are a great way to use up yarn.

Yarn: 2 colors of dk or worsted-weight cotton, about 170 yds of each color (that is, about 8oz/225 g)

Needles: circular needle or two long straight needles, US 8.5 (5mm)

Gauge: negotiable

Cast on 65 stitches.

Row 1: sl1 purlwise; p1 k1 to last two stitches; p2.

Row 2: sl 1 knitwise; k1 p1 to last two stitches; k2.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for about 85 rows, ending after Row 1.

To finish, cast off all stitches and weave in ends.

This mat is 14” x 19.5”. Wash it in cold water. I dry these in the dryer because they really stretch out on the clothesline. If your cast-off end seems stretchier than your cast-on end, you might try working 2 stitches together every 6th stitch on your cast-off row.

Here is an instant before-and-after image; the mat on the left hasn’t been washed yet and the mat on the right is clean, dry, and ready for action. Unwashed dimensions: 13.5” x 21”; Washed dimensions: 14.25” x 18.25”. The washed mat grew wider as it shrank in length. Hmmm.

I now have umpteen randomly-sized balls of cotton yarn in a paper bag. Here, I kept one strand black and used as the second strand colors that I thought might look pretty. When I ran out of a color, I dropped it, keeping a tail about 4” long, picked up a new color leaving a tail about 4” long, and then knit the old color’s tail with the new color until said tail was gone.

When I had knitted back to my new yarn’s tail, I picked that up and knitted it with the other two strands until it was used up. This way, there was nothing to weave in except the beginning and ending strands. The bits of loose ends stick out a bit, but I think that gives these guys character.

I think I only have enough scrap yarn for one or two more of these and am afraid that I might end up buying more cotton so that I can keep knitting these. Talk about defeating the purpose!

Did I mention that we use these as dish mats? They hold a lot of wet dishes and they dry fairly quickly. They also come in handy to hold hot dishes or can substitute for a placemat in a pinch.

I have a big cone of yellow and a little ball of dark gray and squeezed another one of my stash. I have a bunch of white cotton left and think I can make one more.

I think the probability is high that I was a squirrel in a previous existence. I can see no other reason for the stashes of yarn that I clearly put aside for a good reason, forgot about, and now, years later, have literally been digging up.