Friday, August 25, 2006

 

Ball Band Variations

I'm interested in making a smaller version of the ball band. Has anyone who's done that have advice about how many to cast on? And what size cloth did you end up with? Thanks for any help!

I Hate the Runaway Bride but I love knitting.

Comments:
I recently finished one with 33 cast on stitches across and 10 bands length; finished product was approx. 8" square (a bit taller than it was wide--I don't have it near me to measure).
 
To go pretty much by the pattern it would be any number that is 45-6x, so 45 or 39 or 33 or 27... If I go smaller, I might do 35 and have 2 stitches past the edge-y slip stitch. I like two better than one.

The finished size depends on your gauge.
 
I made one on size 8's with 39 stitches. I stopped when I thought it was large enough. Funny thing though, I washed it, and now it is a rectangle :)
 
Here's mine:

http://flickr.com/photos/29278394@N00/147699342/in/set-546680/

The previous commenters gave great instructions. I added a row of single crochet around mine.
 
As another commenter wrote, finished warshrag size will vary with gauge. However, here is a comparison of my "normal" warshrag size and a smaller version....

Normal Warshrag (knit as the book calls for):
Cast on: 45 stitches
Ballband stripes: 11 (5.5 pattern repeats)
Finished Dimensions: 9.25" wide by 8" tall

Smaller Version:
Cast on: 33 stitches
Ballband stripes: 8 (4 pattern repeats)
Finished Dimensions: 6" wide by 7" tall

The two most popular warshrag sizes seem to be casting on 45 or 33 stitches, but you could do other sizes. The pattern is written for 9 stitches plus mulitples of 6 stitches (9 + 6x sts), so you could cast on more (51 sts, 57 sts, 63 sts) or less (39 sts, 33 sts, 27 sts) depending on the desired size on the warshrag. I find the normal warshrag is somewhat large for a kitchen washcloth but perfect for a facecloth, but the smaller version is great for washing dishes.

Stephanie
 
I also cast on 33 stitches but do 9 rows of bricks and wind up getting nearly a perfect square on size 6s.
 
Thanks for the feedback!
 
I took some advice from a post earlier in the month (or late July?) and have been making mine with 39 sts plus 4 for an I-cord edging. I do 5 repeats of the staggered bricks (rows 1-12), then end with a repeat of the first 8 rows.

Like Lesliej I learned that you need to make the warshcloths TALLER than you think you do because they will shrink more vertically than horizontally when washed. (I'm a new knitter so maybe this wasn't a surprise to anyone else.)

I love the ballbands! I made a ton of them and now feel confident to branch out into other projects!
 
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