The Braided Dishcloth Pattern

Since July 2020, I’ve been sharing patterns, starting with the Seed Stitch Mitered Dishcloth Pattern. During the COVID-19 pandemic, knitting/crocheting and creating patterns became a healing and therapeutic activity for me. I used Premier Home® Cotton Yarn in the Jelly Dots colorway for this dishcloth and for eight more patterns (see image gallery below)*. I had bought this yarn from the now-closed A.C. Moore arts and craft store before the pandemic. Although the store is closed, I’m grateful that the pandemic is over. The Braided Dishcloth will be the last pattern I make with this yarn as I no longer have it. This yarn colorway quickly became one of my favorites, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using it for the numerous dishcloths and other handmade items.

The Braided Dishcloth is crocheted using the brioche stitch pattern, which is also known as the double slip stitch pattern. The brioche stitch is reversible making this a versatile crochet stitch pattern. This stitch is worked similar to the half double crochet stitch but with a slip stitch instead of the third yarn over. The horizontal braids in the brioche crochet stitch reminds me of the Lateral Braid or Vikel Braid knit stitch pattern. The dishcloth is finished with a crochet moss stitch border and a hanging loop, measuring just over 7.5 inches in width and length after blocking.

Materials Needed for the Dotted Dishcloth:
Yarn: Premier Home Cotton® Cone yarn in Jelly Dots (Colorway 1) and Colorway 2 – any solid color worsted weight cotton yarn for the border (I used some leftover Lily Sugar’n Cream yarn in Country Red that I already had) 
Tapestry needle to weave in ends
Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch in brioche crochet stitch pattern
Crochet hook: US size 7 (4.5 mm) and US G-6 (4.0 mm) for the border edge

Crochet Skill Level: Basic level with single crochet, half double crochet (How to Half Double Crochet) and slip stitches 

Abbreviations:

  • sc: single crochet
  • […]: stitch pattern repeats

The Braided Dishcloth Pattern (text and images for personal use only)

Chain 32 stitches (or any number of preferred stitches) with US 7 (4.5 mm) crochet hook 

  1. Yarn over (wrap the working yarn around the hook counterclockwise) insert the crochet hook into the top strand of the second foundation chain stitch
  2. Yarn over (wrap the working yarn around the hook counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn through the top strand of the second chain stitch and through the two loops on the crochet hook
  3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for all the remaining foundation chain stitch including the last chain stitch of the slip knot end
  4. Chain one in the last stitch and turn for the second row
  5. For the brioche crochet stitch (see images below), yarn over and insert hook into the strand below the second regular crochet stitch and repeat step 2
  6. Yarn over and insert hook into the strand below the next regular crochet stitch and repeat step 2 for all the remaining stitches in the row
  7. Chain one in the last stitch of the row and turn
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the preferred number of row in the brioche stitch pattern

brioche_photo1brioche_photo2

The completed Braided Dishcloth has 17 of the brioche “braids”. This dishcloth can be customized to preferred width and length.

Crochet Moss Stitch Border:

With G-6 (4.0 mm) crochet hook and Colorway 2 yarn, make a slip knot (watch video tutorial) and bring it under and through the V of the second to last stitch of last row on the right side of the dishcloth (see image below)

braideddishcloth_1
photo_braid

  1. Chain 1 and single crochet (sc) in the last chain stitch, chain 2, sc, chain 1 in the same stitch. Turn in counter clockwise direction 
  2. [Sc in the stitch between the “braids”, chain 1, skip the “braid”], repeat […] all down the front left side of the dishcloth till the last corner stitch (see image above)
  3. Sc in the corner stitch, chain 2, sc chain one all in the same corner stitch, turn in counter clockwise direction
  4. [Sc, chain 1 in the foundation chain stitch edge, skip the next stitch], repeat […] all along the cast on edge till the last corner stitch
  5. Repeat step 3 at the corner stitch
  6. Repeat step 2 going up along the front right side of the dishcloth
  7. Repeat step 3 at the corner stitch. 
  8. Repeat step 4 all along the last row edge of the dishcloth till the stitch at beginning of round 
  9. Chain 12 for the hanging loop 
  10. Slip stitch into the chain 2 space of the crochet moss stitch corner edge and pull yarn through

Weave in the ends, wash and block to finish the Braided Dishcloth


*Other dishcloth patterns with Premier Home® Cotton Yarn in the Jelly Dots colorway


~coffeeteaknits.com

Tutorial Series: How to Half Double Crochet

Another basic stitch after a single crochet (How to Single Crochet) is the half double crochet. The half double crochet stitch is taller than a single crochet stitch but shorter than a double crochet stitch. The fabric made with the half double crochet stitch is also less dense than the fabric made with a single crochet stitch. The video and written instructions below demonstrate how to make a half double crochet from a foundation chain and for the following rows when crocheting with your right hand.

Half Double Crochet from a Foundation Chain:


Written Instructions on How to Half Double Crochet from a Foundation Chain:

  1. With a loop on the crochet hook, wrap working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise)
  2. Skip the first two chains stitch from the loop on the crochet hook and insert the crochet hook into the top strand of the third chain stitch
  3. Wrap working yarn around hook (counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn through the top strand of the third chain stitch
  4. There are three loops on the crochet hook
  5. Wrap the working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn through all three loops on the crochet hook
  6. There is one loop on the crochet hook
  7. Wrap working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise), insert crochet hook into the top strand of the next foundation chain stitch
  8. Wrap working yarn around hook (counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn through the top strand of the next foundation chain stitch
  9. Repeat steps 4 to 6
  10. Repeat steps 7 to 9 for the rest of the foundation chain stitches including the last slip knot end stitch
  11. Chain 2 and turn to half double crochet the next row

How to Half Double Crochet:

Written Instructions on How to Half Double Crochet:

  1. Wrap working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise), skip the first two stitches from the loop on the crochet hook and insert the crochet hook under both the strands of the next stitch
  2. Wrap working yarn around hook (counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn under and through both the strands of the next stitch in the row
  3. There are three loops on the crochet hook
  4. Wrap the working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise), catch and pull yarn through all the three loops on the crochet hook. There is one loop left on the crochet hook
  5. Wrap working yarn around the hook (counterclockwise) and insert the crochet hook under both the strands of the next stitch in the row
  6. Repeat steps 2 to 4
  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 till the last stitch in the row
  8. For the last stitch of the row, repeat steps 5 and 6, chain two and turn
  9. Repeat Steps 5 to 8 to half double crochet all the following rows

~coffeeteaknits.com