An expert knitter was making one of these and I expressed admiration, and she wrote down the pattern from memory for me.
I tried. I would make one section come out right, and end up with the number of stitches I was supposed to have, about 1/5th of the time. No fun.
The internet gave me a bunch of similar patterns, with varying sets of instructions, several of which... I tried.
I'm obviously the lamest knitter on the planet, that or I just can't count.
I finally figured out what I needed was a list of how many stitches I'm supposed to HAVE at a given moment (not how many I'm supposed to remove) on every single row.
I wrote it out for myself in knitting-kindergartener language and crossed off each row with a pencil as I completed it, and voila! Success!
Here's my easy no-fail version for any other baby knitters out there :-)
* * *
The Cotton Knit Dishcloth (Written out with numbers)
From a pattern by Marion Torgerson, that I rewrote to make it easier to keep track
worsted weight cotton yarn, size 7 US needles
Cast on 15 stitches
row 1: knit across. (ends with 15 sts on needle)
row 2: k3, yo, k11, leaving 1 st, turn.
row 3: knit across. (ends with 16 sts on needle)
row 4: k3, yo, k11, leaving 2 sts, turn.
row 5: knit across. (ends with 17 sts on needle)
row 6: k3, yo, k11, leaving 3 sts, turn.
row 7: knit across. (ends with 18 sts on needle)
row 8: bind off 3 sts, k2, yo, k8, leaving 4 sts, turn.
row 9: knit across. (ends with 16 sts on needle)
row 10: k3, yo, k8, leaving 5 sts, turn.
row 11: knit across. (ends with 17 sts on needle)
row 12: k3, yo, k8, leaving 6 sts, turn.
row 13: knit across. (ends with 18 sts on needle)
row 14: bind off 3 sts, k2, yo, k5, leaving 7 sts, turn.
row 15: knit across. (ends with 16 sts on needle)
row 16: k3, yo, k5, leaving 8 sts, turn.
row 17: knit across. (ends with 17 sts on needle)
row 18: k3, yo, k5, leaving 9 sts, turn.
row 19: knit across. (ends with 18 sts on needle)
row 20: bind off 3 sts, k across row (ends with 15 sts on needle)
Repeat these 20 rows seven times, draw up the center and sew together.
