Like just about everyone else, I’ve always bought my washcloths and dishcloths in the respective departments in superstores. As someone who had crocheted with cotton plenty of times, it never occurred to me to crochet my own cloths.

That is, until I received one as a gift through a swap with another crocheter. I fell in love with the crocheted washcloth and now use them almost exclusively (same with crocheted dishcloths and sponges).

With that in mind, I thought I’d come up with a quick pattern you can throw together (especially if you’re still hunting for a Mother’s Day gift today and you crochet).

We’ll call this the nine-patch washcloth.

You’ll need:

•Two or three colors of worsted weight cotton yarn

•A size G crochet hook

•A tapestry needle to sew squares together and weave in ends

The beauty of this washcloth is it’s made up of nine tiny (two round) granny squares. The granny square is so versatile and can be made into any size. There are even patterns out there for rectangular-shaped grannies.

To start:

•Chain four and join into a circle by slipstitching to the first chain stitch

•Chain 3 (counts as first double crochet) and two double crochet in the circle, chain 1

•Three double crochet, chain one (3 times more)

(At this point you will have four clusters of three double crochet stitches.)

•Join by slipstitching into the third chain of the chain 3

•Slipstitch in the next two double crochet stitches and in the chain 1

For the second round:

•Chain three, two double crochet, chain one and three double crochet all in the chain 1 space

Chain 1

•Three double crochet, chain 1, three double crochet in each of the next three corners and finish off.

(At this point, when you finish this two round square, leave a long tail so you can join the squares together.)

You’ll want to make nine of the above squares (the way I did it was five of one color and four of the other).

Once all of the squares are done, lay them out in whatever pattern you want. In the picture you see I made five squares out of a mauve color and formed an X shape. I then filled in the holes on the top, bottom and both sides with variegated cotton.

Join the squares by putting them right side together and whip stitching them.

Once you have three strips of three squares, join the strips together to form a square.

You can use one of the original two colors or throw in a third, contrasting color to double crochet all the way around the square (including three double crochet, chain one and three double crochet in each corner).

After that, I did a reverse single crochet stitch that gave the cloth edge a roped look. The reverse single crochet is tricky and it’s called the crab stitch (if it’s your first time doing it, it may make you crabby). Weave in ends.

Now that you have your first washcloth made, you have a choice. Enjoy it yourself or make a couple more and combine in a gift basket with your loved one’s favorite bath stuff.