A little background….
I tend to be a bit cheap.
I have a history of going to great lengths to save a few pennies.
And sometimes spending more in an effort to save a little.
A few weeks ago I was doing our grocery shopping and I went to buy paper towels and napkins. And the price had gone up. A lot. And something inside of me just snapped. I decided that I would not live without paper towels but paper napkins can be done away with….and so I didn’t buy any. I marched over to where the cloth napkins were kept and thought I’d just buy a few of them and just wash them. But they were scratchy. Really scratchy.
And then I had a wonderful idea.
I could knit them. It would be a great project, I could get Anna Grace involved, I’m sure it is better for the environment, blah blah blah. I even bought one of those little things that you store plastic bags in for keeping our handknit napkins. Because ya know… you gotta spend money to save money.
And… I discovered that knitting these little things is the perfect project for riding in the car to church and they are addictive too.
So I got started and I knit….
and knit….
and knit….
and knit….
knit, knit, knit….
and knit… oh and a smidge of crochet too…and then back to knitting…
I knit so many that they won’t all fit in the little thing I bought to hold them. I knit so many that I spent more than what it would have cost to buy a years supply of those silly, over priced paper napkins.
In other words…. there’s a slight possibility that I went overboard.
but, those are way prettier than paper napkins!
Kris, you’ll be re-using them and not putting them in our landfills.
For example, I use microfiber cloths instead of paper towels & I have for almost 5 years now.
And some of them are probably good wash-cloth sized, right? You could use them for washing dishes too.
So, I say ‘good for you!”
And washcloths in the shower/tub, don’t forget that use. Maybe you don’t have enough. (ducking)
I love them! They are way more fun than paper napkins and will last forwever. I’ve never knit a washcloth because it just seemed like a silly way to spend my knitting time. But… but… if it will save money and help the environment, then I feel inspired! I have a bag full of Sugar n Cream cotton too! Good work!
That is awesome!! We decided to cut back on paper towels a while ago so we bought a huge thing of white towels from cosco and use those to clean our house with. We wash them and re-use. I only use Vinegar to clean my house so they don’t get a lot of products on them.
I knit all of my dishcloths but I need to knit up some kitchen towels next. 
Kris — welcome to the re-useable world! I cloth diaper my kids and that has lead to so many other changes around here! My next goal — zero garbage output for a month. I am going to try to recycle/compost/reuse/not buy for a month and see how it goes. We do OK — We usually put out 2 kitchen garbage bags of waste a week. Meanwhile, I need about 5 recycling bins!
How fantastic, they are delightful, and you made me smile too
One can never have enough handknit dishcloths/washcloths/napkins/towels/wall-scrubbing-kid-scrubbing-floor-scrubbing-car-scrubbing-things.
But these are so much more fun and wonderful than any stupid paper napkin.
so pretty!
Very pretty!
I am oh so jealous. When can I come over for a lesson???
You are CRACKING me up!!!
You’ve proved it IS easy being “green” – beautiful and environmentally friendly if not exactly frugal, yet
You are a woman obsessed! We haven’t used paper napkins in years. I make mine with fabric. I have a serger and just do a serged hem on the edges. Then they get tossed in with the towels to be washed, so they don’t get their own load.
But just think of how much more eating will be!!! Great napkins, btw. They can also do double duty in the kitchen as dish cloths. I used to make napkins out of fabric.
Ok how much more FUN eating will be! Sheesh, must have been distracted by all the pretty colors….
But you have a great set of swatches! (And really, does a knitter need more justification?) Besides, they’ll last you for years, rather than the paper ones that will be thrown out after the first run. I never manage to stick to projects like that, or I might just be thinking about casting on. =)