Knitted dish cloths and plastic bowls

[vilakins]

I wonder if some Americans can enlighten me. I'm puzzled by how many of you knit dish cloths--and give them away as gifts. There are lots of patterns around for them, many of them wonderfully geekish, but please tell me why they're so popular and how you use them?

Are they used for washing dishes in a sink? For drying them? I can't imagine wool or acrylic working well in either case. And are wash cloths another sort, or used for the face?

Here are two popular patterns.
Here's one pattern.
And a Dalek one

And this is what finally sparked this query.


This is for people from the UK. Why do you wash dishes in a plastic bowl in the sink rather than directly in the sink? Is it to save water, to keep the sink clean, to be able to toss debris over the side, to protect dishes from hard metal, or for some other reason?

Just so people know my dish-washing habits, I rinse dishes to get loose food off and put them in the dishwasher. I wash delicate glassware (only used for dinner parties or special occasions) in the sink with a microfibre cloth, and pots and pans with a brush which goes through the dishwasher when it needs it. I dry any hand-washed dishes with a tea towel, and no, I don't know why it's called that. "Dish towel", as cited by an American, makes more sense.

The only reason I'm asking about dish washing is because of seeing so many knitted dish cloths on a knitting site. It's not normally a subject that exerts any fascination.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I use a brush or a cloth. But I'm still puzzled that people would knit nice ones if they're going in water and rubbing dirty dishes. Surely they don't last long.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

there is special yarn for them, or you can used cotton string for them. Not having used them I can't comment, but I would expect them to last as I am foolish enough to expect all things to last ;0)
As for having nice thing for a nasty job, I quite like that. I have colourful sponges, I bought some back from Belize and was delighted when they started selling them over here too

[samantha-vimes.livejournal.com]

That's what my friend who made them for me said. I was kind of worried about using them, but she said a beautiful thing for doing a boring chore brightens it up.