Two of my boys, Gabe and Keats, play travel baseball. It’s nuts. It’s time consuming, we can’t afford it, and it’s time consuming. (Did I mention how much time we put into this?) We wouldn’t have been doing it for these past few years if we hadn’t seen so many benefits to our boys. I can’t imagine them without baseball in their lives. They joined a new team this fall, and we are incredibly excited about it. They will play together for the next five years. A solid team, not an endless cycle of try-outs and cuts. When their new instructors explained their vision for this team, I literally cried. (It’s possible that I scared them.)
For the third year, I am selling dishcloths in hopes of funding the upcoming year. I have one hundred sets of a dozen to sell. That means that right now, there are 1200 dishcloths in giant boxes in my living room! (Help!!!!) They are made at a small mill in the U.S.A. and I have been using them in my home for years. They are a polyester/cotton blend. The polyester content helps them last longer, and it also helps them maintain softness and stretchiness even after many, many washes. The one caveat is that they aren’t great for wiping up spills, but that’s not how I use them. These are the cloths that I use to wipe down my kitchen table and counter-tops. Their texture makes them great for light scrubbing. They are great for washing dishes, dusting furniture, or scrubbing the bathtub. After their first wash they fluff up and shrink to roughly 11 inches square. I love the colored stripes, and their vintage look. You typically receive 3 each of 4 colors, so you could designate certain colors for certain rooms or tasks. These make lovely, practical gifts, and it is always nice to toss those old cruddy rags and replace them with fresh ones! (And, I promise not to send you any that have been licked by a goat. 🙂 )
I sell these by the dozen for $20 + $6 for usps priority shipping in the U.S. (I don’t ship outside the U.S. because the shipping would cost more than the cloths!)
Hi Ginny,
I love your blog, and your beautiful pictures! I too homeschool, and need some dishcloths and would love to support you! I just ordered some! God bless you!
Ginny, ours arrived this weekend and I really didn’t know what I was going to use them for because I love to use my sponges and microfiber cloths BUT I washed them and loved the size and feel of them. Then today my toddler got into a sharpie marker. He drew all over himself head to toe including his face. It was bad. I was heartbroken because of Thanksgiving and he turns 3 on Friday and well my oldest did the same thing and was stained for days and days. Into the bath he went and my daughters and I started to wash and my oldest suddenly hops up and says “Ginny’s cloths!”. It was perfect!!!! Came right off with soap and minimal scrubbing! So now you can add, sharpie remover to the list of stuff these cloths can do. Thought you’d enjoy the laugh!
Hello! I’d like a dozen but everytime I click on the link PayPal is in Chinese. Any ideas? Thank you.
Oh dear! I don’t know why that would happen. Can you try opening in a different browser?
I am thrilled you are selling these again! I’ve loved the ones I ordered last year, and they’ve held up so well. Not to mention their cute vintage-y look!
So excited to get my dishcloths. They are so wonderful to use. I gave some out last Christmas, but I did so reluctantly…I knew how great they are. I’m sure I’ll do so again. Thanks for selling them.
Gwen
Dear Ginny
Just ordered a dozen-do you need more info for shipping? Thanks!
Hi Julie! Your address will be included with the paypal transaction information. Thank you!
Good luck! You’ve got two incredibly handsome young men there.
I know this is an American blog with a mostly American audience but as a foreigner I’d be so interested in reading a bit more about this travel baseball. Why is it that time-consuming? Why are such huge demands on your time perceived as justifiable? (they wouldn’t in my culture)
Is there a ‘regular’ baseball team too, as opposed to the travel baseball team? Do you have (to name a few) travel soccer, travel basket ball and travel field hockey too or does this phenomenon only apply in baseball? Usually I don’t feel a cultural gap while reading your blog but I find the stories about travel baseball hard to place.
Hi Judith! I don’t know much about sports other than baseball, but I know that there are other sports with a “travel” option, such as soccer–not sure on the others. Yes, we do have regular county baseball, and that would not require travel outside of our county, or the money that ultimately pays for tournaments, because the county teams don’t play in them. Our boys played at that level for years before we moved to travel. The reason behind the move is that they reached a point where playing at county level was no longer competitive for them, and they couldn’t grow as players anymore. In Gabe’s case, it became downright dangerous for him to play at that level because he pitches so fast. Travel baseball is geared toward preparing kids for high school or college baseball. The time invested is in practice at least twice a week (typically with former pro players), and in driving to tournaments around the state (and occasionally out of state). The payoff is when kids get offered college scholarships to play college ball. But for us, the big payoff has been seeing our kid totally transformed, to become a confident young man. I won’t attribute it all to baseball, but Gabe really shines on the baseball field. Were it not for him, we probably wouldn’t be doing this. I don’t mean to discount Keats, he is also a very good player, but he has other things he enjoys as well, and I don’t view baseball as being quite as vital to him as it is to Gabe. Baseball is just Gabe’s thing, he is very talented, and we want to do all we can to help him pursue a future in baseball if that is where his dreams are. Travel ball is the best way to do that as far as we can tell!
I feel so excited for your boys, especially for Gabe – how amazing to find ‘his thing’. This did make me smile “downright dangerous to play at that level”!! I am sorry I can’t help support their baseball plans due to the shipping constraints but will look forward to hearing about their season. All your boys are going to be serious heart breakers, aren’t they?!
I have a bunch of these that are 2 or 3 years old & many are ready to be binned…I was just thinking I should get more & then along came your post. 🙂
They are so cute! I mean the boys, but of course the goats and towels too!!
Too bad you don’t ship outside the US! I would love to have the ones that were licked by the goat, haha! Your goats are great!
Good luck with the sale! I think you should charge extra for cloths licked by a goat!
We have 4 girls and 1 boy. All 4 girls will be playing travel softball this summer… I feel your pain! And, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just placed an order. Someday we’ll miss these CRAZY days! <3
I wish I could help again this year, but financially just can’t. I wanted, though, to put in a good word for the cloths I purchased last year. They really are as nice a Ginny says! Good luck to the boys with the new team!
LOVE these! They’re gorgeous.. Too bad I live in Canada! 🙁 🙁 🙁
Hi Ginny! I just bought a dozen, mine at home are ready for the rag bin. I usually crochet a stack every year, but haven’t got to it yet. My son played baseball from T-ball all the way through high school. It’s takes a lot of dedication from the boys, and time (and washing uniforms and eating fast food!) from the parents, but we would do it again in a heartbeat. Now that our son is in college, we find that we miss the games, and the friends we made over the years within our “baseball families”. He has grown into a wonderful young man, and I really think that baseball helped in some way to shape who he is today.
Looks like your boys are set up on a great team. Have fun!!!!
I’m in need of some new dishcloths so I just ordered a set. Money is tight at the moment, so if you have some left in another week I may get some more for gifts. Good luck with the sale 🙂
how long is the sale? would love some new dishcloths. mine are looking kind of like cleaning rags… with a family of 9 and doing dishes by hand, dish cloths don’t last long here…. do I hope I get get some….
Can you wash them in a hot water cycle?
I got 2 sets last year and always wash in hot water. They have held up beautifully!
Wow, Gabe looks so grown up now. Good luck with the sale!
Nice Greetings,
Kathrin
Good luck, hope you manage to sell them all.
We would really like to order some but we are in Canada. I will try (very-very hard) to find a way to get them sent somewhere close to the border… and will let you know very soon. I would love to help support your sons. My son loves baseball too. He can’t wait to be 6 and start to play in a “real” team. ; ) Good night,
Marie, from Winnipeg.
Dishcloths were at the top of my Christmas list! Perfect timing!
Do you half a dozen ?
Do you do half a dozen
I haven’t in the past, but if I get to the end, and have some left I will email you!