New Log Cabin Washcloths
Knitting doesn’t offer too many shortcuts. Maybe that’s exactly why we love knitting so much, but every now and then, even diehard knitters need a little instant gratification. Enter the washcloth!

I love to give (and use!) hand knit washcloths. They are an unexpected luxury that’s not on anyone’s list but would be if they only knew the pleasure. And I love the satisfaction of a small square that’s open to a whole world of possibilities. And finally, I love how very fast they are to knit!

These Log Cabin Washcloths tinker with juxtapositions of texture. Blue Sky’s organic Skinny Cotton plays the straight guy to Habu’s super-playful Natural Cover Cotton. The result is a little bit mid-century modern and a little bit now; a little bit city and a little bit country; a little bit methodical and a little bit wonky!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

For a great summer travel project, choose your favorite color combos. Your first washcloth will be done before you return your seat back to its full, upright position! -Whitney
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Whitney Van Nes.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, and #PurlSohoLogCabinWashcloths. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials

- Color A: 1 skein of Blue Sky’s Skinny Cotton, 100% organic cotton. We used Organic Birch.
- Color B: 1 skein of Blue Sky’s Skinny Cotton, 100% organic cotton. We used Coral.
- Color C: 1 skein of Habu’s Natural Cover Cotton, 100% cotton. We used Red.
- US 5 (3.75 mm), straight or circular knitting needles
Here are three other colorways you might like…
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Organic Birch
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Cobalt
- 1 skein of Natural Cover Cotton in Blue
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Organic Birch
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Gardenia
- 1 skein of Natural Cover Cotton in Pink
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Organic Birch
- 1 skein of Skinny Cotton in Basil
- 1 skein of Natural Cover Cotton in Green
Shop our wonderful collection of light worsted/DK-weight yarn to find a suitable substitute for this project, and remember that it’s always a good idea to check your gauge before you cast on… Our All About Gauge Tutorial shows you how!
Gauge
6 stitches = 1 inch in garter stitch, using the Skinny Cotton
5½ stitches = 1 inch in garter stitch, using the Natural Cover Cotton
Size
Finished Dimensions: 8 inches x 8 inches
Note
Here is how the colors are labeled in this pattern…
Color A = Skinny Cotton, Organic Birch
Color B = Natural Cover Cotton (the color Red is pictured here)
Color C = Skinny Cotton, contrast color (the color Coral is pictured here)
Pattern
Washcloth 1

Center Square
With Color A, cast on 18 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Knit 32 rows (or 16 ridges). (A garter stitch “ridge” is a horizontal rib that is formed by knitting two rows.)
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch. The side that was facing you when you bound off is now considered the “right side”.
Middle Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color B, pick up 16 stitches along the top edge.

Knit 13 rows (or 6 1/2 ridges).
Bind off, but instead of cutting the yarn, leave the last stitch on the needle.

*With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 23 stitches along the top edge. (24 stitches total)

Knit 13 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from * one more time.

With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 31 stitches along the top edge. (32 stitches total)
Knit 13 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.

Outer Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color C, pick up 34 stitches along the top edge.
Knit 9 rows (or 4 1/2 ridges).
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.

**With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 37 stitches along the top edge. (38 stitches total)

Knit 9 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from ** one more time.

With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 41 stitches along the top edge. (42 stitches total)
Knit 9 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.
Weave in the ends and you’re done!
Washcloth 2

Center Square
With Color B, cast on 16 stitches.
Knit 30 rows (or 15 ridges).
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch. The side that was facing you when you bound off is now considered the “right side”.
Middle Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color C, pick up 18 stitches along the top edge.
Knit 15 rows (or 7 1/2 ridges) .
Bind off, but instead of cutting the yarn, leave the last stitch on the needle.
*With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 25 stitches along the top edge. (26 stitches total)
Knit 15 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from * one more time.
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 33 stitches along the top edge. (34 stitches total)
Knit 15 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.
Outer Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color A, pick up 34 stitches along the top edge.
Knit 9 rows (or 4 1/2 ridges).
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
**With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 37 stitches along the top edge. (38 stitches total)
Knit 9 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from ** one more time.
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 41 stitches along the top edge. (42 stitches total)
Knit 9 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.
Weave in the ends and tada!
Washcloth 3

Center Square
With Color C, cast on 18 stitches.
Knit 32 rows (or 16 ridges).
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch. The side that was facing you when you bound off is now considered the “right side”.
Middle Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color A, pick up 18 stitches along the top edge.
Knit 15 rows (or 7 1/2 ridges).
Bind off, but instead of cutting the yarn, leave the last stitch on the needle.
*With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 25 stitches along the top edge. (26 stitches total)
Knit 15 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from * one more time.
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 33 stitches along the top edge. (34 stitches total)
Knit 15 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.
Outer Square
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and with Color B, pick up 31 stitches along the top edge.
Knit 7 rows (or 3 1/2 ridges).
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
**With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 34 stitches along the top edge. (35 stitches total)
Knit 7 rows.
Bind off, leaving the last stitch on the needle.
Repeat from ** one more time.
With the right side facing you, turn the piece clockwise 90 degrees and pick up 38 stitches along the top edge. (39 stitches total)
Knit 7 rows.
Bind off and cut the yarn, pulling the tail through the last stitch.
Weave in the ends and you have a set!
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Wow…!!!
It just amazes me every time how you guys make things so simple but they look so amazing. The color choices and the photography just work out so well.
Hello,
Love the look.. I think tho, I will change colors on each pick up edge.. keeping the same color hues together on one side.
FUN ..
Fun style for a potholder!
Just wondering if these wash clothes are intended for the shower/bath, or for use in the kitchen? Or perhaps could be for either? How often would you need to wash them to ensure they stay germ-free?
Hi Isabel,
I love these for the bath, but you could use them wherever and however you want, as pot holders, trivets or hand towels. And handwash them as often as you'd wash the store-bought equivalent.
Thanks for asking!
Whitney
I love it!
I will do some for my kid's bath!
In France we don't do the washing up with this kind of towel…
Thanks for so nice patterns each time!
oh those remind me of the good ol' days at my grandma's house! love them!
This is one of the coolest techniques — you can just keep adding on for a blanket or make two squares, join them, make an I-cord handle and you have a purse or tote depending on the size of the squares.
Two questions – 1 – are you doing any kind of selvedge stitch on the edges or simply garter stitch knitting?
2 – When picking up stitches on the CO and BO end of the center square (and subsequent BO edges of the middle colour), are you picking up 'all' of each of the CO and/or BO stitches, or simply 'half' of the stitch (I apologize if that is unclear – I am unsure how to ask the question)? Mine is looking a bit 'unique' on the reverse side.
Also, it would be really helpful to see the reverse side of at least one of the finished cloths and one which is in progress.
Thank you SO much!!
Hi –
Per your comment above…are these not safe for the washing machine??
Hi MRM,
I just knit straight garter stitch, but feel free to slip stitch a selvage edge if that will make picking up easier for you! And I picked up both strands of the cast on and bind off stitches (i.e. "all" of them!).
Thanks for your questions. Please let us know if you have more and good luck!
Whitney
Hi Susan,
You can either hand wash your finished washcloths or machine wash them on a delicate and/or cold cycle and then air dry them.
Thanks for asking!
Whitney
I love these. Could I join a bunch together to make a big blanket?
Hi DC-
Yes you could! Or you could make a blanket as one big log cabin piece like we did here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/the-purl-bee/2010/5/23/anzula-squishy-log-cabin-baby-blanket.html
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
Your site is fabulous. I love that it's collaborative and so creative. Thank you!
Hey, I’d love to knit this pattern as I knitted many of your wonderful works before. But this time, I have trouble understanding: How do you join the second square? I cannot find any tutorial that worked out the way your piece looks like. Maybe you have one? I would be very happy. Yours, Nathalie
Hi Nathalie,
Thank you for the comment. For this project you will be picking up the stitches along the edge of the square to make each additional square. Unfortunately we do not have a tutorial for this technique however I found this youtube video that clearly demonstrates how this should be done; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUPhLYkC0Fw
I hope this helps and feel free to write back if you have anymore questions!
Good Luck!
Jake
Thank you so much not just for this but your other helpful illustrations and patterns. This and the Double seeded blanket have become gifts for so many people.
Love, love these – I seem to always be knitting dish clothes consequently, have quite a few to give and keep. Thanks for the wonderful design, can not wait to try.
My first thought was, ” Could you make a bunch of squares like this, and create a knit version of a Granny Square Afghan?”. My second thought was, ‘ I’m going to try it!” !
Hi Val,
Great idea! Let us know how it goes!
Happy knitting!
Cassy
Purl Soho my most favorite knitting patterns, this wash cloth is amazing!
I have decided to knit these for my friends presents.
Thank you so much for being there for all of the knitters and Crochet people I am working on the scarf with the calipa cables for my best friend, thank you for sharing
These are beautiful! Any chance there would be a crochet pattern to create these washcloths?
Thanks!
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the nice comment! Although we don’t have a crochet pattern for these, it’s pretty easily adaptable. First you’ll want to crochet a square and then crochet into the top and bottom of that square roughly half the height of the square. Pick up and crochet the sides of your now rectangle and crochet outward until you have a square shape again. I hope this was clear! Let me know if you have questions!
Best,
Adam
In Washcloth 1, middle square, does “pick up” mean “pick up and knit”? Is that always the meaning throughout this pattern (which I love!)? Thank you.
Hi Acadia,
Great question! Thanks for pointing this out! For the purposes of this pattern, you will pick up and knit the stitches. You will knit 13 rows, ending on a wrong side row. The bind off will then be on the right side, allowing you to end with one stitch and pick up on the right side of the washcloth.
I hope that this helps and happy knitting!
Cassy
Just what I needed. I made dozens of dishcloth and have leftovers from them all. This is a perfect way to use it up make colourful and give a gifts. Always handy and most moot ant, self made. Thank you.
Hi, I am very new to knitting and this would be a good place to start for me…but I do not see the size of needle required, or is it any needle that produces the “gauge” still learning that?
Love your site btw…
Thanks
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for writing in! For these washcloths, we used a US 5 needle. The needles required can always be found under our Materials section in the pattern. That said, one should use the needle that gives them gauge for the pattern. If you are looser knitter, you will want to go down a needle size and see if you get gauge and if you are a tighter knitter, you will want to go up a needle size and see if you get gauge.
I hope that this helps and happy knitting!
Cassy
Hello,
Great pattern. I have a question about the last stitch of every bind-off row: what is the purpose of leaving it “live” and using it to start the new sections? I just want to understand the mechanics of it.
Regards,
Hi Wren,
Great question! As you will be picking this stitch up anyway, it is far easier to leave it live and then pick up the rest of the stitches. This also makes sure that there is not unnecessary bulk at the pick up point!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Hi! The pattern is amazing! I’m glad I found it.
By the way, when casting on along the top edge, do you cast on three stiches and then skip one or make them all without skipping?
And what about small holes at the corners of different squares? How can I prevent them from appearing?
Thank you!
Hi Varya,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m glad to hear that this pattern has caught your eye! I’m a bit confused about your questions though. You will only need to cast on at the very beginning of the center square! Each subsequent section of knitting is begun by picking up stitches from the previous sections, so no need to cast on any more stitches. Can you let me know where in the pattern you’re seeing instructions to cast on 3 more stitches?
And because you’re just picking up stitches along the edges to begin the new sections, there shouldn’t be any major gaps between them. Would you be able to send a photo of your work to [email protected] so we can take a closer look?
All the best,
Lili