Washing hands necessitates drying hands. A quick swipe down the side of your pants may have sufficed when hand washing happened a few times a day, but when it’s an hourly event, you’ll find some actual joy in finishing the job with our Colorfield Hand Towels!

Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho

Soft and absorbent in organically grown Cotton Pure, these hand towels definitely cover the basics of hand drying, but why not add beauty into the mix? And on top of that, the satisfaction of having made them yourself? Yes!

Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho

Colorfield Hand Towels have a marked elegance due to the wonders of linen stitch. A simple slip stitch pattern, we love it for its woven texture on one side and nubbly appeal on the other. Adding swaths of two-color linen stitch highlights both its structure and charm!

Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho

If relentless hand washing is the lemon, we’re making lemonade… So, cast on for a set and enjoy the little things!

If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!

Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho

UPDATE: NOW IN NEW COLORS!

April 2020
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Our Colorfield Hand Towels are little objects that do a big job, and with six lovely new colors of Cotton Pure, it’s easy to make towels that match your kitchen, bathroom, or mood! Check out our new stack of beauties in a field of color!

Designed by Purl Soho designer, Jake Canton. Click here to see even more of Jake’s designs!

Share your progress + connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoColorfieldHandTowels, and #PurlSohoCottonPure. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Materials

  • Color A: 6 skeins of Purl Soho’s Cotton Pure, 100% organically grown cotton yarn. Each skein of this sport weight yarn is 279 yards; approximately 1674 yards required. We used Heirloom White.
  • Color B: 1 skein of Cotton Pure. Approximately 220 yards required. We used Jonquil Yellow.
  • US 7 (4.5 mm), 24- or 32-inch circular needles

NOTE: This is enough yarn to make two hand towels, each hand towel requires 3 skeins of Color A and half a skein of Color B. We used exactly 3 skeins of Color A for each towel, so please make sure to check your gauge to ensure you have enough yarn.

Gauge

28 stitches and 50 rows = 4 inches in stitch pattern

Size

Finished Dimensions: 22 inches wide x 37 inches long

Notes

Stitch Multiple

This pattern works over an odd number of stitches.

Slip Stitches

Slip all slipped stitches purlwise.

Turn + Slide

When you work the Two-Color Spaced-Out Linen Stitch Pattern, you either “slide” or “turn” the work at the end of each row.

“Turn work” means to do what you would normally do when knitting rows with circular needles: Transfer the needle from your left hand into your right hand and the needle from your right hand into your left, flipping the work around so the opposite side is facing you.

“Slide work” means to keep the same side of the work facing you and to push all the stitches to the right end of the circular needles. Without turning the work, start the new row as you normally would.

You will know that you’re doing this right if the yarn you need to complete the next row is right there waiting for you!

Stitch Patterns

One-Color Linen Stitch

Row 1: (wrong side): Slip 1 with yarn in front (wyif), *p1, slip 1 with yarn in back (wyib), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, slip 1 wyif.

Row 2 (right side): *K1, slip 1 wyif, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.

Two-Color Spaced-Out Linen Stitch

Row 1 (wrong side): With Color A, slip 1 wyif, *p1, slip 1 wyib, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, slip 1 wyif. Turn work.

Row 2 (right side): Crossing Color B below Color A (A is in front of B), use Color B to *k1, slip 1 wyif, repeat from * to last stitch, k1. Slide work.

Row 3 (right side): With Color A, slip 1 wyib, *k1, slip 1 wyif, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k1, slip 1 wyib, Turn work.

Row 4 (wrong side): Crossing Color A below Color B (B is in front of A), use Color A to *p1, slip 1 wyib, repeat from * to last stitch p1. Turn work.

Row 5 (right side): With Color A, repeat Row 3. Turn work.

Row 6 (wrong side): Crossing Color B below Color A (A is in front of B), use Color B to *p1, slip 1 wyib, repeat from * to last stitch, p1. Slide work.

Row 7 (wrong side): With Color A, slip 1 wyif, *p1, slip 1 wyib, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p1, slip 1 wyif. Turn work.

Row 8 (right side): Crossing Color A below Color B (B is in front of A), use Color A to *k1, slip 1wyif, repeat from * to last stitch, k1. Turn work.

Pattern

Begin: Both Layouts

With Color A, cast on 155 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.

Layout One

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 of ONE-COLOR LINEN STITCH until piece measures 2 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2.

Repeat Rows 1-8 of TWO-COLOR SPACED-OUT LINEN STITCH for 19 inches or until piece measures 21 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 8.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 of ONE-COLOR LINEN STITCH for 16 inches or until piece measures 37 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 1.

Layout Two

Repeat Rows 1-8 of TWO-COLOR SPACED-OUT LINEN STITCH until piece measures 6 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 8.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 of ONE-COLOR LINEN STITCH for 25 inches or until piece measures 32 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 2.

Repeat Rows 1-8 of TWO-COLOR SPACED-OUT LINEN STITCH for 6 inches or until piece measures 37 inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 7.

End: Both Layouts

Cut Color B.

With the right side facing you, bind off in stitch pattern. Here’s how…

Bind-Off Row (right side): With Color A, k1, *slip 1 wyif, pass stitch over, k1, pass stitch over, repeat from * to end of row. Weave in the ends and lightly steam or wash on a cold, gentle cycle and air dry to block.

Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho
Colorfield Hand Towels | Purl Soho

Learn About Cotton Pure + All Our Beautiful Yarns

As special as it is popular, our Cotton Pure brings true natural beauty to this project. 100% organically grown cotton, this sport-weight yarn feels exceptionally soft and supple in your hands, and it comes in tons of gently heathered colors you won’t find anywhere else! Making something big, like a blanket or sweater? Shop our 1,000-gram Cotton Pure On A Cone collection, too!

More Free Knitting Patterns

More Sport-Weight Yarns

More Yarns With Similar Fiber

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!