Waffle Stitch Washcloth + Hand Towel In Santolina
Just as a strawberry you grew tastes a little sweeter, our hand-knit Waffle Stitch Washcloth + Hand Towels will bring you more pleasure than any you could buy!
This simple waffle stitch is an easy slip-stitch pattern, creating a fabric with a distinctive texture that grows fast and furious on the needles.
We knit our Waffle Stitch Washcloth + Hand Towels in our Santolina, a soft and sturdy, machine wash- and dryable combination of 70% organically grown cotton, 20% rayon from bamboo, and 10% hemp.
These fibers work together to create a complex and beautiful yarn. The hemp lends a hearty, rustic character, while the bamboo is as smooth and shiny as silk. Together with the cotton, Santolina is a brew of contrasts and complements: Soft but textured. Smooth but gripping. Gently heathered but lustrous. All in all, magnificent!
With just one skein of Santolina you can make four Washcloths, and you only need two skeins for a Hand Towel. There are twenty-two colors ranging from soft and subtle, to bright and punchy… Pick your favorites and enjoy the sweetness!
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!
Originally designed by Purl Soho designer, Jake Canton. Click here to see even more of Jake’s designs!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoWaffleStitchWashcloth, #PurlSohoWaffleStitchHandTowel and #PurlSohoSantolina. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
For a Washcloth (Hand Towel), you will need…
- 1 (2) skein(s) of Purl Soho’s Santolina, 70% organically grown cotton, 20% rayon from bamboo, 10% hemp. Each skein is 328 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 80 (620) yards required. We used the colors Green Valley, Emerald Green, Peach Lily, and Blossom Pink for our Washcloths and Heirloom White and Beige Bunny for our Hand Towels.
- US 4 (3.5 mm), straight or circular needles
- If using straight needles: Two US 4 double pointed needles for I-Cord
NOTE: Just 1 skein of Santolina is enough yarn for up to 4 Washcloths!
GAUGE
26 stitches and 52 rows = 4 inches in stitch pattern
SIZES
Washcloth (Hand Towel)
Finished Dimensions: 7 inches wide x 9 inches long (18 inches wide x 30 inches long)
NOTE
STITCH MULTIPLE
This pattern works over any odd number of stitches.
PATTERN
Cast on 45 (117) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Row 1 (wrong side): K1, purl to last stitch, k1.
Row 2 (right side): Knit to end of row.
Row 3: *K1, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.
Row 4: *K1, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in back, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.
Repeat Rows 1–4 until piece measures 9 (30) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 3.
With right side facing you, bind off in 1×1 rib. Here’s how…
Bind-Off Row (right side): K1, *k1, pass first stitch over, p1, pass first stitch over, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2, leaving 3 stitches on right needle.
MAKE I-CORD
With remaining 3 stitches, work an I-Cord for 3 inches.
Bind-Off Row: K1, knit 2 together, pass first stitch over second stitch and off right needle.
Cut yarn, leaving an 8-inch tail. Pull it through remaining stitch.
Thread tail onto a tapestry needle. Make a loop with I-cord and weave tail into fabric at base of I-cord, then weave it through looped I-cord, and back into fabric.
Weave in remaining ends and block as desired.
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!
one can never have (knit!) too many dishcloths, and in beautiful and inspiring purl soho colors, thank you:-))
One question, text mentions that it’s a “no purl” pattern, however, row 1 seems to be almost purely purls…?
Hello,
Thanks for letting us know about this, and our apologies for this error! We’ve updated the pattern, so please let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Carly
Your description says that this pattern “eschews all the purling,” but Row 1 of the pattern is purled across except for the edge stitches!
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and our apologies for the error! We’ve gone ahead and reworked the pattern to make this section clearer.
I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have an questions.
All the best,
Carly
Like everything you do, these look lovely and wonderful and I want to add them to my already overly-long list of knitting projects…BUT..you say the pattern “eschews” all purling…and yet when I read the instructions Row #1 is all purling except for the first and last stitch? Am I crazy or are the instructions a bit inconsistent?
Hi Sue,
Thank you for reaching out, and our apologies for this error! We’ve gone ahead and updated the pattern, so thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Carly
Hi, I see from the other comments that you have updated the pattern but where do I find the updated version? I logged out and back in and the pattern I see still has Row 1 as K1, purl to last stitch, k1.
Thanks!
Hi Martha,
We updated the page to remove the line from the story that indicated there was no purling at all in the pattern! The actual pattern remains the same.
All the best,
Lili
In regard to your saying you have updated the pattern, as Row 1 includes purling across except for edge stitches, I do not see or find the updated pattern. Where is the updated pattern please?
Hi Jean,
We updated the page to remove the line from the story that indicated there was no purling at all in the pattern! The actual pattern remains the same.
All the best,
Lili
Just wondering how long it took to knit the towel?
Hi Marge,
Thanks for reaching out! The time it takes to finish this project will vary from knitter to knitter, but a good way to figure out how quickly you can knit this stitch pattern is to time yourself while knitting your swatch. Your swatch should be knit in the stitch pattern and you can find its area by multiplying its length by its width. Then, multiply the area of the washcloth (63 square inches) or the hand towel (540 square inches) by the time it took you to make the swatch and divide that by the area of your swatch.
I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Carly
It took me a looooong time, and I consider myself a pretty steady knitted. I probably spent ~30 hours per skein.
I would like to make some place mats with this pattern and beautiful yarn. How many stitches/skeins do I need to make 12 x 15 place mats? I want to make a set of four for my table. Thank you!
Hi Julie,
Thanks for reaching out. You would need a total of 3 skeins to make 4 place mats of those dimensions! Each place mat would require about 229 yards of Santolina. Based on the stitch gauge (26 stitches in 4 inches), you would need to cast on 77 stitches for a width of 12 inches. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
These are so gorgeous! I crochet and was wondering if there is possibly a similar pattern to crochet?
Hi Susan!
Thank you so much! While we do not have a crochet version of the Waffle Stitch Washcloth pattern, I recommend taking a look at the Mother’s Day Washcloths, or if you are familiar with Tunisian Crochet, the Tunisian Crochet Washcloths would be a great option, too!
I hope this is helpful!
All the best,
Margaret
Thank you for another great, free pattern.
Please can you tell me if there is a reason for making the washcloth longer than the width. Why not a square? Is it because, with use it will stretch or shrink to end up as a square?
I’ll cast on today and look forward to hearing from you, before finalising the length.
Many thanks,
Ros Pearl
Hi Ros,
Thank you for writing in! These washcloths can be knit to your desired dimensions, so feel free to make yours a square if you would prefer that! As for shrinking, we recommend making a swatch and washing it in the way you will wash your washcloths to see if there will be any shrinkage with your washing method. Santolina is machine wash and dry-able so you can just throw it in the wash!
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
All the best,
Margaret
I just need to say that I am obsessed with they dish/washcloth and dish towel patterns! This particular one I made a dishcloth in the Organic Cotton Pure yarn and I LOVE it! I’ve never used a knitted dishcloth and now I want all of them. I’m making another one in this pattern with the Picnic Cotton. Also beautiful! next I’m going to buy the Santolina – the yarn recommended! 🙂 I really love the Cotton Pure though.
We are so glad you can’t get enough of this pattern! Thank you so much for sharing your love for this design, and we hope you enjoy knitting more of these in the future!
All the best,
Margaret
Thank you for this beautiful free pattern. Can you recommend a way to keep the edges from curling as I knit?
All the best,
Cherie
Hi Cherie,
Thanks for writing in. Wet blocking your work after completing it will reduce any curling of the edges!
All the best,
Lili
Hello Purl Soho,
Couple needle-related questions for you! 🙂
I’m planning on knitting for the washcloth size.
If using circular needles, what length do you suggest using for this pattern (32″, 40″?)
If using straight needles to knit both the washcloth and the i-cord what straight needle lengths do you suggest?
Thank you!
Mikko
Hi Mikko,
Thanks for reaching out. Since the width of the washcloth is only 7 inches, I’d recommend 16″ or 24″ circular needles! If you want to use straight needles, 12″ needles would be perfect (that’s generally the standard length anyway). Then for the i-cord, I’d recommend using DPNs so you can slide the stitches. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Such a beautiful pattern and looks like fun too. If you were to make a scarf how many skeins would you need and is this a good choice for a scarf? I was thinking the placement (great idea, thank you) width of 12″ mentioned above, 3 or 4 skeins with a cast on of 77? Thank you for your help, beautiful patterns and stunning yarns.
Hi Pam,
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’d be happy to help you modify this pattern to make a scarf!
This pattern is worked over an odd number of stitches, so for a 12″ x 70″ scarf, 77 stitches cast on and 3 skeins of Santolina would be just right!
I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Carly
Hi, Carly
Thank you so much for the information, I never know how many to cast on or unsure of how many skeins either. I really appreciate you modifying this pattern for me. Thanks again ever so much.
Pam
Just wanted to write in with my experience! I didn’t wish to buy two skeins per hand towel, so altered the size. I used the suggested needle size here and used 97 stitches across. The resulting hand towel was 13″ x 20″.
As in with one skein, it’s possible to make one 13” x 20” hand towel!
Thanks so much for this, I’ll be trying this out!
I knit two hand towels as presents for a friend. What would you recommend to finish them before giving them to her? Should I throw it in the washer? Do I need to worry about the color bleeding? Thanks!
Hi Brooke!
Thank you for your question. Santolina is safe to machine wash cold and tumble dry low, so I would suggest washing these towels with like colors in your machine before gifting them to your friend! After the first wash, you shouldn’t need to worry about color bleeding, however it is best to wash these with similar colors at least once just to rid the yarn of any excess dye initially.
I hope your friend enjoys her new towels, and please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Margaret
Thank you Margaret!
Hi! Would this pattern be easy to convert to worsted weight cotton yarn? Any suggestions of how many stitches to cast on?
Hi Julie!
Thank you for writing in. To adjust this pattern for a worsted weight yarn, I suggest making a gauge swatch in pattern, and then measuring the number of stitches you are getting per inch. Then, you can multiply that number by your desired width in inches and round to the nearest odd number for your cast on amount!
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
All the best,
Margaret
Hello Purl Soho,
I don’t understand the bind off row for the washclothes. It states that the bind off is done in 1 x 1 rib. I thought that’s K1, P1. But then it states something about ‘ pass over ‘ stitches , etc. I don’t understand what stitch I am supposed to ‘ pass over ‘ and how , when it says the first stitch should be knitted? Can someone please explain ? Thank you!
Hi Petra!
Thank you for your question. When it comes time to bind off, you will be binding off like usual, but instead of knitting every stitch before slipping the first stitch over the second on your right needle, you will be alternating between knitting 1 and purling 1 to bind off in pattern. The very first knit stitch in the row is meant to continue the selvedge, so the 1×1 rib bind off pattern starts on the second and third stitches. If you’re curious to see how to slip a stitch over the previous one, we demonstrate this in our basic bind off tutorial right here!
I hope this is helpful!
All the best,
Margaret
Hello Margaret,
Thank you so much for your response to my question about the bind off. Now I understand how I am supposed to do it. Thanks again so much, I really appreciate your help.
All the best,
Petra
Love this pattern! I use it to make potholders using a bulky wool and smaller needles than the wool calls for. Make a good dense potholder that washes easily.
Hello Purl! I am making this washcloth and it looks great so far! I am anticipating the I-Cord, which I have never done. It says that if using straight needles, I’ll need the double-pointed needles to make the I-Cord, so I guess since I am using the circular needles I won’t need the double pointed? I’m sure this will become clear in the process of doing it, but just wanted to make sure.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Catherine,
That’s a great question! Yes, if you are using circular needles, then you are all set for the I-Cord! This is because when knitting an I-Cord, you will not turn your work. So on your circular needles, you will slide your work to the other end of your needles after completing a row to be able to knit the next row. Here’s our I-Cord tutorial for more information! I hope this helps!
All the best,
Cat