Knit + Fold Bandana In Picnic Cotton
Why should winter scarves have all the fun? Our Knit + Fold Bandana in our new Picnic Cotton is a marvelous take-everywhere accessory for the halcyon days of summer!
With three sizes to choose from you can knit and fold exactly the size and shape bandana that fits your personal brand of adventure, whether that’s out on the town, out in the world, or out back in the hammock.
All you need are knits and purls for this simple stockinette square. Fold it along the diagonal and you’re set to go!
Made in our beautiful new Picnic Cotton, these soft and lightweight Bandanas are as fresh as a daisy! Choose from twelve colors inspired by the sweetness and fun of summer, such as Pink Peppermint, Key Lime, and Summer Hay.
Picnic Cotton is made in Peru from 100% Peruvian Pima cotton, a fiber with an extra-long staple that is famous for being uniquely soft and strong. The two-color structure features delicate, colored threads wrapped around a soft, fluffy core, which knits up into a beautifully marled fabric.
It takes four, five, or six 50-gram skeins of Picnic Cotton to make the three sizes of Knit + Fold Bandana. Whatever the size, pick the color that’s singing your name, and cast on for this summer’s thing you’ll love!
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, #PurlSohoKnitAndFoldBandana, and #PurlSohoPicnicCotton. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 4 (5, 6) skeins of Purl Soho’s Picnic Cotton, 100% Peruvian Pima cotton. Each skein is 164 yards/ 50 grams; approximately 650 (815, 975) yards required. We used Heirloom White, Blue Light, and Summer Hay.
- US 4 (3.5 mm) straight or circular needles
GAUGE
26 stitches and 38 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
SIZES
Small (Medium, Large)
- Finished Dimensions of Square (unfolded): 24 x 24 (27 x 27, 30 x 30) inches
- Finished Length of Wingspan (folded): Approximately 34 (38¼, 42½) inches
Samples: Our Heirloom White sample is the Small size; Blue Light is the Medium size; and Summer Hay is the Large size.
NOTE
Construction
This wrap is a square that, to wear, you fold into a double-layered triangle.
PATTERN
Cast on 156 (176, 194) 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.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 24 (27, 30) inches from cast-on edge, ending with Row 1.
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise.
Weave in 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!
Good morning! What do you think of using Cattail Silk for this pattern? I’m thinking about knitting the large square—could you give me suggestions for the amount of stitches to cast on and needle size? These patterns are all amazing and I appreciate being able to not only ask questions but read previously-answered questions! Tami
Hi Tami,
Thanks for reaching out. You can absolutely knit the Knit + Fold Bandana in Cattail Silk! This project has been featured in Cattail Silk in the past, and all of the pattern details can be found here, on the original project page! The cast-on for the largest size is 180 stitches on size 4 needles, or whatever size is needed to achieve the correct gauge.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Carly
think this would work in your yak yarn as a winter version?
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for reaching out! Our Simply Yak is a heavier yarn than Picnic Cotton, so this might change the overall dimensions of the bandana. You can knit your bandana with a heavier yarn like our Simply Yak, but I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch so you know how many stitches to cast on. Here’s our tutorial All About Gauge that you might find helpful for this project!
The finished dimensions for the Knit and Fold Bandana are 24 x 24 (27 x 27, 30 x 30) inches, with a hypotenuse of approximately 34 (38¼, 42½) inches, so to calculate the cast on needed, you can multiply (stitches per inch in your swatch) x (desired width in inches) and (rows per inch in your swatch) x (desired length in inches).
I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Carly
Can linen quill be used for this
Pattern?
Hi Diane!
Thank you for writing in. We have a version of this bandana in Cattail Silk that could also be made with Linen Quill, and the pattern for that version can be found here!
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
All the best,
Margaret
I am swatching my glorious Picnic Cotton in preparation for starting my own bandana—
Of course, I realize that a pattern’s needle size recommendation is exactly that, since achieving the correct gauge really depends on the yarn tension of the knitter. However, I found that 3.5mm, followed by 3.25, yielded a guage that is too large for 26 stitches for 4 inches….and now I’m about to try 3.0. Insofar as I can tell from the one closeup of the fabric, the guage looks pretty close. Any advice?
Hi Elizabeth!
Thank you for writing in. If you are getting closer to gauge with a smaller needle, that is totally okay! Every knitter has a different tension, and if you’re finding more success with a smaller needle, then I encourage you to stick with that size for your bandana! Alternatively, if you wanted to knit the project with a larger needle (and therefore larger gauge), you could still knit the pattern as written, however you will have a larger bandana at the end, and may need more yarn as well.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Margaret
Hi, can this pattern be made with linen quill? If so, what size needle and how many skeins for the same size that the bandana in the medium size bandana?
Thank you.
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
You can absolutely make this pattern in Linen Quill–that sounds lovely! You’ll need 2 skeins of that yarn to make the Medium bandana, and the best way to figure out what needles to use is to make a gauge swatch. Swatching with the recommended size 4 needles is a good place to begin, but you may need to size up or down your needles in order to get the correct gauge! If you would like to learn more about this, we have a handy tutorial called All About Gauge. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Hi there, what needle length do I need to use?
Hi Sabrina,
Thanks for your question! We’d recommend any needle length that’s longer than the width of the project. Since the width and length of the three bandana size options are 24″, 27″, and 30″, any needle length longer than the width of the size that you’re interested in making would be perfect! If you happen to have 32″ circulars, those would work with any of the sizes. I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Cat
I’m not sure which size to make. Which size would you recommend as the most useful. The small looks really small, but I could be wrong. Would the medium be the most useful for this type of design??
Thanks
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
Thank you for writing in! I’d recommend comparing a square of fabric that you find comfortable to the sizes listed in the pattern. This way you could have a better idea of what works best for you. I’d suggest folding and tying the fabric in a similar fashion to the bandana for the most accurate comparison. I hope this helps!
All the best,
Gavriella