Sunburst Pot Holder
Like a ray of light breaking through the clouds, our Sunburst Pot Holders in our new Serif brighten your day with their clever construction and vintage charm!
As fun to make as they are fetching, these pot holders are actually formed from a rectangular piece of garter-stitch fabric. As you knit it, you use simple short rows to shape the rays, and once you finish them, you connect the two ends of the rectangle with a 3-needle bind off.
Now with your loop of fabric, you cinch up the selvages to form the sunburst centers, squash the whole thing flat, and tada… Your double-thick pot holders are ready for their day in the sun! (Hard to imagine? Check out designer Hiromi Glover’s beautiful rendition in the pattern below!)
All this is in our glorious new Serif, with a clever construction of its own. A super soft and supple single ply of cotton wrapped with a thin cotton thread, Serif’s undulating strand knits into a slightly knobbly fabric, the perfect texture and thickness for a pot holder.
Serif’s cotton is 100% Peruvian Pima, whose long, smooth fibers create a yarn that is remarkably strong, soft, and absorbent. And its subtle shine adds an extra dose of beauty to Serif’s sixteen gorgeous colors.
We’ve paired up colors for thirteen beautiful Sunburst Pot Holder Bundles. Each one gives you enough yarn for three pot holders… Pick your favorite and knit up your own little pile of sunshine!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. Click here to see even more of Hiromi’s work!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoSunburstPotHolder, and #PurlSohoSerif. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
Our Sunburst Pot Holder Bundle includes…
2 skeins of Purl Soho’s Serif, 100% Pima cotton. Each skein is approximately 164 yards/100 grams.
- Color A: 1 skein; approximately 45 total yards required
- Color B: 1 skein; approximately 40 yards required
NOTE: 1 bundle will make three pot holders!
You will also need…
- US 5 (3.75 mm), straight or 24-inch circular needles
- Spare circular or double pointed needles, US 5 or smaller
- A crochet hook and scrap yarn for Provisional Cast On
Choose from thirteen bundles…
Top Row: Heirloom White + Alabaster Cream; Cedar Wood + Heirloom White; Horse Chestnut + Alabaster Cream
Second Row: Heirloom White + Warm Rock; Alabaster Cream + Yellow Haystack; Yellow Ochre + Heirloom White
Third Row: Summer Melon + Soft Aloe; Gray Birch + Lemongrass Green; Gray Fedora + Summer Melon
Bottom Row: Heirloom White + Turquoise Tint; Quiet Lake + Gray Birch; Creek Blue + Warm Rock
Not Pictured: Blue Overalls + Heirloom White
SAMPLES: We knit our samples in Summer Melon + Soft Aloe, Heirloom White + Turquoise Tint, Alabaster Cream + Yellow Haystack, Yellow Ochre + Heirloom White, and Gray Birch + Lemongrass Green.
GAUGE
20 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
NOTE: The row gauge at the outer edge of the finished project stretches to 34 rows per 4 inches, due to the unique construction. If you can get the gauge listed above in a flat swatch, your pot holder will turn out just fine!
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 7 inches in diameter
NOTES
CONSTRUCTION
You knit this piece back and forth in rows, using simple short rows to create shaping. You then use a 3-Needle Bind Off to join the Provisional Cast On stitches and your last row. To finish, you thread the tail along the selvage and pull taut to close the center hole on each side. Here’s Hiromi’s beautiful drawing of the process!
PROVISIONAL CAST ON
For assistance, including how to put live stitches back onto needles, please visit our Provisional Cast-On: One-Step Method tutorial.
SHORT ROW SHAPING: WRP-T (WRAP + TURN)
On both right and wrong sides: Keeping yarn in back, slip next stitch purlwise from left needle to right needle. Bring yarn to front. Return slipped stitch to left needle. Turn work so other side is facing you.
See this technique in action in our Short Row Tutorial at 0:30 seconds, except do not bring the yarn to the back before you turn. Also, because you’ll be working in garter stitch, there’s no need to pick up the wraps when you get to them (except one wrap at the very end). Just knit the wrapped stitches as usual!
CARRYING UP THE YARN
When you switch colors, be sure to carry the old yarn up the selvage in front of the new yarn.
PATTERN
With scrap yarn, cast on 35 stitches using a Provisional Cast On (see Notes).
Row 1 (right side): With Color A, knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): Knit to last 10 stitches, wrp-t (see Notes).
Row 3: Repeat Row 2.
Row 4: Knit to last 7 stitches, wrp-t (see Notes).
Row 5: Repeat Row 4.
Row 6: Knit to last 4 stitches, wrp-t (see Notes).
Row 7: Repeat Row 6.
Row 8: Knit to end of row.
Do not cut Color A; join Color B, carrying Color A up the side (see Notes).
Rows 9–16: Repeat Rows 1–8 with Color B.
Repeat Rows 1–16 eight more times.
Cut Yarn B.
Carefully remove scrap yarn from Provisional Cast On, slipping stitches onto spare needles as you go.
Fold piece in half so right sides are facing each other and needles are parallel, with spare needles in front and working needles in back. With working yarn, bind off using a 3-Needle Bind Off, working remaining wrapped stitch with its wrap when you come to it.
Cut Yarn A, leaving a one-foot tail for gathering center.
FINISHING
Weave in all ends except for long tail.
Turn piece right side out.
Thread long tail onto a tapestry needle, then thread needle through each outermost garter bump along selvage all the way around. Pull tight to close center hole, then bring tail through center to other side to close the same way.
Weave in remaining end and gently wet block.
These are so wonderful!! How could the pattern be modified for coaster? Fewer pattern repeats?
Hi Donna,
Thanks for reaching out! To size down this pattern, you’ll first need to cast on fewer stitches. Then, you’ll need to work fewer stitches on each short row, and also work fewer pattern repeats over all. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
I’ve never had an issue trying to print anything but this pattern is just stalled and not printing for me
Hi Nancy,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re having trouble printing this pattern! If you haven’t tried this already, I’d recommend using the Print function on this page to create a printer-friendly version. Here’s how to do so:
If you’re on your computer, you’ll find a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. If you’re on a mobile version of the site, you will find the “print” icon below the pattern and above the comments.
Click on this button, and a window will pop up where you can delete whichever parts of the pattern you don’t want to print. When you hover over any image or a text block, it will be highlighted in yellow and a “trash” icon will appear. Just click on this icon to delete anything that’s not necessary to the pattern! For example, you may decide to shorten the pattern by omitting certain images or the list of materials. Then, just click on the “Print” button in the upper left-hand corner of the pop-up window!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you!! Now I just have to choose the colors!!
If I used your “Cotton Pure” yarn, which is sport weight, do you have any idea how I would need to modify the pattern? I assume more stitches to cast-on but don’t know how to calculate the number of Repeat rows to do in Color A, and in Color B, to keep the proportions OK. And if there were more stitches cast-on would I also need to modify the wrap and turns? Perhaps start with the first wrp-t at the last 16 sitiches, then 13, then 10 stitches and so on. I am afraid the math is beyond me for a different weight yarn.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for reaching out! To modify this pattern for a thinner yarn, you’ll first need to cast on more stitches. Then, you’ll need to work more stitches on each short row (and add more short row repeats if you’d like), and also work more pattern repeats over all until the potholder is able to close/flatten into a circle.
In order to be able to make any more exact calculations, you’ll first need to knit up a gauge swatch in pattern with Cotton Pure. Once you know how many stitches and rows you’re getting per inch, then you’ll have a better sense of the modifications you’ll need to make, and I’d be happy to help more from there!
All the best,
Lili
Dear Purlsoho,
What fun and just in time for potato chip, summer knitting! Clearly written pattern with clever construction. I had to knit one immediately.
Thank you for theses great free companion patterns!
Thank you so much for reaching out to share your kind words about this pattern! We’re so glad to hear that it caught your eye. Happy knitting!
All the best,
Lili
Can you use German short rows instead of wraps and turns? Thank you!
Hi Sherry,
Thanks for reaching out! You can absolutely modify this pattern to use German short rows instead! You’ll just need to knit one additional stitch before making the double stitch. So if the pattern says “knit to last 10 stitches, wrp-t,” you’ll actually need to “knit to last 9 stitches, make double stitch.” Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili