Golden Rectangle Washcloth

Our Golden Rectangle Washcloths, designed by Lili Tobias, have a beauty equally pleasing to the mathematician and the artist in each of us… And the inspiring new colors of Picnic Cotton make our knitter’s hearts sing, too!

Using the golden ratio for the dimensions of the little rectangle, Lili creates a pattern as clever as it is simple. Knitting entirely in garter, you start with a few rows across the full width of the washcloth, then putting half the stitches on hold, you work the remaining stitches to the end of the washcloth and bind off.

Now it’s time for the golden rectangle! You rotate the washcloth and pick up stitches to knit a perpendicular block, joining it to the first section as you go. Right before bind off, you make the loop for hanging, and voila!

One hundred percent Peruvian Pima cotton, Picnic Cotton is super-duper soft, absorbent, durable, and it’s machine washable, too… All this makes it a dream for both knitting and washcloth-ing!

Our new colors add even more beauty to Picnic Cotton’s lovely palette: We welcome the bright pop of Pink Flamingo and the richness of Rose Bark, both above, middle.

Our new, vibrant Red Poppy is on the top of the pile below. These, along with four other new colors, bring the Picnic Cotton collection to nineteen gorgeous hues to pick from!

Good thing, too, because you’ll have options when choosing two for your Golden Rectangle Washcloths. One skein of each will give you enough yarn for two oppositely colored washcloths, so pick your pair, and you’ll be as good as gold!

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!

Designed for Purl Soho by Lili Tobias. Lili spends most of her time knitting, listening to music, or doing both at the same time. She also happens to be our wonderful Customer Service Coordinator!

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

Materials

To make two washcloths (switching Colors A and B for the second one), you’ll need…

• 2 skeins of Purl Soho’s Picnic Cotton, 100% Peruvian Pima cotton yarn. Each skein of this fingering weight yarn is 164 yards/ 50 grams.
  • Color A: 1 skein; approximately 164 yards required
  • Color B: 1 skein; approximately 164 yards required
• US 3 (3.25mm) 24-inch circular needles
• A US D (3.25mm) crochet hook
• Stitch holder or scrap yarn

SAMPLES: We knit our washcloths in Pink Sand + Speckled Wren, Blue Light + Red Poppy, Birch Wood + Rose Bark, High Seas Blue + Lilac Pearl, and Heirloom White + Bright Flamingo.

Note: To make 2 oppositely colored washcloths, we used every last yard for our washcloths! To avoid running short, be sure to check your gauge, reuse your swatch yarn, and keep tails short. Or, consider ordering an extra skein just for swatching. If you don’t end up needing it, you can return unwound yarn for a refund within 30 days of purchase, or within 6 months, for store credit. Our Return Policy has all the details!

GAUGE

29 stitches and 58 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch

SIZE

Finished Dimensions: Approximately 7 inches wide x 7 inches high

NOTES

SLIP STITCHES

Slip all stitches purlwise with yarn in back.

GARTER RIDGE

A “garter ridge” equals two rows of garter stitch. It looks like a prominent horizontal ridge and is an easy way to count rows!

PICKING UP STITCHES

For the cleanest pick-up edge, insert the needle into the outer most bump along the edge of the garter ridge.

Visit purlsoho.com/create/picking-up-stitches and scroll down to the “Along A Vertical Edge: Garter Stitch, Into the Ridge” section to see exactly how to pick up stitches for this project.

PATTERN

COLOR A SECTION

With Color A and using a basic Long Tail Cast On, cast on 52 stitches.

Knit 19 rows. [10 total garter ridges]

Next Row (right side): K26, place next 26 stitches onto stitch holder or scrap yarn. [26 stitches remain]

Mark this side with a removable stitch marker or piece of scrap yarn to indicate the right side.

Continuing with live stitches, knit every row until there are 52 total garter ridges, ending with a wrong-side row.

Bind off on right side.

Cut yarn.

COLOR B SECTION

With right side still facing you, turn work 90 degrees clockwise, so that bind-off edge is along the right selvage.

Joining Color B…

Set-Up Row 1 (right side): With Color B, pick up and knit (see Notes) 42 stitches along top edge (what was the left selvage of the Color A Section), turn work. [42 stitches]

Set-Up Row 2 (wrong side): Starting at top corner, slip on-hold stitches to right needle, so that 26 Color A stitches are now on the right needle and 42 Color B stitches are on the left needle; working the Color B stitches with the working Color B yarn, k1, place marker, knit to end of row. [68 stitches total]

Partial Row 1 (right side): Knit to marker, slip marker, slip last Color B stitch, knit next Color A stitch, pass slipped stitch over to join Color A and Color B Sections, turn work.

Partial Row 2 (wrong side): Move working yarn between needles to back of work, knit to end of row, slipping marker when you come to it.

Repeat Partial Rows 1 and 2 twenty-four more times until one Color A stitch remains. [43 total stitches remain with 26 Color B garter ridges]

CREATE HANGING LOOP + BIND OFF

With right side facing you, slip 1 onto crochet hook, chain 13 and slip resulting stitch back onto right needle and set crochet hook aside; continuing with circular needles, *k1, pass first stitch over, repeat from * to marker, remove marker, slip last Color B stitch, knit last Color A stitch, pass previous 2 stitches over to bind off.

Weave in all 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!