Your basket is empty.
Continue Shopping
Blue Moon Pot Holder
A project as easy, satisfying, and useful as our free Blue Moon Pot Holder pattern doesn’t come around every day… Perhaps just once in a blue moon! Cast on with our beautiful new Japanese Denim Cotton, a soft, sproingy cotton yarn in rich night-sky blues—plus one radiant full-moon white.
Truly a beginner-friendly project, you simply knit up a garter stitch square, holding two strands of Japanese Denim Cotton together for a moonlit marl, enjoying how the two colors glimmer as you knit. At the end, just add a wee I-cord loop for hanging, toss your pot holder in the washer and dryer to densify the fabric, and it’s ready to grace your life with everyday elegance!
An artful knitting yarn with denim-inspired depth, Japanese Denim Cotton is made in Japan with 100% cotton that is organically grown and unmercerized, a less processed approach that preserves the fiber’s natural softness. This sport-weight yarn is, happily, machine washable, and it has a chainette structure, which lends a hand-friendly buoyancy unusual for a plant-based yarn.
Japanese Denim Cotton comes in 3 beautiful blues, all referencing classic denim washes with a lovely stonewashed look. These colors are created with a special technique traditionally used for denim, which leaves the core of the yarn undyed, creating the timeless blue-over-white look of woven denim. The impression is enhanced by knitting the Warm White Denim color with any of the deeper blues!
Pick up two balls of Japanese Denim Cotton to make a set of two matching Blue Moon Pot Holders, or grab one ball of each color to make a set of four pot holders that shift from light to dark like phases of the moon!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 55 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!
Pattern designed and written by Purl Soho designer, Gianna Mueller. See even more of Gianna’s work on her Instagram!
Story written by Andrea Lotz for Purl Soho.
Want to print this pattern? On desktop, find the “print” icon in the right margin, and on mobile, scroll to the end of the pattern for it. Use the on-screen instructions to remove anything you don’t want to print!
Materials
To make 2 pot holders, you will need…
- Purl Soho’s Japanese Denim Cotton, 100% organically grown cotton. Each ball of this sport-weight yarn is 158 yards/ 50 grams; approximately 150 total yards required per pot holder.
- Color A: 1 skein; approximately 75 yards required.
- Color B: 1 skein; approximately 75 yards required.
- US 6 (4 mm) straight or 24-inch circular knitting needles
- If using straight needles, two US 6 double pointed needles for I-cord
NOTE: If you prefer a solid color pot holder, one ball of Japanese Denim Cotton will make one pot holder!
We used these combinations for our pot holders…
- Deep Denim + Blue Black Denim
- Deep Denim + Classic Denim
- Classic Denim + Blue Black Denim
- Off White Denim + Classic Denim
- Off White Denim + Deep Denim
GAUGE
20 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch with Color A and Color B held together, unlaundered
21 stitches and 42 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch with Color A and Color B held together, laundered
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 7 inches square, laundered
NOTE
DOUBLE THE YARN
Throughout this pattern, you will work with two strands held together.
PATTERN
With one strand of Color A and one strand of Color B held together, cast on 37 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
NOTE: Place a removable stitch marker or piece of scrap yarn on next row to indicate wrong side.
Knit every row until piece measures 7½ inches from cast-on edge, ending with a wrong-side row.
FINISHING
With right side facing you, bind off knitwise to last 2 stitches, k2. [3 stitches remain]
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 yarns, leaving 8-inch tails. Pull tails through remaining stitch.
Thread tails onto a tapestry needle. Make a loop with I-cord and weave tails into fabric at base of I-cord, then weave them through looped I-cord and back into fabric.
Weave in ends and gently machine wash and dry.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Learn About Japanese Denim Cotton + All Our Beautiful Yarns
Japanese Denim Cotton brings understated beauty and a hardworking sensibility to this project, not to mention its beautiful blue-jean colors! Far lighter and more elastic than a traditional cotton yarn, Japanese Denim Cotton has a chainette structure that gives it a hand-friendly springiness unusual in the world of plant-based yarns… You’ll love how this sport-weight yarn feels on your needles. The yarn is dyed with a special technique traditionally used for denim, which allows intense color to develop on the outside of the strand while leaving the core of the yarn undyed. That white core subtly comes through in the finished fabric, bringing the timeless blue-over-white look of woven denim to your knitting!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our growing collection of free Japanese Denim Cotton knitting patterns and cast on!
More Sport-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of sport-weight yarns
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial, our Yarn Substitution article, and our Complete Guide To Yarn for lots of helpful information.
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop cotton yarn (What helps cotton keep its cool? Learn all about this soft, natural fiber in our guide to cotton yarn!)
- Shop plant-based yarn
- Shop machine-washable yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our knitting patterns (including tons of 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!
I LOVE the idea of this yarn. Better colorfastness, likely less shrinkage than older denim yarns.
Do you have any sweater pattern recommendations for this? Would love to make a 90s style preppy sweater in this. Super excited to try this.
Hi Tricia,
I’m really glad to see you’re excited by the Japanese Cotton Denim. We’re also loving it so much!
You might consider the Classic Crewneck Cardigan or the Everyday Linen Raglan! They’re both lightweight, and I think they would look beautiful in Japanese Denim Cotton.
I’d always recommend knitting (and blocking) a gauge swatch, particularly when substituting yarns. This way, you can make sure you like the fabric and can reach the gauge listed in the pattern.
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
Hills
Hello! I’m wondering if these are truly thick enough to use as potholders? I love them but would want them to be usable as well as pretty. Thank you!
Hi Christy,
Thanks for reaching out about this! We made these pot holders holding two strands of Japanese Denim Cotton together, so they’re absolutely functional and beautiful!
Happy knitting,
Allison
Thank you so much!
Hi Christy,
Please explain how to launder the yarn before knitting the potholders.
Thank you,
Karen
Hi Karen,
Thank you so much for your question! This project can be blocked by machine washing and drying it at the end of the project. This yarn has stellar colorfastness, due to the color-reactive dyes used, so I wouldn’t think you need to worry too much about bleeding or pre-treating.
If you do encounter any bleeding, please don’t hesitate to send us an email at [email protected]. We would so love to help!
Happy knitting,
Hills
I was wondering if you have with some silk added to the cotton
It helps me make a nighty so I can sleep better
Hi Hilda,
Thank you so much for reaching out! This sounds like a really nice idea.
Sadly, we don’t have any cotton/silk blends in our current line-up. However, you may consider holding one strand of the Japanese Denim Cotton with one strand of Cattail Silk to achieve a Dk-weight to light-worsted-weight gauge. I’d always suggest knitting, and blocking, a gauge swatch to check that you achieve your desired gauge and that you like the finished fabric!
Wishing you happy knitting (and restful nights!)
Kindly,
Hills
Hi, is there a video that shows this specific I-cord method? I’m stuck! Thanks!
Hi Jen,
I’m so sorry to read that you’re stuck!
While we don’t have a video for this specific I-cord section, we do have a video on I-cords more generally. Here’s the main thing to keep in mind: your I-cord will be growing out from the corner of your project after you bind off to the last two stitches. This means that the last three stitches will serve as your I-cord. Once you’ve finished working the I-cord, you can go ahead and bind off, then pull the tails through the final stitches. Finally, seam the end of the I-cord into the base, using the tails, and you’ll end up with a nice, finished loop!
If you’re still running into trouble, please feel free to schedule a 1-on-1 Help Session with us! We would so love to work through this with you and get you back on track!
Happy knitting,
Hills