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Fresh Picked Pot Holder
Our bright and cheerful Fresh Picked Pot Holder pattern is a slice of summer’s bounty, an adorable, easy, and giftable knitting project in our sunny Cotton Chirp DK yarn!
You knit these pot holders from the outside in, working in the round and holding the yarn double for a nice, dense fabric. A clever trick creates the hanging loop as you go, and then you just decrease your way from rind to juicy center. For the finishing touch, you embroider on some sweet little seeds, with step-by-step photo instructions right in the pattern.
Cotton Chirp DK is a totally irresistible 100% Peruvian Pima cotton yarn, silky-soft, super colorful, and such a delight to knit, you won’t be able to stop until your pot holder is done! It’s a practical choice for pot holders, too—machine-washable and, when knit doubled, thick and insulating enough to protect your hands and table from hot dishes.
With 32 vibrant colors to choose from, knit up any fruit you can think of. We chose color combos for 8 different fruits, from tart lime to mouthwatering passion fruit… Follow our picks or let your imagination run wild!
Pick up three colors of Cotton Chirp DK to make three pot holders, or grab a handful of colors to mix and match and whip up a stack!
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, Hiromi Glover. See even more of Hiromi’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
- 3 balls of Purl Soho’s 100-gram Cotton Chirp DK, 100% Peruvian Pima cotton yarn. Each ball of this light worsted/DK-weight yarn is 232 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 140 total yards required per pot holder.
- Color A (Peel): 1 ball; approximately 45 total yards required
- Color B (Flesh): 1 ball; approximately 80 total yards required
- Color C (Seeds): 1 ball; approximately 15 total yards required
- US 6 (4 mm), 16-inch circular knitting needles OR US 6, 32-inch circular needles for Magic Loop
- A set of US 6 double pointed needles, if using 16-inch circular needles
- Stitch markers, including one unique
This is enough yarn to make two identical pot holders, or three if you switch Colors A and B for one!
We used these colors for our fruity pot holder palettes…
- PINK GRAPEFRUIT: Color A: Golden Honey; Color B: Fresh Guava; Color C: Heirloom White
- GRAPEFRUIT: Color A: Yellow Parakeet; Color B: Campfire Orange; Color C: Heirloom White
- ORANGE: Color A: Golden Honey; Color B: Yellow Parakeet; Color C: Heirloom White
- LIME: Color A: Chartreuse Yellow; Color B: Green Pomelo; Color C: Heirloom White
- PASSION FRUIT: Color A: Wild Boysenberry; Color B: Golden Honey; Color C: Black Licorice
- GUAVA: Color A: Green Pomelo; Color B: Fresh Guava; Color C: Heirloom White
- DRAGON FRUIT: Color A: Hibiscus Pink; Color B: Wild Boysenberry; Color C: Black Licorice
- WATERMELON (not pictured): Color A: Lawn Green; Color B: Firecracker Red; Color C: Black Licorice
GAUGE
18 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch, with yarn doubled (see Note)
NOTE: The row gauge listed above is not the gauge of the finished project, but if you get this gauge for a square swatch your pot holder will end up roughly the right size!
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 7½ inches in diameter
NOTE
YARN DOUBLED
You will hold two strands of yarn together throughout. If you only have one ball, pull one strand from the inside and one strand from the outside, or you can wind two evenly sized balls!
PATTERN
With Color A held double (see Note), use a basic Long Tail Cast On and 16-inch circular needles, or 32-inch circular needles for Magic Loop, to cast on as follows…
Cast on 17 stitches, place a unique marker (this will become the end-of-round marker after creating the Hanging Loop), [cast on 12 stitches, place marker] 7 times, cast on 12 stitches. [113 stitches; 8 total markers]
Without placing a marker, join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
CREATE HANGING LOOP
Knit first stitch of round, then pass last stitch of cast-on over to bind off. Place a removable marker on bound-off stitch.
Bind off 16 more stitches to unique marker and slip remaining stitch purlwise back to left needle.
With left needle, pick up back leg of bound-off marked stitch (indicated with pink arrow above)…
…and knit 2 together (k2tog) with back leg of marked stitch and remaining stitch from last bind-off. Remove marker from bound-off stitch. Unique marker is now end-of round marker. [96 stitches remain]
CONTINUE
NOTE: If using 16-inch circular needles, change to double pointed needles when necessary.
Round 1: Knit to end of round, slipping markers as you come to them.
Round 2: Purl to end of round, slipping markers as you come to them.
Round 3: [Knit to 2 stitches before next marker, k2tog, slip marker] 8 times. [8 stitches decreased]
Round 4: Repeat Round 2.
Cut Color A and join Color B held double.
Repeat Rounds 1–4 two more times. [72 stitches remain]
Repeat Rounds 3 and 4 seven more times, then repeat Round 3 one more time. [8 stitches remain]
Cut yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail, and thread tail onto a tapestry needle.
Sew tail through remaining stitches. Pull taut and bring tail to back of piece and weave in.
FINISHING
EMBROIDER SEEDS
Fold a 2½-yard length of Color C in half, and thread it onto a tapestry needle. Embroider seeds as follows…
Bring the needle from back to front right above a purl bump (point 1, above), leaving a short tail, then insert the needle to the left of the purl bump 2 rounds above (point 2) and bring yarn to back of work. Come up to front on the right side of the same bump, then go back down on the left side (points 3 and 4).
Come back up through the initial starting point and go down on the right side of the same purl bump above (points 5 and 6).
Come up at the starting point again (point 7) and go down right under the top purl bump (point 8).
Cut the yarn and tie tails in a knot at back of Pot Holder.
Repeat these steps with a new length of Color C each time, embroidering as many seeds as you like. We made six!
WEAVE IN ENDS + BLOCK
Weave in remaining ends including cast-on tail, securing Hanging Loop further as needed.
Gently wet block as desired.
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 Cotton Chirp DK + All Our Beautiful Yarns
This project absolutely glows in our Cotton Chirp DK yarn! A celebration of 100% Peruvian Pima cotton, this very special yarn is beautifully soft, amazingly strong, machine washable, and a real joy to knit. It’s perfect for everything from warm-weather garments and baby knits to colorful housewares and blankets! The 32 colors in the palette are as brilliant as tropical birds, with a silky luster that catches the light and delights the eye. For smaller amounts and creative color play, check out our Cotton Chirp DK Minis, 25-gram balls of the same yarn in the same colors!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our growing collection of free Cotton Chirp DK knitting patterns and cast on!
More Light Worsted/DK-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of light worsted/DK-weight yarns (What does DK-weight yarn mean, really? Our guide to DK yarn will answer your questions and demystify.)
- 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!
Adorable pattern – I look forward to trying it.
A request: Can you create a link to print your free patterns without all the photos, with text only? The photos are gorgeous and inspiring, but they use up a LOT of colored ink!
Thank you!
Hi Katrina,
Thank you so much for reaching out and for your kindness. We’re very excited to see you found the Fresh Picked Pot Holders, and are happy to help!
I totally understand the need for a printer-friendly version of the pattern. I’ve just emailed you a PDF version of this pattern with text only! I’m also including some helpful printing instructions below.
If you’re browsing on a desktop, you’ll see a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. On a mobile device? The “print” icon is right below the pattern and above the comments section.
Just tap or click on that, and a window will pop up. From there, you can clean up your print by deleting any parts of the pattern you don’t need. When you hover over an image or text block, it’ll highlight in yellow, and a “trash” icon will appear. Simply click on that to remove anything you don’t want, like extra images or the materials list, if you prefer a shorter version.
Once you’re all set, hit the “PDF” button in the upper left corner of the window. After your PDF downloads, just click “Download PDF,” and it’ll save right to your computer. Or, if you’re ready to print straight away, you can tap the “Print” button instead.
Hopefully, this works well for you!
Happy knitting,
Hills
Fabulous project. Thank you for your wonderful patterns. I, too, like to print efficiently, particularly for a travel project. Could you please send a copy to me, too, or provide a link for an abbreviated pattern?
Thank you so much.
Hi Pamela,
We’re so thrilled you’re a fan of this project and truly appreciate your kind words! I’d be happy to send you a condensed PDF of this pattern and will follow up over email about that. We’d be happy to mail you a printed copy of this pattern as well, so please feel free to let us know if you’d be interested in that, too!
In the meantime, for any of our other free patterns or tutorials, here’s how you can download or print a condensed PDF! First, click on the “Print” button (on your computer, the “Print” button is in the right hand column under “Save To Favorites.” If you’re on a mobile device, the “Print” button is below the pattern and above the comments). After clicking on Print, a window will pop up where you can delete whichever parts of the pattern you’d like to omit (when you hover over an image or portion of the text, it will be highlighted in yellow. Click the “trash” icon to remove it!). Then, just click on the little printer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the window to print the pattern. To download a PDF, you can click on the PDF icon instead!
I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any other questions!
Kindly,
Cat
Just would like to know if you have a tutorial or video of this pot holders project. I really like them.
Thank you.
Hi Gloria,
Not yet! This is a great idea, though, and I would be so happy to share this feedback with our team. Is there a specific part of the project you’d like to see?
Thanks for reaching out, and happy knitting!
Hills
I must be doing something wrong when I make the loop for the beautiful pot holder.
If I follow the directions the way I understand them,
I am not left with the extra stitch needed to connect the loop.
Thank you for your help.
Hi Lucy,
I’m so glad you’re working on the Fresh Picked Pot Holder! I’m happy to help clarify this for you.
I think I have an idea of what might be happening here. You would have cast on 17 stitches for this section out of the entire cast-on, with a marker placed after the 17th stitch. To bind off, you’ll knit the first stitch, and then pass the very last stitch from your cast-on over to bind it off. If you were to start your bind off by passing the beginning of the round (or 1st) stitch over the second stitch, rather than the last stitch of the cast-on, you would find you didn’t have the extra stitch you’re aiming for left afterwards.
This should help anchor the loop to the corner, as well.
I so hope this helps clear things up for you. Please feel free to circle back here with any follow-ups!
Happy knitting,
Hills