Fair + Square Washcloth
In our gorgeous 100% organically grown Tulip Cotton, knitting our Fair + Square Washcloth pattern is so quick and fun, it almost feels like cheating!
The game plan? This pattern starts at the outer edge, with a simple, little technique to work the hanging loop by binding off a section of cast-on stitches.
As you continue knitting and purling your way around the circle, four sets of decreases create neat diagonal lines that crisscross the center of the square.
Tulip Cotton is a lovely choice for any washcloth, thick and plush, quick to knit and wonderfully soft. Its 100% Turkish cotton is a long-staple fiber, which is extra strong, very smooth, and grows softer with age and wear.
It’s spun into twenty-eight very fine plies, a construction that creates a durable, pill-free fabric. And Tulip Cotton is unmercerized, ensuring a beautiful, matte finish and absorbent quality … All in all, a winning match for handknit washcloths.
And the ace up our sleeve: It takes just one skein of our gorgeous Tulip Cotton to knit each Fair + Square Washcloth!
We’ve had a field day with Tulip Cotton’s palette of gorgeous colors. We’ve put together seven 4-skein color palettes, or do what we did and make a slew of washcloths with our ginormous 28-Color Rainbow bundle!
Play by the rules with a Fair + Square Washcloth Bundle, or strike out on your own with individual skeins of Tulip Cotton. Either way, it’s all fun and games with our cute and easy Fair + Square Washcloths!
Designed for Purl Soho by Purl Soho designers Keith Foster and Gaby Bush based on our Fair + Square Blanket, originally designed by Purl Soho designer, Jake Canton. Click here to see even more of Keith’s work!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoFairAndSquareWashcloth, and #PurlSohoTulipCotton. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
To make just one Fair + Square Washcloth, you’ll need…
- 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Tulip Cotton, 100% organically grown cotton. Each skein is approximately 131 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 130 total yards required.
You’ll also need…
- US 7 (4.5 mm) 16- and 24-inch circular needles
- A set of US 7 double pointed needles
- Stitch markers, including one unique
- A removable stitch marker
Our Fair + Square Washcloth Bundle comes in a 28-Color Rainbow (shown above), which you can use to make the same 28 washcloths we made. Or pick up a 4-skein bundle to make a color-coordinated set of four washcloths. Choose from… (NOTE: The Fair + Square Washcloth Bundles are no longer available.)
TOP ROW
- Seashell: Heirloom White, Icy Pink, Pink Cliff, Fresh Peach
- Dahlia: Wild Watermelon, Gladiola Red, Red Sequoia, Mulled Wine
MIDDLE ROW
- Cornfield: Amber Honey, Sesame Seed, Mimosa Yellow, Yellow Marigold
- Pear: Yuzu Yellow, Fresh Honeydew, Caper Green, Spring Leaf
BOTTOM ROW
- Verdigris: Pine Bough, Blue Spruce, Aqua Sea, Icecap Blue
- Denim: Blue Talc, Faded Blue, Deep Sky, Ocean Blue
NOT PICTURED
- Oyster: Garden Pansy, Gray Frost, Pale Iris, Tin Gray
GAUGE
17 stitches and 34 rounds = 4 inches in garter stitch
NOTE: You’ll use every last bit of your skein for this project! To be sure you don’t run out, we recommend that you check your gauge (but do not cut the yarn so you can use your gauge swatch yarn for your washcloth!) and be sparing with tails.
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 10¼ inches x 10¼ inches square
PATTERN
Using a basic Long Tail Cast On and the 24-inch circular needles, cast on as follows…
Cast on 15 stitches, place a unique marker (this will become the end-of-round marker after creating the hanging loop), [cast on 44 stitches, place marker] 3 times, cast on 44 stitches. [191 stitches]
Without placing a marker, join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
CREATE HANGING LOOP
Knit first stitch of next round, then pass last stitch of cast-on over to bind off. Place a removable marker on bound-off stitch.
Bind off 14 more stitches to unique marker and slip remaining stitch back to left needle…
…then, with left needle, pick up back leg of marked stitch (indicated with pink arrow above) and knit 2 together (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. [176 stitches remain]
CONTINUE
Set-Up Round: Knit to end of round.
Round 1: Purl to end of round.
Round 2: [Slip slip knit, knit to 2 stitches before next marker, knit 2 together, slip marker] 4 times. [8 stitches decreased]
Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 8 stitches remain, changing to smaller circulars, then double pointed needles, as necessary and removing markers on final round.
Cut yarn, leaving an 8-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.
FINISH
Weave in remaining cast-on tail, securing Hanging Loop further as needed.
Gently wet block, or machine wash and dry as desired.
This is a lovely pattern, and I want to knit it, but not sure that I am skilled enough to knit this pattern without help – especially the hanging loop details. I would love it if there were videos of your patterns being worked since I’m definitely not an advanced knitter and following along with a video would help me to improve my skill set!
Hi Valerie,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’ll be sure to pass along to our team that there’s interest in more video content focusing on the process of knitting up our patterns!
In the meantime, we highly encourage you to give this pattern a try and do have a few video tutorials for techniques linked in the pattern! They are the Long Tail Cast On, Slip Slip Knit, and Knit 2 Together. For other techniques such as binding off, please feel free to check out our full list of tutorials, many of which include videos. I hope this helps!
All the best,
Cat
I would like to knit this pattern as well, but without a video I doubt that I can manage it. The written instructions, especially the hanging loop details , are very confusing. I read it twice already, and still have no idea what to do. I hope, that there will be better instructions sometime soon.
Hi Petra,
I’m afraid that we do not have the time or resources to create a video for this project, but we’re happy to help troubleshoot! Can you let me know what about the written instructions are confusing to you? We can absolutely help clarify anything that’s difficult to understand!
All the best,
Lili
do you have to make the loop? if not do you adjust the stitiches?
Hi Lori,
That’s a great question! You can totally make this project without the loop! To do so, just cast on 44 stitches for each side, join for working in the round, and follow the pattern as written from the CONTINUE section starting with the Set-Up Round. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Cat
I’d like to skip the loop too but I’m a little confused. So I would cast on 44 stitches, place a marker – 4 times total, is that correct? And then move on to the CONTINUE section. Why would I join in the round, isn’t this knit flat? Sorry if I’m being a little dense. LOL I consider myself more of a beginner knitter so this pattern may be a bit beyond my capabilities at the moment (although I do like to try new things so I can grow my skills). 🙂
Hi Deb,
Happy to help clarify! Yes, you cast on 44 stitches and place a stitch marker 4 times. You should end up with a total of 176 stitches on your needles, plus 4 stitch markers. Then, you move onto the CONTINUE section and follow the rest of the pattern as written!
And actually, this pattern is knit in the round, even though it may not seem to be! You start on the outer edge of the washcloth and knit inwards, decreasing by 8 stitches every other round until 8 stitches remain at the very center.
All the best,
Lili
This washcloth is just so cute in it’s simplicity. I’m planning on making one in as many colours as possible!
This would make a great small blanket for a baby.
I agree. I am trying to figure out how many stitches would need to be cast on to do so.
When making the hanging loop, does one use the double pointed needles for that?
Hi Virginia,
Thanks for reaching out! Actually, you will not need DPNs for the hanging loop at all. It’s created by binding off 15 stitches after just the cast-on. There’s a handy photo tutorial in the pattern that shows how this works! You can view it in the CREATE HANGING LOOP section.
Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Hi Cat,
This is a beautiful pattern and I am anxious to try it. Since I find a 10 inch square too big to handle, how would I adjust the pattern to a 6-7 inch square which is more comfortable for my hands.
Thank you.
Hi Helen,
For an approximately 6-to-7-inch-wide washcloth, I’d recommend casting on 127 stitches! From there, you can follow the rest of the pattern essentially as written, just making sure to place your stitch markers after every 28 stitches, not 44.
All the best,
Lili
I love Helen’s idea of a smaller wash cloth and appreciate your recommendation regarding the number of stitches to cast-on for a 6- inch wide wash cloth. Any idea how much yarn would be required? I had bought 6 skeins of the Tulip Cotton and now have bits left of each skein. Was hoping I had enough to one of the smaller wash clothes. The original 10 X 10 Inches would be approximately 100 square inches. A 7 X 7 inches would be approximately 49 square inches or about 1/2 of the original. Would yarn scale accordingly? Instead of 130 yards, 60-65 yards or instead of 100 grams, 45-50 grams? Thinking I could weigh my left-overs and somehow back into to how many stitches to cast on. Any other proportions or hints on how to would be appreciated.
Hi Monica,
You have exactly the right idea! Yardage is dependent on surface area, and since 7 by 7 inches is about half of 10 by 10 inches, then a 7 by 7-inch washcloth will take about half of the original yardage.
Once you weigh your yarn, you can first calculate the yardage, using this ratio: 100g / 131 yards = [your yarn’s weight]g / x yards. Next, solve for x to figure out how many yards you have available. Then, create the following ratio: 130 yards / 100 square inches = [your yardage] yards / x square inches. Solve for x, and then take the square root of the result. That will give you the edge length of the largest washcloth you can make with your available yardage!
Then, to figure out your cast-on number, multiply the number of stitches per inch (4.25 stitches) by 4 times the edge length that you just calculated, and cast on the nearest multiple of 8 stitches, plus an additional 15 (for the hanging loop). Then you can pretty much follow the pattern as written!
All the best,
Lili
Could I use the 16” size 7 without the 24,” or is that just too short?
Hi Judy,
Yes, you can use only the 16-inch needles!
All the best,
Lili
After casting on all the stitches, do i knit a round and then make the loop?
Thanks,
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thanks for writing in! You will create the loop during the first few stitches of the very first round but binding them off. There’s a handy photo tutorial on this step included in the pattern, in case a visual guide will help!
All the best,
Lili
If knit is wool, would this make a good hot pad/trivet do you think?
Hi Rachel,
I think that’s a great idea! Please let us know how it goes if you try this out!
All the best,
Lili
I would love to have this pattern in a downloadable format. Where do I find that. I bought a cotton bundle and LOVE LOVE LOVE the yarn!!!
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m glad to hear that you’re loving Tulip Cotton! Here’s how you can download a copy of this pattern: 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, click on the “PDF” button in the upper left-hand corner of the pop-up window. Once your PDF has finished downloading, just click the “Download PDF” button, and it will be saved to your computer! (You can also click the “Print” button if you’d like to print the pattern.)
Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Hi Lili
I cast on all the 191 stitches, but had a bit long of a tail left over…maybe 2 feet; am probably 2/3s done and worried that I will need more yarn. Is there a way to estimate when casting on the length for this many stitches? I did an inch per stitch and had too long of a tail. Hate to worry about not being able to finish….it is adorable so far, and to the knitter who was worried about the loop, don’t worry! Follow the written instructions carefully along with the photo’s and you will be fine. It is very cute little loop!
Thanks so much
Patty
Hi Patty,
We generally recommend casting on with a tail that’s 3.5 times the length of your cast-on! But another way to get an even closer estimate once you’ve already cast on is to undo the cast-on, and just move your slipknot a few inches further down, depending on how much of a leftover tail you had on the first attempt.
In terms of running out of yarn, as long as you’re on gauge, you should be fine! The yardage requirements have a bit of a buffer built into them to account for things like the cast-on tail being too long. But the main thing is to make sure that your gauge is accurate, since an inaccurate gauge will cause you to run out of yarn.
All the best,
Lili
So I didn’t have enough yarn after casting on too long of a tail . I do have the 2.5 feet to attach; what would be best method with this cotton yarn to attach this segment so I can finish; this pattern really does use every inch of yarn!
Please advise and thank you!
Hi Patty,
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t end up having enough yarn to finish! To join in the extra segment of yarn, we would recommend just starting to knit with it. You can then weave in the ends after you’re done knitting!
All the best,
Lili
All the Best to you too!
Just wanted to say that in case I forget at the end! Thank you for your help, it is nice to know you are there, this is one of the reasons I love Purl Soho. The wash cloth came out just adorable and I have more colors on the way. Thanks for taking some of the guess work out of the tail length.
Just wanted to share this in case it helps others…instead of switching to smaller circular needles or to DPNs, I stayed with the 24″ circular and switched over to the Magic Loop method when the stitches felt like they were too stretched out around the circle. For me, that was about 16-14 inches between stitch makers. It was a recommendation from my local yarn shop when I went in to buy the 16″ circulars recommended and they were out. It’s worked like a charm–if you’re familiar with the Magic Loop technique.
Correction to comment regarding Magic Loop…16-15 STITCHES between stitch markers. Oops!
Can you make this with Double pointed needles?
Hi Annie,
Because the length around the edges of this washcloth is relatively large, I would not recommend beginning on DPNs, since the stitches will be at risk of falling off. Instead, I’d recommend beginning on circular needles, and then switching to DPNs when the circumference is small enough!
All the best,
Lili
Thanks so much!
Is there a replacement yarn for this pattern, or will you be getting more of this yarn soon? I’d like to try this pattern but the bundles and yarn choices are no longer available. Thank you!
Hi Alli,
That’s a great question! Campo and Sunshower Cotton would both make great replacements for this pattern. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella