Colorwork and Cables Combine in the Twill Pot Holder

When I saw pictures of the Twill Pot Holder from Purl Soho online, I knew I wanted to share it with you. As I read more about it, I knew I needed to share it with you because it uses such an interesting technique.

I expected it to be done with slip stitches, and it is, but there’s also a little cable in there that provides even more of a woven look. The pattern is a simple four-round repeat.

Designed by Hiromi Glover, this pretty potholder is quick to stitch and a handy thing to have in your kitchen for grabbing hot things. It’s worked in cotton yarn so it won’t scorch or melt, and it’s a double thickness to make it extra durable.

The project calls for two colors of sport weight cotton yarn. Their particular choice, Cotton Pure, is an organic cotton, which adds to the luxury of this project, but whatever cotton you like to use is fine, too. I like that this is a non-mercerized cotton, which means its not shiny so the project has a classic, almost well-worn look right off the needles.

The stitch pattern is a multiple of three plus one stitches, so you can also alter the design to use heavier weight yarn if that’s what you have on hand. Working with fewer stitches on a larger yarn will get you closer to the original size, or just make an extra-large potholder or trivet using DK or worsted weight yarn.

This pattern also gives you a chance to use a provisional cast on, and the little loop on the corner for hanging is made with I-cord.

Make this project for your kitchen or make a few to keep on hand for hostess gifts, housewarming presents or to start your stockpile of gifts for holiday gifting. You know it’s coming up faster than you think!

Grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

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