Easy Washcloth Knitting Patterns

There are so many washcloth knitting patterns (and dishcloth knitting patterns, though we’ll get to those separately) out there, and with good reason. These little projects are relatively fast and easy to knit, they’re a great way to learn new stitches, they’re useful and they make a fun handmade addition to a housewarming gift, teacher appreciation or really any time.

You can search this site and find lots of washcloth knitting patterns (including a handful I designed several years ago), but I thought it was time for a roundup. Can you delay spring cleaning because you need to knit a washcloth to clean with? Maybe.

The Spa Day Facecloth by Anne Mancine (free pattern on Ravelry) was meant by its name to be for your body, not your chores, but the textured stitch pattern would be great for washing dishes as well as your face. This one uses DK weight yarn, though you could make it in more standard worsted if you want (know that it will come out bigger than the pattern calls for).

If you’re a new knitter looking to move beyond knit and purl, the Exposed Brick Dishcloth from Perfectly Knotted is a great choice. It’s worked mostly in stockinette stitch with some texture added by strategically swapping purls and knits.

Oh La Lana has a huge collection of washcloth/blanket block knitting patterns, many of which just use knits and purls. I wanted to share this hourglass one because I think it’s really fun and their patterns are written out or they have a chart so you can work whichever way you want (or use the written instructions to help you learn to read the chart).

The fun thing about washcloths is that you can add just about any simple design you want to the center, still using knit and purl stitches. This heart (which could also be an afghan square) from Daisy and Storm is a great example of that.

If you’re looking for a bunch of basic washcloth knitting patterns, check out this collection from Knit On Designs. It includes five basic knit and purl washcloth designs so you can make a set as a gift or for yourself.

Knit a Washcloth Inspired by Waffles

Knit a Cute Washcloth for Spring

Book Review – Baby Washcloths and Afghan Squares

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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