Parsley Tea Towel, Free Dishcloth Knitting Pattern
Spruce up your kitchen with a new knit tea towel!
Parsley Tea Towel is a quick knit full of texture, great for knitting beginners to practice stitches and seasoned knitters looking for an easy, relaxing project. The tea towel will make lovely kitchen decor for you, or as a hostess gift!
Parsley is worked in three sections - two wide borders, and an inner area. It’s worked with i-cord edges on both sides for a neat finish.
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Parsley Tea Towel Free Knitting Pattern
If you haven’t knit from a knitting pattern yet - I highly recommend you check out my post on reading knitting patterns here - it will help you follow the instructions smoothly!
© Whileberry 2023. Please keep in mind that this pattern is for personal use only, and both the pattern and photos can’t be copied or reproduced on another website.
sizes
One size - width 35 cm (14”), length 42 cm (16.5”)
supplies
yarn
For this tea towel I used Lion Brand 24/7 cotton in colorway Bayleaf.
If you'd like to knit the towel in a different yarn - you can choose any similar worsted weight (category 4 - medium) cotton yarn. A few options that should work fine for a tea towel:
Yardage: approx. 170 m (186 yds).
needles
5 mm (US 8) straight or circular needles, or to fit gauge
other notions
Tapestry needle and scissors
gauge
18 stitches x 28 rows in 10x10 cm (4x4”) in garter stitch stitch, blocked
Pattern for gauge: cast on any number of sts and work Row 1 until you reach desired length.
Row 1: k all sts.
pattern notes
As the tea towel is not a wearable item, gauge is not critical in this project - however if you can’t match the gauge listed, the tea towel will differ in dimensions and it may affect the yardage needed.
To make sure you don’t run out of yarn before completing all 3 sections of the tea towel, use a weigh scale. Weigh your yarn before starting the project, then after completing Border 1 section. Note how much yarn you’ve used for the border section (both Border 1 and 2 require same yardage), and work the Inner Area as long as you have enough yarn left to complete the Border 2.
hanging loop
If you'd like to add a hanging loop to your tea towel, you can modify the pattern in finishing section as follows: bind off sts until there are only 2 left on the needles (1 on left needle and 1 on right needle), k1, slip both sts to the left needle. The loop cord will be worked over these last 2 sts. Work Row 1 until the cord measures approx. 10 cm (4”) or desired length.
Row 1 (RS): k2, slip the sts back to the left needle.
Bind off both sts and sew the end of the cord to the back of the tea towel corner to create the hanging loop.
Note that adding the loop will increase the yardage by approx. 5 m (5 yds).
Row totals are noted in italic.
abbreviations
k - knit
p - purl
RS / WS - right side / wrong side
sl2wyib - slip 2 sts purlwise with yarn in back
sl2wyif - slip 2 sts purlwise with yarn in front
st(s) - stitch(es)
** - work instruction between asterisks given number of times or until given moment
instructions
Border 1
The border will be worked in waffle stitch. Cast on 63 sts using a long tail cast on, or another slightly stretchy cast on technique of your choice. Work Rows 1-4 five times.
When slipping the stitches (sl2wyif, sl2wyib) for the i-cord border, pay attention not to make an accidental yarnover when moving the yarn front/back.
Row 1 (WS): sl2wyif, *k2, p1* until 4 sts left, k2, p2.
Row 2 (RS): sl2wyib, *p2, k1* until 4 sts left, p2, k2.
Row 3 (WS): sl2wyif, p until end of row.
Row 4 (RS): sl2wyib, k until end of row.
20 rows worked in this section.
Inner area
This section will be worked in garter stitch - work Rows 1-2 a total of 38 times, then work Row 1 once more.
Row 1 (WS): sl2wyif, k until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 2 (RS): sl2wyib, k until end of row.
77 rows worked in this section.
Border 2
The border will be worked in waffle stitch. Work Rows 1-4 five times.
Row 1 (RS): sl2wyib, k until end of row.
Row 2 (WS): sl2wyif, p until end of row.
Row 3 (RS): sl2wyib, *p2, k1* until 4 sts left, p2, k2.
Row 4 (WS): sl2wyif, *k2, p1* until 4 sts left, k2, p2.
20 rows worked in this section.
Finishing
Bind off all sts (loosely with standard bind off), cut yarn and weave in ends. Block to dimensions.
I hope you enjoyed knitting your project! If you share your project on Instagram, please tag me with @whileberry.creative and #knitwithwhileberry so I can see your lovely knit!
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