Sage Tea Towel, Free Knitting Pattern
Kitchen towels are one of my favorite quick knits - they are great for using up single cotton skeins and whipping up a small gift in no time
In this post I'm sharing with you a knitting pattern for Sage Tea Towel - a towel full of texture, yet easy to knitas it only uses knit and purl stitches! The towel is designed with two wide borders on either edge and filled with easy to knit garter stitch in the middle, making it a relaxing project for a summer afternoon!
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Sage 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 2024. 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 43 cm (17”)
supplies
yarn
For this tea towel I used Drops Paris in color Desert Rose, which is really affordable, available in lots of colors and easy to care for!
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. 195 m (215 yds).
needles
5 mm (US 8) straight or circular needles, or to fit gauge
other notions
Tapestry needle and scissors. Row counter recommended, but not required.
gauge
18 stitches x 28 rows in 10x10 cm (4x4”) in garter stitch, blocked
Garter stitch - worked over any number of sts.
All rows: k all sts.
pattern notes
Video tutorials for specific techniques are linked and showing as yellow.
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.
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.
To make sure you don’t run out of yarn before completing all 3 sections of the tea towel, use a kitchen scale. Weigh your yarns separately 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
Cast on 64 sts using Long Tail Cast On, or another cast on technique of your choice.
Work Rows 1-8 a total of four times. (32 rows worked in total)
Row 1 (WS): sl2wyif, *p1, k1, p2* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 2 (RS): sl2wyib, *k2, p1, k1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 3 (WS): sl2wyif, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 4 (RS): sl2wyib, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 5 (WS): sl2wyif, *p3, k1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 6 (RS): sl2wyib, *p1, k3* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 7 (WS): sl2wyif, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 8 (RS): sl2wyib, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Inner PART
The inner part will be worked in garter stitch. Work Rows 1-2 a total of 26 times, then work Row 1 once more. (53 rows of garter stitch worked in total)
Row 1 (WS): sl2wyif, k until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 2 (RS): sl2wyib, k until end of row.
Border 2
Next, work Rows 1-8 a total of four times. (32 rows worked in total)
Row 1 (RS): sl2wyib, *k2, p1, k1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 2 (WS): sl2wyif, *p1, k1, p2* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 3 (RS): sl2wyib, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 4 (WS): sl2wyif, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 5 (RS): sl2wyib, *p1, k3* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 6 (WS): sl2wyif, *p3, k1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Row 7 (RS): sl2wyib, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, k2.
Row 8 (WS): sl2wyif, *k1, p1* until 2 sts left, p2.
Finishing
Bind off all sts using a 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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