Seed Stitch Dish Cloth Knitting Pattern

A Subtle Pattern that Looks Lovely

If you can knit and purl, there are so many patterns available to you – like this simple yet lovely dishcloth pattern. Not long after we moved into the new house here in North Park, my fiancé decided to replace the creepy old 1970’s green refrigerator with a beautiful built in bar. We had put a lot of different glasses on our wedding registry and were really looking for a way to display them. So Chris went off to Lowe’s to find some wood and brackets, and I ran to the yarn store. He got what he needed to build a rustic looking basement bar cabinet, and I grabbed some distressed looking cotton yarn, died to look like old denim. From these, I planned to make some dishtowels for spills, condensation, and just to add a soft touch to a very industrial looking design.

The bar came together in a few weeks, as his work time was interrupted by his nursing shifts. It also required a bit more work, as Chris made sure to build it the right way, and notched the shelved into the existing supports for an extra added bit of hidden storage space. The result was stunning. A hand stained counter top, built a top of mini-fridge that one of our dear family friends sent us. For a top the bar, I knitted a black and white cotton dishtowel using garter and seed stitches. The pattern for this dishcloth, which can be used from a bar top, to oven door, to even as a hand towel in your bathroom, is below.

Note: If you are a beginner, this pattern recommends that you slip the first stitch as if you were to knit it, in order to keep a nice, neat edge to the towels. Simply insert the right hand needle, as if you were going to knit the stitch, and transfer it from the left hand needle. No need to wrap your yarn, just hold it at the back of the work.

Seed Stitch Dishcloth Pattern

Uses almost 2 full skeins of DMC Natura Just Cotton, Medium.

Cast on: 45 Stitches using a US size four needle.

Rows 1-5: Slip first stitch knit-wise, Knit all stitches.

Remaining Rows until the dishcloth/dish towel has reached your desired length:

Slip first stitch knit-wise, K2, *P1, K1* Repeat from * to * until the last four stitches, P1, K3

When the dishcloth has reached the desired length (I kept mine at about 15 1/2 inches) from the cast on edge:

Knit five rows, slipping the first stitch of each row knit-wise.

Something to consider as you are determining the length of your towel, you will likely fold it in half, or hang it (also folding it in half), so keep in mind that 1/2 of your length is what will often show. If I were to hang my towel, I might have made it a bit longer, closer to 16 or 17 inches.

If you’d like to adjust the pattern, remember there are three stitches on each side of the pattern for a border, and an odd number in between as you’ll want to begin and end every row with a purl stitch to keep the seed stitch pattern. Otherwise, you’ll have to alternate rows starting with a Purl stitch after the border for the first row, and a knit stitch the next, to keep the seed stitch pattern.

If you find any errors in, or have any questions about the pattern above, please get in touch with me!