Twisted Fringe Dish Towel
This crochet dish towel pattern is reminiscent of a “tea towel,” which is usually made of linen or cotton and seems to often have neutral or muted tones. Many of them also have some sort of striping.
The Origin Of This Pattern
This crochet dish towel pattern idea came to me as many ideas come… I saw a ready-made item and thought, “that’s cute.” And then my next thought was, “I wonder if I could crochet that.” I know I’m not the only one who does that!
The item I originally saw was a linen throw blanket that came across as an Amazon ad in my Instagram feed. It was in muted colors, had stripes, and a quirky edging of twisted fringe. It reminded me of something that would be in a scene from the Italian country-side.
I especially liked the mood of the twisted fringe and wondered if there was a way to do that with yarn. I mean, I knew there must be a way if they did it with thread… but was there a way that an everyday person like me and you could do it? So, I googled twisted fringe and, sure enough, found some tutorials! I modified the methods I found a bit to work specifically with ends/tails and it turned out great!
You can find the tutorial for just the twisted fringe HERE.
The Yarn For This Pattern
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Since you can’t crochet with linen, the next best thing for a towel is cotton! But I wanted my towel to have a nice drape to it, so I chose a softer cotton: I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby (in White and Pewter).
I used a larger hook than I normally would with a size 4 yarn so that I would be sure to get a free-flowing towel that would feel good in my hand! It turned out even better than I hoped.
The Pattern
If you would like to purchase an inexpensive, ad-free pdf version of this crochet dish towel pattern, you can find it here at my Etsy shop. (to view the free version, simply keep scrolling down on this page)
Add this crochet dish towel pattern to your Ravelry favorites HERE.
Materials:
- Size 4 100% Cotton Yarn, in 2 colors (I used almost 2 full skeins of I Love This Cotton Yarn, one White and one Pewter, 180 yards each)
- US K/ 6.5 mm Crochet Hook
- Yarn Needle
- Scissors
Gauge:
4” swatch = 12 hdc stitches x 11 rows
Finished size:
25” x 13” (not including fringe)
Stitches Used:
(ch) Chain
(fhdc) Foundation Half Double Crochet
(hdc) Half Double Crochet
Pattern Notes:
Beginning chain of each row does not count as a stitch.
Each time you make a color change at the end of a row, finish off the color, but leave a long tail (about 12 inches). Also, leave a 12 inch tail for the color you are joining. So, in other words, at each color change location, you should have a 12 inch tail for the color you are ending AND the color you are starting. These tails will be used to create the twisted fringe.
On the rows where there is not a color change, you do not need to finish off and leave a tail. There will be enough tails to create the fringe with the color change rows.
I tend to crochet tightly. If your gauge is significantly different than mine, you can move to a smaller hook (or larger if you crochet even more tightly). Some people even need to go down two hook sizes to match my gauge. If you are happy with the height and drape at your own gauge, then feel free to continue as you are. Since this is not a clothing piece, the finished size will not be very significant.
In the pattern, I will refer to the colors as ‘white’ and ‘grey’ (so that you can reference them in the photos), but of course you can substitute whatever colors you like.
Whenever the pattern calls for a color change, I will simply state ‘color change’ at the end of the row. The method of color change that I used in this pattern was: on the last stitch of the row, just before the last yarn over and pull through of the stitch, I dropped the previous color and picked up the new color for the yarn over. I finished off the previous color, leaving a 12 inch tail (as noted above).
Pattern:
Row 1: (white) Fhdc 75. (about 25 inches)
Note: if you do not like to use foundation stitches, the alternative is to chain 77, hdc in the 3rd chain from the hook and in each chain across. (75)
Row 2: Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 3: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 4: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 5: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 6: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 7: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75)
Row 8: Repeat row 7.
Row 9: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 10: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 11: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 12: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 13: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75) Color Change.
Row 14: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75)
Rows 15 – 26: Repeat rows 2 – 13.
Row 27: (white) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75)
Rows 28 – 34: Repeat rows 2 – 8.
Row 35: (grey) Ch 1. Turn. Hdc in the same stitch and in each stitch across. (75). Finish off.
Follow instructions for adding twisted fringe HERE.
Hi Ms Esther, Lovely towels and the twisted fringe really sets them apart! Do you find the “I love this cotton” yarn holds up well with kitchen use and washing? I love the feel of it, wide color range and reasonable price. I also find it’s much easier on my hands than the less soft cottons I would normally think of for kitchen use, but I didn’t know how it would do as more of a work-horse item. ~ Thanks in advance, Raye
Hi Rayetta! I probably wouldn’t use the yarn for a “scrubbing” item (I think it might fuzz a little more than the tougher stuff if scrubbed), but for a towel pattern like this (used for wiping and drying) it is perfect! I definitely love it for the softer feel and it has maintained that through many washings. I am very pleased with how it has held up. Still holding it’s shape and drape. The color may have faded a little, but not so much to diminish the look.
Excellent to hear! Thank you <3
I am new to crocheting. I have made some dishcloths that came out fine.
This dishtowel is confusing. I chained 77 and did hdc but it only came to 73 not 75. Beginning chain is confusing. Chain 1 and hdc in same stitch I did.
But do I count it? If not then I have 72 hdc.
I want to make this for sister’s gift but having trouble. I don’t understand how I can have 75 on first row then 73 on second. I am not changing colors.
Please help!!
Hi Penny, are you referring to the first row or following rows? On the first row, if you are using the chain method, after chaining 77 you will hdc in the 3rd chain from your hook (not the same stitch). This skips two chains, leaving you with a total of 75 at the end of the row. In the following rows you will chain 1, turn and then stitch in the same stitch and each stitch across the row. This should leave you with the same number of stitches for each row as you had in the first row, since you always place one stitch in each stitch from the previous row. If your count is off on any of these rows after being correct in a previous row then it means something got skipped or added. As far as counting, you count the first stitch of the row, but you do not count the chain 1 previous to turning. I hope that helps!