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This double-thick linen stitch hot pad knitting pattern is easy to make and I designed it to be worked in one piece with minimal finishing by working in the round with two circular needles, but there are other options if you don’t want to do silly knitting tricks like I did.
It’s worked in cotton yarn with an optional liner for extra table top protection. Working stripes is totally optional, but also totally fun.
Supplies
You’ll need about 150 yards total of medium/worsted/weight 4 100 percent cotton yarn. I used Lily Sugar’n Cream in colors Jute and Hot Blue.
The way I did it you’ll need two sets of size 9 US/5.5 mm circular knitting needles, any length 16 inches/40.6 cm or longer will do.
You’ll need a yarn needle, scissors and, if you want to add an interior liner, something 100 percent cotton. I used part of an old towel, but you can use a T-shirt, old napkin or dish towel, or whatever you have handy.
I wanted to make my hot pad in one piece with the cast on end closed up so that all I would have to do to finish it was to graft the stitches together. This is reflected in my linen stitch hot pad knitting pattern. Alternatively you can just cast on the required number of stitches (100) work in linen stitch to desired length and graft, three-needle bind off or do a standard bind off and sew both ends closed. In that case you will only need one circular knitting needle.
Gauge
Gauge isn’t super critical but you do want your fabric to be relatively firm and not see-through. I got 20 stitches and 32 rounds per 4 inches/10 cm in linen stitch in the round.
Size
We’re going for square here, so you can knit to a length that’s equal to one side of the project. Mine is 10 inches/25 cm.
Linen Stitch Hot Pad Knitting Pattern
Working with one needle, cast on 50 stitches using the crochet cast on.
Knit across these stitches, then use your second needle to pick up and knit 50 stitches along the edge of the cast on. You’ll have 100 stitches total. If your needles don’t match you can remember which one is the end of the round, or place a stitch marker to mark the end of the round.
Begin working in linen stitch as follows:
Round 1: *knit 1, slip 1 with yarn in front. Repeat from * around.
Round 2: *slip 1 with yarn in front, knit 1. Repeat from * around.
Because the first round ends with a slip stitch and the second round begins with a slip stitch, you’ll end up with a double slip that’s visible on the side of the hot pad.
When it is folded for use you can’t really see it. If it bothers you, cast on 1 extra stitch on one needle. Then you’ll just repeat knit 1, slip 1 around to the desired length. If you plan to graft the project closed, decrease that extra stitch before you do so.
Continue in pattern, changing colors as you like, until your piece is about square. For me that’s 10 inches/25 cm.
Note that on the sample when I changed colors I did it after round 2 (so the last round ended and the next began with a knit stitch) and worked a round of knitting all stitches before resuming the pattern. This is optional but it makes the lines nice and crisp.
I changed colors after knitting about 4 inches/1- cm in jute, then about 2.5 inches/6.3 cm in blue, about 2.5 inches/6.3 cm in jute again and finishing with blue. I intended to only have the one blue stripe but I ran out of yarn.
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Or, bind off if you plan to sew the end closed without using the live stitches.
Finishing the Hot Pad
If you have changed colors or have yarn ends (like the cast on yarn) on the inside of your hot pad, turn it inside out and weave in ends. This is one of the rare occasions I will tell you it’s also OK to tie knots to hold the ends together since they will be inside the hot pad anyway.
Flip it right side out again. If you want to add a pad, cut a piece of towel or other 100 percent cotton fabric a little smaller than the size of your hot pad.
Stick it inside the hot pad, making sure it doesn’t stick out or fold over.
Use your long tail to graft the stitches together. Use the yarn needle to poke the yarn end down into the hot pad and back up, trimming off the excess.
And there you have it! This linen stitch hot pad looks great on the counter or the table and is so nice to use. I hope you’ll try making one yourself!
