Free Potholder Patterns Make Great Gifts and Charity Projects

Check out this collection of free potholder patterns, including 4 free potholder mitts and 11 free potholder squares

The last time I visited my mother in Ohio, she gave me a huge collection of potholders that she hadn’t been using and wanted to make sure they got some use. A few of them were crocheted (as you can see here). That was enough to get my little knitter blogging brain working… and deciding it was time for a collection of free potholder patterns!

Potholders are the sort of item that everyone needs, but not many of us actually buy for ourselves unless we’re leaving our parents’ home for the first time! For that reason, they make great gifts (especially housewarming or bridal shower gifts), charity knitting projects (terrific for giving to homeless or domestic violence shelters) or charity fundraising projects.

There are two types of potholders, of course: mitts and squares. So I’ve divided this collection into two sections. You can stick with one type, or knit back and forth between the categories.

Let’s begin!

Free Potholder Patterns for Mitts

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Scrappy Felted Oven Mitts: If you have a lot of leftover bulky wool yarn, especially from previous felting projects, this could be the perfect project for you. Put them all together and make a charming pair of oven mitts.

Hot out of the Oven Set: Casserole and Oven Mitts: Here’s another idea for leftover bulky weight wool yarn: knit one or both of these potholder mitt patterns. One pair is the typical oven mitt; the other, the casserole mitts, are joined together with a strip of knitted fabric for extra security while pulling hot, heavy pans (like a casserole dish) out of the oven.

Out of the Frying Pan: Another felted mitt pattern, but unlike the previous patterns, this one requires just worsted weight wool. This is an excellent pattern to try if you tend to have trouble achieving an even gauge throughout a project, because gauge doesn’t matter.

Galway Worsted Felted Oven Mitt: Designed to be used with Plymouth Galway wool yarn (which I love, by the way), this is a very simple felted mitt pattern.

Free Potholder Patterns for Squares

The selection of potholder patterns for squares is quite a bit larger! I’m sure you don’t find this surprising. What I love about knitting potholder squares is that they make learning new techniques easy. Want to learn colorwork? Double knitting? Felting? Potholder squares are the perfect way to do it.

Having said that, you’ll also find many potholder square patterns are quite simple.

Potholders: Knitting Project for Beginners: This is probably the easiest set of patterns of the bunch. It has 4 variations, going from “so-easy-you-could-almost-knit-them-in-your-sleep” to “still pretty easy.”

Mitered Hot Pads: If you mitered along with me a couple months ago, you know mitering is quite easy. If you didn’t… this pattern will give you a crash course in mitered knitting!

Easy Chunky Potholder: The name says it all! You can knit these in bulky yarn. Conversely, you can take 2 strands of worsted weight yarn and hold them together.

Marvelously Bumpy Potholders: This pattern is also quite simple, but be sure to knit at a tight gauge. As the pattern writer points out, a loose gauge could lead to burns, even with double strands of yarn.

Magic Stripe Hot Pad or Scarf: You can use the slipped stitch pattern to make either a square for a hot pad or a long rectangle for a scarf!

Owl Pot Holder: No explanation needed, I think. You know how I feel about owls…

Double Knit Butterfly Hot Pad, Coffee and Tea DK Pot Holders, and TPHPE: All these hot pad patterns are double-knitted in different designs. The double knitting makes them all reversible! TPHPE stands for The Prettiest Hot Pad Ever and creates a beautiful medieval-style design.

Toasty Plus Pot Holder: Finally, this pretty pattern uses stranded colorwork knitting in the round to create extra protection for hands. The colorwork produces simple plus signs and looks really stunning in any two-color combination.

A Note about Yarn

If you knit any of these projects, take care with your yarn. Use wool (if you will felt the project) or cotton (if not) to knit these projects. Acrylic yarn is dangerous to use for potholders because high temperatures will cause it to melt.

With these free potholder patterns, you can knit some quick gifts or help stock a nearby shelter. Which is your favorite?