Knitting and Fundraising for Charity, Part 3: Free Knitting Patterns for Hand Towels and Coasters

Enjoy this collection of fun and fanciful free knitting patterns for hand towels and coasters, great for fundraising

Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

Hand towels are fantastic choices for knitting for charity fundraising. They’re a little more difficult to find in craft sales than dish and washcloths, which means they’ll stand out more and catch the eye of shoppers. Coasters are great choices as well, because they knit up even more quickly than dish/washcloths, and that makes them easier to imprint fun patterns and colors, too. Plus, coasters are one of those items that people aren’t likely to buy for themselves on a regular basis!

Free Knitting Patterns for Hand Towels

Many of these patterns are for towel-toppers that allow you to hang a hand towel a little more easily in a kitchen or bathroom. Not only does this offer you a way to personalize plain hand towels, it also gives you a way to knit up sales products even more quickly!

Mitered hanging towel: This pattern is for a full towel, but it knits up more quickly than you might think. The mitered stitch pattern makes this fun to knit as well as provides a classic design. I knit a set of these for a friend as a bridal shower gift, and she loved it! (Yes, this is the same pattern I featured in the “Mitered Knitting” post a few weeks ago. What can I say, I really love this pattern!)

Bubble Up Towel This is another full towel pattern, but it has such a unique and fun bubble-style edging that it’s sure to be eyecatching.

Tea Towel Topper: Here’s the first of the tea topper patterns. It’s a simple pattern made even better by a brilliant way to attach the topper to a towel without requiring a sewing machine. All you need is an embroidery needle and floss! (This method is referred to in the link below as well.)

Ribbed Towel Topper: If you want to make a towel topper that’s a little more interesting, try this ribbed version.

Decreasing Cable Towel Topper: For an even more interesting version, try cables! Cables always look classy.

Lace Edged Hand Towel: Back to the full towels, this lacy towel is sure to be a hit.

Fine Wine Towel: This charming and fun wine bottle-shaped towel is all but guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.

Fox Tea Towel: It’s a tea towel shaped like a fox. What’s not to love?

Free Knitting Patterns for Coasters

For maximum sales potential, coasters really should be knitted and sold together in sets of at least 4. The exceptions are the patterns that are designed to create sets of items, like the Rug and a Hug or the felted set. Those will make fine sales sets on their own.

Hot Cuppa Coasters: These irresistible coasters are double-knitted (so they’re cute no matter which way is up) and feature darling pictures of steaming coffee.

A Rug and a Hug for a Mug: This is an ingenious set: a “rug” (the coaster, with fringe that makes it actually look like a miniature rug) and a “hug” (a mug cozy that fastens for use with a handled coffee mug). This set is sure to please!

Felted Coasters, Hot Pads, and Beverage Jackets: The name is pretty self-explanatory; this set of patterns create coasters, hot pads, and beverage cozies (the “jackets”) for felting.

Seashell Coasters: Seashells are crowd-pleasers, and these adorable coasters are bound to be, too.

Knit’n Beer!: I haven’t quite figured out how the name relates to the pattern, but I love it anyway. This pattern features mosaic colorwork to create a shamrock design.

Cat Coffee Coasters: This is a set of patterns as well, with three different cat pictures and a cat paw design. The cat designs are beautiful and are sure to be show-stoppers.

Strawberry Coaster: Strawberry designs never get old. This is one of the cutest ways I’ve ever seen to use them!

Sheep’s Mug Mat: I am ewe-ly (hee hee, sorry) in love with this pattern. It creates round circles to which you then attach little knitted sheep’s heads and feet. Too cute!

Turtle Coaster Are turtles more your style? Then try this oh-so-adorable coaster pattern!

Java Flower Coasters: This is an amazing way to use small amounts of wool yarn. Knit up these lovely little flowers and felt them, and voila — the perfect product for fundraising!

Are you dying to start knitting these? I know I am! Do check out the next post in this series, which features cozies and brooches that are great for fundraising!