SHIPS WHEEL Cloth

SHIPS WHEEL Cloth Knitting Pattern

Product Overview

The SHIPS WHEEL Cloth is a beginner-friendly knitted dishcloth designed by Ezcareknits. This downloadable PDF pattern creates a practical, decorative washcloth featuring an intricate ships wheel motif rendered through a combination of knit and purl stitches. The finished cloth measures 7 inches wide by 7¼ inches tall, making it an ideal size for everyday kitchen use or bathroom tasks.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a square washcloth with a centered ships wheel design. The design is created entirely through stitch manipulation rather than color changes, making it accessible for knitters new to patterned work. The cloth is suitable for use as a dishcloth, washcloth, or decorative kitchen textile.

Craft and Techniques

Primary Craft: Knitting

The SHIPS WHEEL Cloth employs fundamental knitting techniques appropriate for beginner-level crafters. The pattern uses basic flat knitting on straight needles, worked in rows from cast-on to bind-off. The ships wheel motif is created through strategic placement of purl stitches against a knit background, a technique known as texture knitting or stitch patterning. This approach allows the design to emerge naturally from the fabric structure without requiring color work or complex shaping.

Stitches Used

• Knit Stitch (K): The primary stitch forming the background of the cloth and creating the main fabric structure
• Purl Stitch (P): Used strategically throughout the pattern to create the ships wheel design and textured details. Purl stitches appear in specific rows and stitch counts to form the geometric wheel pattern

The pattern alternates between right-side rows (worked entirely in knit) and wrong-side rows (worked with a combination of knit and purl stitches). This creates a reversible or semi-reversible fabric with texture visible on both sides. The ships wheel design develops gradually across 50 rows, with the purl stitches positioned to create concentric geometric patterns reminiscent of a ships wheel.

Materials and Specifications

Yarn: 100% cotton in medium/worsted weight. The pattern requires approximately 60 yards of yarn, making this an economical project suitable for using yarn scraps or small quantities.

Needles: Straight knitting needles in size 7 (4.5mm) or the size needed to achieve proper gauge

Additional Materials: A darning needle is required for finishing and weaving in yarn ends

Difficulty Level

Rated as beginner difficulty, the SHIPS WHEEL Cloth is designed for knitters new to patterned work. The pattern uses only two fundamental stitches and requires no complex techniques such as increases, decreases, or cable work. The straightforward stitch pattern makes it an excellent project for practicing tension control and stitch consistency while creating a beautiful, functional finished object.