Crochet Hanging Towel Patterns: Granny Square & Flower Toppers

• LevelEasy
• Time1-2 Hours
• Hook5.0 mm
• YarnWorsted

About This Pattern

Materials

Crochet Abbreviations

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

sl st

slip stitch

MR

magic ring

Crochet Hanging Towel Patterns: Granny Square & Flower Toppers

Create the Hook

New to crochet? Start with simple patterns and basic stitches. A rectangular towel with a button loop is a great first project. It's a chance to practice while making useful items for your home. As you get better, try different yarn colors and textures.

The top-down crochet method is ideal for kitchen towels. Begin with a simple chain and work down, making a sturdy loop. This way, you can easily change the size and design. You can add textured stitches or colorful stripes to fit your kitchen's style.

Chain 20.

1. Row 1(19)

   Single crochet in the second chain from the hook and across (19 sc).

2. Rows 2-5

   Chain 1, turn, and single crochet across.

Attach the Hook to the Towel

Fold the top of the towel down about 1/3 of the way.

Place the hook on the folded edge and sew it to the towel using slip stitches.

Finishing the Hook Towel

Fasten off and weave in the ends.

Create the Granny Square

This pattern incorporates the classic granny square technique, adding a vibrant touch to your towel.

Start with a magic ring and chain 3.

1. Round 1

   Work 2 double crochets, chain 2, and repeat until you have 4 corners. Join with a slip stitch.

2. Round 2

   Chain 3, work 3 double crochets in the first chain space, chain 2, and repeat in each corner space.Continue until the square reaches the desired size.

Attach the Granny Square to the Towel

Place the granny square on the towel's folded edge and sew it in place using slip stitches.

Finishing the Granny Square Towel

Fasten off and weave in any ends.

Create the Flower

This decorative pattern features crocheted flowers that make your towel stand out beautifully.

Chain 4 and join to form a ring.

1. Round 1

   Chain 3 (counts as the first double crochet), then work 11 double crochets into the ring. Join.

2. Round 2

   Chain 1, then single crochet in the first stitch, chain 5, skip a stitch, and repeat until you have a series of loops.Attach the flower to the towel: place the flower on the towel's folded edge and sew it in place.

Finishing the Flowered Towel

Attach the top with a simple row of single crochet as the hook.

Decorative Bathroom Hanging Towel Design

Make your bathroom stand out with decorative towels. Use soft cotton yarn and delicate stitches for lacy patterns or intricate borders. These towels are great gifts and add elegance to any powder room.

More photos

Important Notes

• 💡 Use 100% cotton in worsted weight, not acrylic. The whole point of a hanging kitchen towel is absorbency, and acrylic will push water around instead of soaking it up. Cotton also holds the granny square's shape after washing, which acrylic won't.
• 💡 Cotton yarn is best for towels because it's absorbent and lasts long. Choose medium-weight cotton yarn in colors that match your home — variegated yarns can make simple patterns interesting, while solid colors are great for detailed designs.
• 💡 Practice the basic stitches this project uses — chain, single crochet, and double crochet — before you begin. They are the base of most towel patterns, and a few practice rows make the hook piece come out even.
• 💡 The size H (5.0 mm) hook is right for the granny square and flower, but consider going down a size for the hook piece so the strap stays firm under the weight of a damp towel.
• 💡 Place a stitch marker in each of the four corner spaces of the granny square as you finish Round 1. Because you keep adding rounds until the square reaches the size you want, it's easy to lose track of which chain space is a corner and end up with a rectangle.
• 💡 Pre-wash your dish towel before attaching anything. Cotton towels shrink on the first wash, and a pre-shrunk towel means your carefully fitted topper won't end up puckered along the seam.
• 💡 The granny square and the flower are each sewn onto the towel's folded edge in the original patterns, so either one works on its own. If you want both, sew the flower onto the granny square while the pieces are still flat — far easier than wrestling a needle around a bulky towel, and you can reposition the flower until the placement looks right.
• 💡 Leave long tails at the start and end of each motif — around six inches — and use them for sewing the pieces together rather than joining fresh yarn. Fewer separate ends means fewer things to work loose in the wash.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

• Working the hook strap too long

  The pattern starts with a chain of 20, but handles and knobs differ. Wrap that starting chain around your actual oven handle or knob before you work Row 1, and add or remove chains until it sits snug with only a little give. Cotton has almost no stretch recovery, so a strap that feels slightly tight at first will settle into the right size after a few uses rather than growing loose.

• Crocheting the hook piece at a loose

  The hook piece is the only load-bearing part of this project, so it needs to be firmer than you'd normally work. If your stitches look airy on the size H (5.0 mm) hook, drop to a G (4.0 mm) for the hook piece only and keep the H for the granny square and flower, where a little openness is desirable.

• Letting the granny square's

  Round 1 sets four corners with a chain 2 at each one, and Round 2 works three double crochets into a chain space with chain 2 at every corner. Count your corner spaces at the end of each round before joining and make sure all four are still there. Blocking the finished square lightly with a damp cloth also squares up any wobble.

• Pulling the starting ring of the flower

  The flower starts with chain 4 joined into a ring, and Round 1 crowds 12 double crochets into that small opening. Work those stitches over the ring rather than into individual chains, then snug the tail before moving on. On a small two-round flower the center is fully visible, so a gap there is the first thing the eye lands on. Weave the tail in afterward rather than trusting a knot.

• Sewing the topper on so shallowly

  The pattern has you fold the top of the towel down about a third and sew the hook piece to that folded edge with slip stitches, so make sure every stitch passes fully through both layers of towel fabric rather than skimming the nap. A surface-only attachment will tear out the first time someone yanks the towel dry-handed. Sew along the entire width of the hook piece, not just the two corners.

• Carrying the second color loosely

  This project uses separate motifs rather than long color runs, so cut and rejoin your yarn at each color change instead of carrying floats. Leave a six-inch tail and weave it into the back of the stitches in two directions. Floats on a kitchen item snag on hands, rings, and cabinet corners.

• Choosing a decorative button that isn't

  The materials list calls for decorative buttons for hanging, so test the button against the finished strap before sewing it down — cotton doesn't stretch to accommodate an oversized button. Pick a flat plastic or coconut-shell button rather than a shank button with metal or glued parts, because this piece will go through the washing machine regularly.

Variations

• Color is where this pattern gets fun, because the hook, the granny square, and the flower can each be a different shade. The source suggests choosing medium-weight cotton in colors that match your home, using variegated yarns to make simple patterns interesting and solid colors for the more detailed designs. My go-to kitchen combination is a cream hook piece with a sage green granny square and a soft butter yellow flower center — it reads farmhouse without being fussy. For a bathroom set, try dusty blue and white with a pale grey flower, which coordinates with almost any tile. If you want maximum contrast, work the granny square in a variegated cotton and keep the hook and flower in one solid pulled from the variegated colorway so the whole thing stays anchored. Yarn substitutions are easy since this is a two-color, small-yardage make. Lily Sugar'n Cream and Bernat Handicrafter Cotton are the classic workhorses here, both worsted and both machine washable, which matters for a piece that lives near a sink. Peaches & Creme gives slightly tighter stitch definition if you want the granny square clusters to pop. For a softer bathroom version, a cotton-blend like Scheepjes Cahlista drapes a little more while still absorbing water. Size changes are simple too: the granny square is worked until it reaches the size you like, so add another round of clusters for a wider topper on a large bath towel, or skip the square entirely and use just the hook piece plus the flower for a minimal look. Add chains to the starting chain of 20 if your oven handle is thick, and take a few away for a slim cabinet knob. A set of three in graduating shades of one color makes a lovely stacked gift.
• I keep coming back to this one because it fixes a real annoyance in about the time it takes to watch the kettle boil. My kitchen towels used to end up on the floor twice a day, and now they hang on the oven handle exactly where I left them. What I love most is how the hook piece is genuinely tiny — a chain of 20 and five short rows and you have a working strap — so the reward comes fast. Then the granny square gives you that satisfying moment when the three-double-crochet clusters snap into a recognizable square on the second round, and suddenly it looks like a proper vintage piece instead of a scrap of fabric. The flower is my favorite part to make. Two rounds and those petal loops just appear, and because you work them in a contrast color, the whole topper reads as intentional design rather than a quick fix. And it's a wonderfully forgiving cotton stash project. Half a ball of leftover kitchen cotton in two colors, a size H hook, one button, and you've got a finished thing in your hands the same afternoon.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I use a store-bought kitchen towel, or do I need to crochet the towel too?

  A store-bought cotton dish towel is exactly what this pattern is designed for — the materials list calls for one. You're crocheting only the hanging hook piece, the granny square, and the flower, then sewing that assembly onto the towel's folded top edge. This is what makes it such a fast project.

• How do I make the hook piece fit my oven handle?

  The pattern starts with a chain of 20, but handles vary. Wrap that starting chain around your actual handle or knob before working Row 1, and add or remove chains until it's snug with just a little room to slip on and off. Thick oven bars need noticeably more chains than a slim cabinet knob.

• Is the granny square or the flower required, or can I make just the hook?

  The hook piece is the functional part, and the granny square and flower are decorative additions from two separate variations. You can absolutely make a plain version with just the hook for a minimal look, or add only the flower for a bathroom towel. Mix and match depending on the room.

• Will the towel topper survive the washing machine?

  Yes, as long as you use cotton yarn and a washable flat button. Wash on a normal cycle and lay flat or tumble dry low. The main risk is a shank button or one with glued decoration coming apart, so choose a simple flat button when you can.

• How much yarn do I need for one hanging towel?

  This is a genuine scrap-buster — the hook piece, a small granny square, and a two-round flower together use only a small amount of medium-weight cotton. A single ball of kitchen cotton will comfortably make several toppers, which is why they work so well as a matching gift set.

Original pattern: https://crochetblog.net/crochet-hanging-towel-patterns/

About the Author

Marisol QuinteroWho runs Crochet Obsessed, why a stitch count sits at the end of every round, how a pattern gets written here, and the things this site will never do.