I really need to stop impulse-buying yarn. Once again I had to come up with a plan for one skein, this time a gorgeous ball of silk/wool DK. A yarn this soft and lovely—and expensive—is made to be shown off, and a little scarf/neckwarmer is a great solution. The sparse yardage could be stretched a bit with a lace pattern, and I elected to use a bow-knot-style keyhole rather than have to hunt for buttons to go with it, or have to use a pin.
The lace stitch is a modified ostrich plume, I reduced the length of the repeat to work at a smaller overall size. If you have a bit more yardage you could make a slightly longer scarf, at 109 yards I used every bit of the ball that I had.
It’s really tough to give a gauge for this. The alternating stitch pattern creates a wavy edge, which ranges from about 20–24 st per 4 inches. My recommendation: start knitting the scarf as your gauge swatch, when you get to the keyhole section, stretch it slightly to flatten it while you measure (you could even lightly wet-block it). It should measure about 4.25 inches long by 5.25 inches wide. If you’re worried about hitting gauge, use something that gives you a bit more yardage, then it won’t be as crucial.
Finished Size
approx. 27.25 x 5 inches
Yarn
DK weight, approx. 109 yds.—sample knit with one ball of Rowan Silk Wool DK Geranium 310 Yarn
Needle Size
8 US / 5mm
Notes
The pattern is written so that the scalloped ends are reversed; if you want them to match, work through row 13 of the pattern instead of stopping at row 5 (this will require a little more yardage).The chart shows only one repeat of the lace stitch, the entire scarf is two repeats wide plus two edging stitches on each side.
Abbreviations
st = stitch
K = knit
P = purl
yo = yarn over (increase)
k2tog = knit 2 st together (decrease)
ssk = slip, slip, knit—slip st knitwise, slip 2nd st knitwise, put left needle back through st and knit them both together (decrease)
Pattern
Cast on 28 st.
Knit 2 rows.
Lace pattern
Row 1 (right side): K2, *k2tog twice, (yo, k1) 4 times, ssk twice; repeat from * once more, k2.
Row 2 (and all wrong side rows): K2, p to last 2 st, k2.
Row 3: Knit.
Rows 5–8: Repeat rows 1–4.
Row 9: K2, *(yo, k1) twice, ssk twice, k2tog twice, (yo, k1) twice; repeat from * once more, k2.
Row 11: Knit.
Rows 13–16: Repeat rows 9–12.
Repeat rows 1–8.
Keyhole
Divide st: slip first st to needle, slip second st to a stitch holder (or spare needle); continue across for all st.
On one set of divided st, work 1×1 ribbing (k1, p1 across) for 12 rows.
Break yarn, then work 1×1 ribbing on second set of divided st.
Rejoin (with right side facing): k1 from one needle, k1 from second needle, continue alternating back and forth until all st are on 1 needle again.
Continue lace pattern
Work a wrong side row (k2, p to last 2 st, k2), then start again with row 1 of the lace pattern.
Work 6 more repeats (or until desired length, or until you nearly run out of yarn), then rows 1–5 once more.
Knit 2 rows.
Bind off. Weave in yarn ends, handwash and block.
I was given 1 ball of wool by a friend who had travelled to the UK.
I suspect this was a challenge!! I have been looking for a suitable pattern for this and I think you may have just supplied it. As you have supplied yardage, this makes my ball of wool workable, thank you very much.
I am currently working on another project, but this scarf will be my next, I am really looking forward to knitting it. Will need to wait a few months before I can wear it. this is summer in Western
Australia. Happy Knitting, Linda. (:
The off-season just means you have plenty of time for cold-weather knitting. 🙂
I am wondering if I am missing part of the pattern from looking at your photo of the scarf. I was wondering if there is supposed to be more of the lace pattern after the keyhole area and before the shaping. It looks like mine will be too small and the part that you told us to measure is at least that large if not larger on mine.
I’m not sure what you mean about after the keyhole and before the shaping. After the keyhole, you just go back to working the lace pattern.
I’m not sure what I am doing wrong but I cannot get the second scalloped edge! Is there a special bind off method I’m supposed to be using?
I needed to get this scarf done for Christmas so I just knitted a second piece and grafted it together but I want to know for the next one I make!
Thank you!
First, make sure you’re ending with a pattern row, not the stockinette rows, those will tend to flatten out the scalloping. I think I used a traditional bind-off, which also has a tendency to flatten, so I blocked it extra hard. Something like a sewn bind-off would probably work better.
Here’s a bunch of bind-off techniques from Knitty (sewn one is at the bottom of the page): http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html
I still don’t understand. At what point do you begin the keyhole? What if I want a longer scarf? Should I just measure and decide I’d like a 24 inch scarf, therefore should begin the keyhole bind off when the scarf measures 12 inches?
The lace repeat is 16 rows. The instructions tell you to work through it once, then rows 1-8 again–so you’d be doing the lace repeat 1 1/2 times before starting the keyhole.
The original scarf was about 27 inches long, and honestly I don’t think it’s going to work well if it’s any shorter than that. If you want to lengthen the scarf, you could add an extra lace repeat before and after the keyhole–that way you’d be adding the same amount to both ends.
l am confussed can not see rows 4,10,12. Please help
The instruction is in row two. “Row 2 (and all wrong side rows): K2, p to last 2 st, k2.”
Thank you for this wonderful pattern! It’s absolutely perfect for the holidays. I’m fairly new to the knitting world, so I’m wondering if you’d help me with 1 part… when I start the keyhole & begin slipping stitches onto a stitch holder, do I slip the stitches knitwise? Is it a general rule of thumb that I should always slip stitches knitwise (unless otherwise stated) or am I getting that backward? Thanks so much for sharing & for any help you can offer. God bless!
In this case, you’re just slipping the stitches to get them out of the way. So slip them purlwise, so they don’t get turned around or twisted.