Two Color Garter Stitch Scarf
At My Sister Knits we are still wanting projects that require little concentration. We are excited that things are opening up and the Covid restrictions are easing but our minds need time to recover from the stressors of the last many months.
Fortunately, Jess Guy has designed a lovely, easily wearable scarf that fits the bill! This scarf uses two colors and is a squishy garter stitch. It starts with a cast on of three stitches. The only techniques required are knowing how to increase and decrease!
Here is the scarf knit with three different yarns. It’s an excellent way to see the way different yarns look and feel in the same project!
Jess’s scarf can be knit in any weight with any yarn. You’ll want to go up in needle size from what is suggested on the ball band. For instance, many fingering weight shawls are knit on a US size 6; worsted weight shawls often call for an 8 or 9. Knit a few inches and see how you like the fabric that’s developing.
Here are the pattern steps:
Cast on three stitches in any way you like. This will be the right side. Mark the right side with a locking stitch marker to make life easier for yourself!
Knit five rows, switching colors every two rows on a right side row.
On every sixth row increase at the beginning of the row by knitting one stitch, then work your increase stitch. You can use any increase you like. Jess has one she’ll be teaching in her class but we think that a kfb would work just fine. If there’s an increase you’d like to learn, this would be a great project for that!
Continue in this manner until you’ve used up half your yarn.
Knit five rows.
On every sixth row decrease at the beginning of the row by knitting one stitch, then knitting two stitches together (K2tog).
Work until you have three stitches left and bind off!
Jess is going to teach a class on it Tuesdays June 1st and 8th from 5:30 to 7pm. You can sign up for it by clicking here or by calling the shop at 970.407.1461.
One the left, Julie Asselin Leizu fingering. On the right, Woolberry worsted weight
Jess will teach the class using aran weight yarn but we are experimenting with making in all weights! We have three samples in the shop, each knit with a different yarn.
Our samples use neutral colors but we can’t wait to see this created with all sorts of colorways!
On the left is Hue Loco fingering weight, on the right are Skinny Singles fingering weight.
You may be wondering how to tell when you’ve used up half of your yarn. There are a couple of ways to do this.
If you have a food scale that measures in grams, weigh your yarn before you start. Write that number down! Every now and then weigh the skeins you’re knitting from one at a time. When one of them reaches the halfway point, start decreasing.
If you don’t have a scale at home, we can divide your skeins into two for you. When you finish your first two half skeins, it’s time to start decreasing. It’s that easy!
On the left is DK weight Roan. The two Six and Seven Fiber non-superwash worsted weight yarns on the right have a softer, more subtle look than the superwash speckled yarns.
Remember that yarns from different companies can be used together. Also, for this project as well as many others, a singles and a plied yarn can be used together.
This scarf will have totally different looks and feels depending on which yarn is used. It can be classic and sophisticatedly subtle with neutral shades or you can go wild and have fun with color! It all depends on your personality or the purpose you’re making it for.
Which yarn would you choose to coordinate with the one in the middle? They all have bits of pink, orange, and black in common! These are a combination of Hue Loco and Skinny Singles yarns.
Here’s a way to coordinate speckled yarns….go on a treasure hunt upstairs in the shop to find two that have some of the same colors in them. Julie is knitting one up now in two yarns that have several of the same colors and we’re anxious to see the result!
Check your stash to see if there’s a skein that you’ve been dying to use but haven’t found the right project...and bring it to the shop to select color number two! This is an excellent accessory to use that speckled yarn you bought because you loved the colors so!
This photo shows the point where the increases end and the decreases start.
If you’ve never carried yarn up the side of a project, here is a tutorial.
This is a project where the yarn will be the focus. The colors, and how they work together, will show up brilliantly with the simple garter stitch.
We can’t wait to see the different combinations that you will choose!
Happy knitting,
Jenny