Sometimes pattern designs start from a particularly lovely yarn or colour, sometimes they come into your mind fully formed (not often for me – it would be nice!) and sometimes there is a particular detail or stitch you want to use and it takes some time and experimentation to get to use it in a fully fledged design.

 

I have wanted to design a scarf with ribbed ends for quite a while – I’ve also had some lovely soft Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Heathers yarn sitting in my stash for a couple of years – stubbornly not telling me what it wanted to be…

 

So when I came across another skein of the same yarn in a different colour in a charity shop a couple of months ago  I got down to proper thinking and swatching and eventually (after a few false starts – as usual) I came up with the Semitone Scarf.

 

I wanted something simple, with clean lines and a bit of texture. I started off thinking I would carry the garter stitch lines which run up one half of the scarf right to the end on the same side. As I was working on it however, the difference in the gauge between the two sides became more pronounced as the scarf got longer and I decided it would be more even if the garter lines were swapped to the other side for some of the scarf. This turned out to be a much better look I think!

 

So, here is my latest free pattern for you lovely knitters who need a cosy scarf this winter…

Materials needed

Basically, you can make this scarf out of any yarn you have enough of for the length you want – I used 3 skeins of Juniper Moon Farm Herriot yarn, which is DK weight and 218 yards per 100g skein and 4mm (US 6) needles. This made a scarf which is 28cm/11″ wide and 199cm/78″ long (nice and long for wrapping around you on a wintery day!)

But – you could use anything really, as long as you end up with enough fabric to wrap around your neck!

Notes

Sl2 purlwise wyib = slip the next 2 stitches from the left needle to the right needle as if to purl them with the working yarn at the back of the needles.

Sl2 purlwise wyif = as above but with the working yarn in front of the needles

Directions

 

Cast on 62 stitches.

Ribbing –

1st row:  K2, P2, rep to last 2 sts, K2.

2nd row: P2, K2, rep to last 2 sts, P2.

Repeat these 2 rows until you have around 12cm/5″ of ribbing.

Body –

1st row: Knit to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyib.

2nd row: K2, purl to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyif.

3rd row: repeat 1st row.

4th row: K2, P29, knit to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyif.

Repeat these 4 rows until you are almost finished your first skein or ball (with enough for a few rows left), finishing on a 3rd row.

Full ridge row: K to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyif.

Adding 2nd skein/ball of same colour when required, continue as follows:

5th row: K to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyib.

6th row: K2, purl to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyif.

7th row: repeat 5th row.

8th row: K31, purl to last 2 sts, Sl2 purlwise wyif.

Repeat the last 4 rows until you are almost finished your 2nd skein/ball (with enough left for 1 row and weaving in the end).

Repeat Full Ridge Row.

Change to 2nd colour.

Repeat rows 1 to 4 until you have the same amount of half ridges worked with your first skein/ball before the first full ridge row.

Ribbing –

1st row:  K2, P2, rep to last 2 sts, K2.

2nd row: P2, K2, rep to last 2 sts, P2.

Repeat these 2 rows until you have around 12cm/5″ of ribbing.

Cast off and weave in ends.

The slipped stitch selvedge should help the scarf stop curling but you will probably find it helpful to block your scarf too. This will also make the fabric look smoother and more finished.

The finished scarf reminded me of a long piano keyboard with it’s different sets of ridges (or ‘keys’) which is why I called it the Semitone Scarf.

 

Happy scarf knitting!