I am so excited about today’s episode, mostly because it shows my finished Garter Stitch Angled Scarf! I love the finished project but this project took a good six weeks to finish.
Today’s episode of the podcast includes a review of Lion Brand’s Mandala DK yarn, an overview of how to knit your owner Garter Stitch Angled Scarf, and some sneak peaks of my current works in process (WIPs).
You can watch Episode 5 by clicking here or keep reading (below the video) for some of the pro’s and con’s of the Mandala DK yarn and for the angled scarf recipe.
The Mandala DK yarn by Lion Brand is a great self-striping 100% acrylic yarn that comes in generous cakes with 590 yards (540 meters) weighing 5.3 ounces (150 g). This yarn is also rated to be washed and dried using hot water and high heat, making it a good choice for community or charity knitting where the donated items must be washable and machine dryable.
This self striping yarn comes in a variety of colorways and has blended color transitions. That means the yarn moves from color to color smoothly. The downside to this self-striping yarn is that the striping is not matched from ball to ball. This means you do not get the same color and sequence at the beginning of each ball. Pictured below are four cakes of the Mandala DK yarn in the Wizard colorway; each ball begins and ends with a different color.
All in all, I’ve enjoyed working with this yarn and will knit with it again. If you are looking at knitting a larger project that will take more than a single skein of this yarn, make sure you get skeins that will work in your planned color order, consider using more than one ball at a time, or plan to do some cutting of yarn for color control. For the scarf I knit with the Wizard colorway, I alternated two balls of yarn knitting two rows from each ball (pictured below).
The recipe for the Angled Garter Stitch Scarf knit in the Centaur colorway is below. And if you’re curious about the striped scarf pictured above in the Wizard colorway, click here for more information and that free pattern.
Angled Garter Stitch Scarf Recipe
This advanced beginner scarf is knit primarily using garter stitch (knitting every row) with M1 (make one) increases and two types of decreases: SSK (slip, slip, knit) and CDD (centered double decrease).
This scarf is worked in three sections. First, you cast on and increase stitches until you have your desired width. Second, you knit the length of the scarf increasing along one edge and decreasing on the other. This creates the length of the scarf. To finish your rectangular scarf the third section you knit is worked with decreases along each edge.
If you’re new to the center double decrease (CDD) , check out the step by step instructions in this post about the Anchored hat pattern by clicking here.
Pattern Specifications
- Finished Dimensions: 14″ wide by 80″ long (after blocking).
- Gauge: 24 sts and 40 rows per 4″ square in garter stitch.
Materials
- 1150 yards of DK weight acrylic yarn (Sample shown in Lion Brand Mandala, color 214 Centaur),
- US 5 knitting needles,
- 1 Stitch marker, and
- Yarn needle & scissors (to weave in ends)
Abbreviations
- CDD: Center double decrease or sl2-k1-psso: slip the next 2 stitches, knit 1 stitch, then pass both slipped stitches over the knit stitch.
- CO: Cast on
- k: knit
- m1: make one stitch by knitting into the yarn between two stitches
- p: purl
- ssk: slip, slip, knit: slip next two stitches knitwise, then knit them together through the back loop
- sts: stitches
Cast on and increase stitches:
- CO 3 stitches with US 5 knitting needles or size needed to obtain gauge.
- Row 1: kfb, k1, kfb.
- Row 2: knit all sts.
- Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of row 3 and continue.
- Row 3: k2, m1, knit to end of row.
- Row 4: k2, m1, knit to end of row.
- Repeat rows 3-4 49 times (105 stitches).
Knit Length of Scarf
- Row 5: k2, m1, knit to end of row.
- Row 6: k2, ssk, knit to end of row.
- Repeat rows 5-6 until long edge of scarf is approximately 72″ long.
Decreasing and binding off
- Row 7: k2, ssk, knit to end of row.
- Row 8: k2, ssk, knit to end of row.
- Repeat rows 7-8 49 times (7 stitches remain).
- Row 9: k2, CDD, k2
- Row 10: knit all sts.
- Row 11: k1, CDD, k1
- Row 12: CDD (1 stitch remaining).
- Cut yarn leaving a 6″ tail. Thread yarn on yarn needle and draw yarn through the remaining live stitch. Pull gently, binding off the last stitch. Weave in all loose ends.
- Wash and block as desired. Wear.
If you knit an Angled Garter Stitch Scarf using this pattern recipe and are on Instagram, please share it with me. I really enjoy seeing your projects. I’m @knitmckinley Instagram and I use the hashtag #knitmckinley for my projects and patterns.
Happy Knitting!
~Kara