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May 2008
River Stitch Scarf
If you are looking for a fast and easy scarf pattern for spring, this is it! It is a combination of just two stitches - the most basic one of all, the garter stitch, and a stitch commonly used in scarf patterns, the dropped stitch. The scarf combines these two stitches in a regular alternating pattern.
As to why it is called the River Stitch, it becomes apparent as the scarf grows. Ripples are created of garter stitch bands and divided by dropped stitch rows, which seem to resemble the facets of watery twinkles between them. Before long the image of a sparkling stream emerges.
Garter stitch, of course, just means knitting every row. It creates a pattern of horizontal ridges which are all you need to make a basic scarf, especially if the yarn has a lot of visual interest in itself, as many of the exotic yarns available these days do.
The dropped stitch is featured in many knitting books and magazines, and is one of the first ones you learn after knit and purl to dress up a design in a dramatic and lacy way. It involves wrapping your yarn two or more times around the needle between knit stitches on the row, and on the following row, releasing the wraps as you knit the row. Although it looks great in a fancy textured yarn, it really shows off its form more in a less elaborate one.
The yarn used in this River Stitch Scarf is the cool and breezy Sea Silk by Hand Maiden. It is a combination of 70% silk and 30% seacell. The 100g. skein contains 400 meters and is sold with another beautiful pattern called the Storm Water Scarf. As the amount is plenty for the River Stitch Scarf with leftovers, it would be possible to add on a few stitches to each row and end up with an item more resembling a shawl as I also anticipate blocking would increase the dimensions of this scarf quite considerably. The gauge measures 20 stitches in 4 inches (10 cm) in garter stitch, using 3.5mm needles (or those which give the gauge).
So here is the pattern for the River Stitch Scarf.
Cast on 40 stitches.
Row 1 - Row 6: Knit every row.
Row 7: K1 *YO twice, K1* repeat from * to * to end of row.
Row 8: *K1, drop the 2 yarn overs*, repeat from * to * to end of row.
Repeat Rows 1 through 8 til the scarf measures approx. 7" (190 cm) or to desired length.
Bind off.
Happy Spring!
Shirlene Greer
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902-624-0569 |
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