Knit Sampler Scarf – Free Knit Pattern
As the age old saying goes (or at least from the moment George R.R. Martin published his Song of Ice and Fire series turned mega HBO hit Game of Thrones), ‘Winter is coming!’
Despite it being such a warm and humid fall, the weather is finally turning chilly and a few frosty mornings have graced our presence here in Western North Carolina (we even had some snow the weekend before Halloween!), which means its time to break out the cold weather gear we all know and love.
Toques, hats, beanies, gloves, mittens and cowls are all great accessories to fight off the chill of winter, but none is more renowned and cherished than the classic scarf. Scarves are incredibly versatile and can be made in a myriad of ways and materials. Handmade scarves crafted from yarn happen to be my favorite though.
The idea/design for this scarf came about as I was creating a swatch for a children’s sweater project I had in mind. As a fairly new knitter, I hadn’t yet tried combination knit/purl stitches and really wanted to try my hand at the moss (seed) stitch I’d seen in my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I grabbed my needles and some new super chunky yarn I’d purchased and started a swatch.
Once my swatch was squared up (but not bound off), I thought about other stitch combinations I wanted to try but didn’t know the names of them at the time. I referenced a knitting e-book I’d checked out from the library and found a few that caught my eye and wanted to swatch those as well. Instead of creating square swatches of each of these stitch combos, I thought to myself “Why not just keep knitting and separate them with blocks of stockinette to create a scarf?”
I don’t know about you but I thought it was genius! I went with it and the result of my stitch combinations (along with the amazing yarn I chose) was my Knit Sampler Scarf project pictured below.
The Knit Sampler Scarf is a perfect beginner project! It knits up easily, features many beautiful and varied textures, and creates excitement on your needles with each new stitch combo. I hope everyone who knits one up has as much fun as I did making it!
Knit Sampler Scarf
Knit Pattern written by Amanda White of Yarnanigans, Copyright 2017
All my patterns are available for free. Please do not copy, sell, redistribute or publish this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern on your site or social media, please link back to my site. You may sell items produced using this pattern provided you give credit and do not use my copyrighted photos for your product listing.
Materials
- US size 11/8 mm straight or cabled needles (I absolutely love my Lykkes*)
- At least 280 yards super bulky (6) weight yarn – I used 2 Caron Tea Cakes in Oolong (available exclusively at Michaels)
- scissors
- tapestry needle
Gauge
10.5 stitches x 14 rows per 4″ square
Abbreviations
- k – knit
- p – purl
- co – cast on
- st – stitch
Stitch Definitions
Moss (or Seed) Stitch: R1 (RS): k1, *p1, k1* repeat from * to * across row. R2 (WS): p1, *k1, p1* repeat from * to * across row. Repeat R1 and R2 for length of swatch.
Garter Stitch — R1: k across. Repeat R1 for length of swatch.
Stockinette Stitch (pictured in each the other stitch photos) — R1 (Rs): k across. R2 (WS): p across. Repeat R1 and R2 for length of swatch.
Smooth Sand Stitch — R1 (RS) k across. R2 (WS): k1, *p1, k1* repeat from * to * across row. Rep R1 and R2 for length of swatch.
Nubby Sand Stitch — R1 (WS): k across; R2 (RS) k1, *p1, k1* repeat from * to * across row. Rep R1 and R2 for length of swatch.
Double Seed Stitch — R1 and R4: k2, *p2, k2* repeat from * to * across row. R2 and R3: p2, *k2, p2* repeat from * to * across row. Repeat R1-R4 for length of swatch.
Pattern Notes
This scarf is made with a combination of the different knit/purl stitch patterns listed in the section above. Each stitch sample is approximately 3.5″ – 4″ in height before switching to the next stitch sample. You can follow the combination I used below or mix them up, eliminate ones you don’t like, or add in others you love. Make it yours!
I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m a fairly new knitter. I never fully realized until after I made this project that stockinette fabric doesn’t have smooth edges and tends to curl. This led me to the design choice to shorten the width of the scarf by sewing the edges of the scarf together to make a long ‘skinny’ tube scarf. I use the phrase skinny lightly though because due to the super bulky weight of the yarn I used, it still has a good amount of width. I feel like my greenness led to a happy outcome with this design choice because the scarf is doubly warm. Also, the beauty of the right side of the knit fabric is seen from all angles while the less attractive wrong side of the fabric is confined inside the tube.
To that point, if you want a wider scarf and/or don’t want to sew up the edges to create a tube scarf, you have the option to cast on additional stitches at the start of the project to create a border in moss stitch, garter stitch, or other even, non-curly stitch to combat the curl of the stockinette stitch. For example, if you cast of an additional 8 stitches in the pattern, you’ll knit your non-curly stitch for the first 4 stitches, then follow the stitch for the pattern swatch for the next 25 stitches, then finish the last 4 stitches in your non-curly stitch.
Another trick I learned post hoc was that you can knit a selvage on your fabric! By casting on an additional 2 stitches on your initial cast on, you can create a straight selvage that is helpful when knitting pieces that will be sewn together. To create the selvage, you will always knit the first stitch and slip the last stitch, making sure to bring the yarn toward you before slipping, so that it will be ready to knit on your return. How cool! Apparently I still have lots and lots to learn about the world of knitting.
Pattern Instructions
- CO 25.
- moss stitch 3.5″
- stockinette stitch 3.5″
- garter stitch 3.5″
- stockinette stitch 3.5″
- smooth sand stitch 3.5″
- stockinette stitch 3.5″
- nubby sand stitch 3.5″
- stockinette stitch 3.5″
- double seed stitch 3.5″
- stockinette stitch 3.5″
- Repeat steps 2 through 10 once.
- Fasten off, leaving a long tail approximately 3 feet.
- Fold scarf in half longways, WS facing. Using a tapestry needle and long tail, sew edges together using a whip stitch or mattress stitch to create a tube. Secure ends and weave in.
Hope everyone stays warm this winter with their very own knit sampler scarf! Make one or many for your friends, family, co-workers, mailperson, or favorite charity. If you do, I’d love to see it so please tag me on social media @yarnanigans on Twitter and Instagram and Yarnanigans Blog on Facebook!
This patterns lovely. You say to cast on 25 stitches but it should be 26 as I realised when doing the double seed stitch and I’m a stitch short.
I’m a beginning knitter and think this would be great practice for all these stitches! How would this work if I want to make it a child’s blanket? It that too wild an idea? Thanks!
Hi Jane! Glad to have you here as a new knitter. Your idea is not wild at all! This pattern can absolutely be converted/adjusted to a blanket pattern. First and foremost, I’d suggest you have an idea of what size blanket you’d want to make. If you work a swatch of both stockinette and one of the textured stitches, you’d be able to calculate how many stitches you’d need to cast on, or you can use the gauge I calculated above to estimate based on your desired blanket size, but only if you plan on using the same yarn that I have. Definitely create swatches if you’re using different yarn! I’d also advise adding additional stitches to create a left and right buffer/border to the blanket. With the nature of the stockinette stitch, it tends to curl unless you pair it with a buffer section. What I mean by buffer section is a number of stitches surrounding the stockinette section that you work up in a particular stitch pattern that helps to keep the fabric from rolling up. This can be done in garter stitch, moss stitch, or any textured stitch with a fairly equal distribution of both knit and purl stitches to allow the fabric to lay flat.
Let’s say for example you want to make a throw size blanket that’s 52″ W x 60″ L with 4″ of moss stitch border, and that you’re using the same bulky weight yarn as this pattern.
52″ divided by 4″ (this is my gauge) = 13, which is the number of stitch repeats I need to match the width of the blanket. 13 x 25 (the number of CO stitches per repeat) = 325 total cast on stitches. Cast on 325 stitches, then work the moss stitch instructions for 3.5″, next section follow moss stitch instructions on the first 25 stitches of R1, then stockinette for 275 stitches, then moss stitch for last 25 stitches. Turn and work R2 of each stitch’s directions across (25 stitches moss, 275 stockinette, 25 moss) to the end of the row. Repeat R1 and R2 for 3.5″, then so on for the next textured stitch section, switching between stockinette and textured sections of the pattern until the blanket reaches the desired 60″ length. You’d maintain the moss stitch pattern for the first 25 stitches and last 25 stitches throughout, and ideally finish with all moss stitch for the last 3.5″ for uniformity.
Hope that all this was helpful. Let me know if you’d like to see this pattern written up as it’s own post. I’ll see what I can do! Have fun – Amanda
Thanks so much for replying! I think I understand what you’re saying. I am a little confused about how many stitches are in the “body” of the blanket. When I look at all of the stitches, except for the double seed, the rest of them use an odd number of stitches for a row. Not sure if I should cast on an even or odd number of stitches.
Would love to see a blanket pattern with all these stitches! I’m making a smaller blanket so I’m really not sure what I’m doing!
Thanks so much!
The smooth sand stitch and the nubby sand stitch directions are exactly the same. Can you tell me which one should be different and how to do it? I love this scarf and want to make it. I’m a beginner knitter and this will give me practice with lots of different stitches. Thank you so much for these directions.
Hi Susan, glad to hear you’re diving into the world of knitting and that you’re interested in this scarf pattern. While the directions of the smooth sand stitch and the nubby sand stitch seem to be the same, their Row 1 (R1) and Row 2 (R2) directions are worked on different sides of the fabric. This is where right-side (RS) and wrong-side (WS) terms come into play. If you’re working the pattern as written with stockinette sections in between the textured stitch sections, when you transition to working the smooth sand stitch, you’ll begin on the RS knitting every stitch across R1 (similar to the stockinette section). When you reach the end and turn, On R2, you’ll work on the WS with k1, *p1, k1* across all the stitches. At the end of R2, you’ll turn and work R1 instructions knitting across the RS again, then turn and work R2 on the WS. Repeating R1 and R2, you’ll start to see that the purl stitches on R2 line up with knit stitches on R1, creating the smooth vertical lines seen across the RS of the fabric.
After working the smooth sand stitch section, you’ll see that the nubby sand stitch mirrors the smooth sand stitch if you flip your scarf over and look at the WS of that section. If you’re following my pattern, you then add another stockinette section, then start on the next textured stitch section. To work a section of the nubby sand stitch texture on the RS of your scarf, you’d simply begin with R1 worked on the WS of the fabric, and R2 across the RS. Hope that makes sense and helps you gain some confidence as you practice. If you’re not yet familiar with the term “life line” in knitting, I’d highly suggest seeking out how to add one to your work. It will save you a lot of grief as you change stitch sections and provide a marker to rip back to in the event you make a mistake. Have fun! -Amanda