Broken Rib Scarf
By Diane Bloomer (a.k.a. Spinning Out of Control) This scarf was knit using mohair/wool handspun yarn. You can adapt it to your needs and yarn with only a little math. Because the yarn has mohair in it, it has a "halo" and you can knit it at a much larger gauge. Use your gauge swatch as your guide...
SIZE
Approximately 7 x 72" (1 like long scarves)
MATERIALS
Approximately 300 yards handspun mohair/wool yarn. US size 9 Note: I knit a sizeable swatch (about 7 x 5 inches) to get a feel for how the knitted fabric would feel and drape. Tapestry needle
GAUGE
15 = 4" in pattern ABBREVIATIONS CO - Cast on K - Knit P = Purl rep - repeat Sts - Stitches
SCARF
CO 30 sts loosely Row 1: \*K1 P1, rep from\* to last stitch Row 2: \*K3 P3, rep from\* to last stitch Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until the scarf is to the length you want or you are almost out of yarn. End Scarf after completion of a Row 1. Bind off loosely. Weave in ends. I, personally, like the soft corrugation of this pattern so I did not block it hard.
YARN & GAUGE NOTES:
Some of the cool things about handspun yarn is that it is not standardized like commercial yarn. It gives you the opportunity to play more and part of the playing is getting to know your yarn by making gauge swatches. For this yarn, I knit a few swatches and found that knitting this yarn on a US sz 9 gave me the fabric I needed. Also, since this yarn has a considerable amount of mohair in it, I knew that I could knit it at a looser gauge and the halo would help fill in any gaps. If this were a smoother yarn (e.g., merino) with no halo, I would have knit this on a smaller needle, which would change my gauge and the number of stitches cast on.See Math
MATH
This pattern is based on a 3x3 rib or 6 stitches for each pattern repeat. Knit your swatch to the gauge you like IN PATTERN. Determine your stitches per inch (S). Now select your scarf's width (W). Determine the number of stitches to cast on (Co) as follows: BUT, before you cast on, divide the CO number by 6 (number of stitches in this pattern repeat). Do you have an whole number? If you do - GREAT, cast on those stitches. If not, you need to do some rounding as follows: Round your fraction (e.g., 4.7565 or 5.35) to the nearest whole number (e.g., 5 for both of the above examples) and multiply that number by 6 to determine the number of stitches to cast on. (For this example, you would cast on 30)
Good luck& Have fun!
