Sleeve Scarf: Free Scarf Knitting Pattern

Введение

Sleeve Scarf

Like a good friend, our Sleeve Scarf in our enchanting new Speckled Hen wraps its arms around you in a big cozy hug. New yarn is always exciting, but it takes a very special yarn to be surprising, too… And Speckled Hen is, indeed, very special!

Speckled Hen starts with a super soft and fluffy baby alpaca roving, which then gets wrapped with an undyed fine merino strand. This construction is called “ingabbiato,” which means “caged” in Italian (the yarn is made in Peru, but the mill uses Italian machines to make it), and the term graphically describes how the alpaca roving is encased inside a delicate web of merino. This technique creates a wonderful opportunity for you to play with color in some exciting new ways! Each Speckled Hen color comes in two versions, both with the same alpaca core but one wrapped in natural white merino and the other in dark brown. Eighteen colors and nine pairs, it’s a story of light and dark, and the beautiful colors that connect the two!

When you knit with Speckled Hen, the fabric you create has a lovely marled look, which means that the colors of the alpaca roving and the merino strand mix together in an all-over stippled pattern… kind of like a speckled hen! From a distance the colors blend a bit, but up close, you can see each one popping in and out of play. You’ll be compelled to keep knitting because each stitch is a curiosity, contributing its own little personality to the overall pattern.

Another reason Speckled Hen‘s structure is so enticing is that you get some of the features of a single-ply yarn alongside the benefits of a plied yarn. The less twist a yarn has, the softer it feels, which is why a strand of roving with no twist at all feels amazing on your skin. But it could use a little help in the durability department, so, wrap that roving with a strand of wool that has plenty of twist, and huzzah! A creative way to get both strength and softness.

And when you hand wash your finished fabric, the alpaca fills out even more, increasing in softness and developing a glowing layer of fiber that seems to float above the surface of the fabric, what we call a “halo”… Beautiful!

Our playful, free Sleeve Scarf pattern is the perfect way to tell Speckled Hen’s story. It’s a very simple, very easy pattern, that takes a page from sweater knitting: You start with a 2×2 ribbed cuff, then knit a stockinette stitch tube in the round and finish with a second cuff like the first… Effectively a double-ended sleeve stretched into a scarf!

The kicker is that we dove into our pairs of Speckled Hen and made the cuff in the colors wrapped in brown and the “sleeve” in the colors wrapped in white. So, each scarf changes from dark to light to dark again, with the same color running through to tie it all together. In the end, your scarf will be amazing, charming in its design and execution!

Each 50-gram ball of Speckled Hen comes ready to cast-on. You can knit the larger size of the Sleeve Scarf with two balls of the cuff color and eight of your “sleeve” color, or for the smaller size, you’ll need just one and five. So pick the color story that captivates your imagination, and cast on for this big, cozy hug of a scarf!

Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 55 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

Pattern designed and written by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. See even more of Hiromi’s work on her Instagram!

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Want to print this pattern? On desktop, find the “print” icon in the right margin, and on mobile, scroll to the end of the pattern for it. Use the on-screen instructions to remove anything you don’t want to print!

Materials

6 (10) balls of Purl Soho’s Speckled Hen, 80% baby alpaca and 20% fine merino wool. Each ball is approximately 120 yards/ 50 grams.
- Main Color (MC): 5 (8) balls; approximately 585 (960) yards required
- Contrast Color (CC): 1 (2) ball(s); approximately 120 (190) yards required
US 5 (3.75 mm), 12- or 16-inch circular needles, depending on size you are making (or long circulars for Magic Loop)
A stitch marker or scrap yarn

We knit our samples in the following sizes and colors…

Small: MC Heirloom White + CC Quail Feather

Small: MC Daffodil Yellow + CC Fisherman Yellow

Large: MC Lilac Daybreak + CC Wisteria Vine

NOTE: Each Speckled Hen color has a partner. The duo have the same color roving at their core, but one is wrapped in ecru threads and the other is wrapped in very dark brown threads. If, like us, you want to make your Sleeve Scarf with two colors that share the same core color, here are the remainder of the pairings: Laurel Blossom + Pink Bluff, Cameo Pink + Rose Peat, Farmhouse Red + Red Raisin, Fennel Green + Field Mint, Dew Blue + Rainstorm Blue, and Whitecaps Blue + Estuary Blue.

GAUGE

24 stitches and 32 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

36 stitches and 32 rounds = 4 inches in 2 x 2 rib, unstretched

NOTE: We used almost the entirety of the Contrast Color for our Small scarves. To avoid running short, double check your gauge, swatch with the Main Color, and be conservative with tails!

SIZES

Small (Large)

Finished Dimensions: Approximately 12 (16) inches circumference x 60 (76) inches long

NOTES

STITCH MULTIPLE

This pattern is worked over a multiple of 4 stitches.

PATTERN

With Contrast Color (CC), cast on 72 (96) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.

Place a stitch marker and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.

FIRST CUFF

Round 1: *K2, p2, repeat from * to end of round.

Repeat Round 1 until piece measures 5¼ (7) inches from cast-on edge.

Cut CC.

BODY

Join Main Color (MC).

Work in stockinette stitch, knitting every row, until piece measures 49½ (62) inches from the end of First Cuff or, if using Speckled Hen, until you have used all the MC.

Cut MC.

SECOND CUFF

Join CC.

Work as for First Cuff, making sure to leave enough yarn to bind off.

Bind off in 2×2 rib pattern.

Weave in all ends and gently wet block.

Learn About Speckled Hen + All Our Beautiful Yarns

Our Speckled Hen yarn adds a distinctive texture and natural character to this project. As soft as a feather, this sport-weight yarn creates a charismatic marled fabric in an all-over stippled pattern, kind of like a speckled hen! It starts with a super soft and fluffy baby alpaca roving, which then gets encased in a delicate web of undyed fine merino wool, a fascinating structure and a wonderful yarn to knit and wear!

More Free Knitting Patterns

Be sure to explore our collection of free Speckled Hen knitting patterns and cast on!

More Sport-Weight Yarns

Shop our entire collection of sport-weight yarns
If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial and our Yarn Substitution article for lots of helpful information.

More Yarns With Similar Fiber