Free Pattern: Sediment Skinny Scarf

My Sediment blanket has been really popular, and other knitters out there working the pattern inspired me to create this new pattern. This one goes REALLY fast.

Sediment Skinny Scarf

Yarn: You need to gather all of your ball ends and bits; the shortest can be 12 inches long. Sort them into major color groups. I sorted mine into yellows, greens, reds, and blue/purples--but you can choose whatever organization your choose based on the colors you have.

Needles: One pair size 10 circulars, 30 inches or longer.

Cast on 150 stitches, using the backwards-loop method or the least aggravating method of your choice. At the beginning of the cast-on, leave a tail of 6-7 inches. When you finish casting on, cut the yarn, leaving a tail of 6-7 inches.

Now, at the end of every row you work, you will leave a tail of 6-7 inches at either end. These tails become the fringe of the scarf.

Work through one color group, changing yarns every row--after you break the yarn at the end of each row. The changing colors will create the "sediment" effect with the garter stitch.



Adding Yarn Mid-Row

Here you have a philosophical decision to make. You may, of course, Russian-Join the ends together, creating a seamless piece of yarn. You may also leave tails to weave in later (knowing they will show on one side or the other of this reversible scarf). Or you may do what I did: tie square knots.

I tie the square knots as I work. When the scarf is finished, I tighten the knots as best I can by pulling on the tails. Then, I get out my steam iron to block the scarf and thoroughly steam the fabric, which (in my mind, if not reality) encourages the fibers of the knots to grab ahold of one another. Then I snip the ends of the knots and let the yarn be texture-y.

Once you have worked 20 or 30 rows (or as many rows as you want, really), bind off your last row loooooosely, and break the yarn leaving a tail for fringe as usual.

Tie Fringe

In order to make the fringe more stable, you should tie adjoining pieces in square knots once you have finished knitting the scarf. I just knotted adjoining pairs of fringe together--the fringe from rows 1 & 2 knotted with the fringe from rows 3 & 4, and so on.