Recipe for a Short-Row Scarf of Diamonds, a la Avery

(A sort of companion for Véronik Avery's Short-Row Hat.)

Please note that this is not a complete pattern in itself. It is a (long) series of modifications to Avery's Short-Row Hat pattern that result in a scarf rather than a hat. NONE of the below will make much sense on its own; you need the original (FREE!) pattern to even begin. Also note that the techniques and abbreviations not explained here are quite well-explained in the original pattern.

Why only modifications and not a full pattern? Two reasons.

A.) I am way lazy, and this is way easier.

B.) I am way not sure where the fair use / copyright infringement line is, but I intend to stay way the heck away from it. Not only out of respect for Ms. Avery and professional knitting designers the world over, but also because, you know, uh, the law? I'm fairly sure I would be within my rights to publish a complete scarf pattern to the blog, row by tedious row. But I'm not *completely* sure, so why do it, particularly given A.) (lazy)?

With that said . . .

To Make This Scarf You Will Need:

1.) Véronik Avery's Short-Row Hat pattern. Available HERE. When I say "as original" below, I mean as described in Avery's pattern.

2.) 4.5 mm needles (US 7), or size needed to obtain whatever gauge you like. (Scarf, people!) If you are also knitting the hat, I suggest you start with that and continue with the needles you use there. Because gauge does matter A LOT in Avery's pattern.

Note that when I knit the hat, I *totally* did not get the right row gauge with the Noro Kureyon on the 4.5 mm needles. But I liked the cloth I was knitting. So I continued with the "wrong" gauge and did a little extry knitting to make up for it. Details HERE, in case you run into similar issues. Anyway, if you are getting the same gauge as in the original hat, you may find you need fewer pattern repeats than I did to get the length of scarf you want.

3.) Maybe 6 skeins of Noro Kureyon -- I think I could have done it with 5 skeins, but I sacrificed parts of each skein because I wanted only full color repeats. You'll need more if you want a very long scarf. (I ended up with a scarf around 6 feet long, 8 inches across -- AFTER BLOCKING.) Or you could use other variegated yarn with long color runs and gradual color changes (the Ami-Ami Faith yarn used in Ms. Avery's original hat is probably an option, but as I have never actually seen it, I can't really say). Or you could use a selection of different colors of a non-variegated yarn (the idea being that you would switch colors "manually" whenever you liked).

Techniques, Notes:

1.) All the wacky short-row stuff is described in the original pattern.

2.) Split splicing is your new best friend, particularly if you're using the Kureyon.

3.) Blocking is still your old best friend. The scarf's garter edges have a different row gauge than the mostly-stockinette interior. Without blocking, the scarf looks like complete and total crap. I wet-blocked, which stretched out the garter edges beautifully. You might be able to get away with a thorough steam blocking.

Closer Views of Stitch Pattern:

Front:




Back:




Even closer view of back:




Pattern (i.e., Modifications):

Cast on 45 stitches. I used the long-tail cast-on method, but I don't think it matters much.

Knit garter stitch (i.e., knit every stitch) until you have 8 (or more, if you prefer) garter ridges on the right side of your work, ending with a WS row.

Work Set up section A, as original.

Work Set up section B, EXCEPT for last row (Row 12), which is worked as follows:

Row 12 (modified): Yo, k1, [k2tog] 6 times, knit to end (16 more stitches), turn.

Work one additional Set up section -- let's call this section "E", since Avery uses "C" and "D" later in her pattern.

Set up section E:

Row 1: (WS) K10, p6, turn.
Row 2 and following RS rows: Yo, knit to end, turn.
Row 3: K10, p5, turn.
Rows 4-12: Continue as established, working 1 less purl stitch on every row -- 1 purl stitch remains on Row 11.
Row 13: K10, p1, [SSP] 6 times, turn.

Work a Modified Section 2 -- Let's call this Section "2M". (Yes, we skipped "Section 1." This is deliberate. We're not using Avery's Section 1 at all, since that is the section that shapes the crown of the hat, and what proper scarf has a crown?)

Section 2M is worked as the original Section 2, EXCEPT for the last row (Row 22), which is worked as follows:

Row 22: Yo, p1, [SSP] 12 times, turn.

Work another Section 2, but this time entirely as the original. Let's continue to call this Section "2."

Work Section 3, as original.

Work a modified Section 4 -- we'll call this Section "4M." This is worked as the original, except for the last row (Row 22), which is worked as follows:

Row 22: Yo, k1, [k2tog] 12 times, knit to end, turn.

Do not work the two "Transition" Rows that follow Section 4 in the original pattern.

Work Section 5 as follows:

Row 1: (WS) K10, p1, turn.
Row 2 and all RS rows: Yo, knit to end, turn.
Row 3: K10, p1, SSP, turn.
Row 5: K10, p2, SSP, turn.
Rows 7-12: Continue in this manner, working 1 more purl stitch every wrong side row, with 15 stitches (10 knit and 5 purl) worked before closing the gap on Row 11.
Row 13: K10, p5, turn.
Row 15: K10, p4, turn.
Rows 17-22: Continue in this manner, working 1 less purl stitch every wrong side row. One purl stitch remains before the garter stitch band on Row 21.
Row 23: K10, p1, [SSP] 6 times, turn.

Repeat Sections [2M, 2, 3, 4M, and 5] 19 times (or as many times as needed to reach desired length), then work Sections 2M and 2 once more.

Work End Section C, as original.

Work a modified End Section D, as follows:

Rows 1-9: Work as original.
Row 10: Yo, K9, k2tog, k1, [k2tog] 6 times, knit to end, turn.
Row 11: DO NOT WORK.

Work a new End Section F, as follows:

Rows 1-10: Repeat Rows 1-10 of Section 5 -- 14 stitches before closing gap on Row 9.
Row 11: (WS) K10, p5, SSP, p11, SSP, p7, k10, turn.

Finish scarf by working 8 (or more) ridges of garter stitch. Cast off.

Block.

N.B. -- I have test-knit this, but frankly that's sort of like proofreading one's own writing. There are almost certain to be errors. If you find one, let me know and I'll correct it.