Leaf Scarf

I'm throwing together my notes of how I did this, for the people who asked. I really like how the scarf turned out. It is very versatile.

US 6 needles
4 skeins "Mesa Heather" Andean Treasure 100 percent alpaca from knitpicks.com

Sport weight

Cast on 5.
Row 1 Knit
Row 2 Knit
3Inc 2nd st and 2nd to last w k1fb. 7sts total
4 knit
5 knit
6 Inc 2nd st and 2nd to last w k1fb.9 total
7 knit
8 knit
9 Inc 2nd st and 2nd to last w k1fb. 11 sts total
10 knit
11 knit
12 Inc 2nd st and 2nd to last w k1fb. 13 total
13 knit, adding pms btwn 8/9 and 9/10.

Now u r set up and on a RS row. The first 4 sts on the RS will b the garter edge. Maintain that. The one st btwn the markers will b the part that "grows" into the stockinette part of scarf. On EVERY OTHER RS row u will increase one st past the first marker w a k1fb. Maintain the area btwn the markers in the stockinette pattern throughout.

The last RS 8 stitches will b the leaf border section. U will keep repeating the 18 row pattern as written here.

Click on this link:
http://www.knittingfool.com/StitchIndex/StitchDetail.aspx?StitchID=1578

Begin!

After first 31 rows, I have 18 sts. 6sts btwn the markers. (One full leaf is done)
22sts after 49 rows. (2 full leaves done). Are u with me? Continue on,as u've been doing.

I stopped increasing the scarf width when the scarf was 36 sts wide wo counting the leaf edging. The scarf wo the leaf edging is about 7 inches wide now. This happened right as I was almost finished with the first ball of yarn. I plan on continuing at this width for just under 2 balls of yarn n then decrease w the last 2 balls of yarn. (If u r using less yarn for a shorter scarf, just be sure to start decreasing a little before you are half way thru your yarn)


Not done w the second ball of yarn yet....this is gonna b loooong if I do all 4 balls, so I'm gonna increase the width a bit more. It's 27" long now, I'm gonna k1fb on EVERY OTHER right side row at BOTH the beginning and end of the stockinette section, 5 times, until there are 46 total sts.

Continue some more without increasing.

Just before finishing the second ball of yarn (maybe an 8th of the ball left) I started doing the reverse, of what I have done up till now. So that starts w reducing, every other right side row, to match the recent 5 increases on both sides of the stockinette. Ssk on the first side and k2tog on the second side, (just like they do in the leaf pattern).

Then knit about 7 inches without decreasing, just like u did on the other side. When u start decreasing again, use a k2tog every other right side row, (always the 5th and 6th stitch).

THESE LAST FINISHING NOTES ARE NOT PERFECTLY CLEAR. U R GOING TO HAVE TO WING IT. THIS SIDE WILL NOT END LIKE THE OTHER SIDE STARTED. I WANTED IT ALL TO COME DOWN TO JUST A POINTED LEAF. SEE PHOTO.you should b an expert in the leaf pattern after all this time, so read thru what I did, n then wing it!

Once you are down to about 17 sts total (having just finished a leaf) it's time to think about ending the scarf. You don't have to do this just like I did, for it to be successful. At this point, you have two more leaves to do (18 + 18 more rows). You want to quickly decrease the rest of the stockinette. I did this by decreasing every row for the last few until I was down to only the garter stitches remaining.

This means I had the 4 garter stitches, no more stockinette here, then the 4 garter stitches that are in the actual leaf pattern. Decrease those first four garter stitches down to nothing now and you will then just have the final leaf to do.

THIS LAST LEAF WILL BE DONE DIFFERENTLY THAN ALL THE OTHERS. Just knit the leaf part and do not do any of the ws increases (k1f/b) that are in the leaf edge pattern. And decrease those first four garter stitches in the leaf pattern w k2tog on the rs, until they r gone.

Look at the photo I marked with yellow to see clearly where the stockinette ends, and the garter stitches are reduced. Worst case scenario, you frog the last leaf a few times before you get it right. That's what I did!

Sorry I didn't keep better notes! But I was figuring it out as I went. After doing so many leaves, I don't think you will have a problem understanding the end, once you get there. Of course, finish by blocking and weaving in the ends. The leaves need to be blocked to "open up" fully.
...........
Clarification for the last leaf:

As I said, after i finished a leaf (8 sts remain for the leaf) and I had a total of 17 sts, I knew it was time to end the scarf. You don't have to match me exactly. You can have 19sts or 15 sts. Whatever. But at this point, during the 18 rows of the second to last leaf, you want to reduce those extra stitches down to as close to 8 sts as possible. The reason for that is, 8sts is the number you need to do the final leaf, w no "scarf" next to it.

So reduce the stockinette stitches. Then the first four garter and as u finish that second to last leaf, see how close you can get to 8. If u have 9sts or 11, you will just have to add extra decreases as you do the last leaf, no big deal.

But let's say you do get it down to 8 sts. Below is the leaf edging pattern, written out w the ws decreases taken out, and the first four garter sts decreased to nothing, quickly. If u find this confusing, do a test on scrap yarn and I think it will become clearer.

Row 1 k2tog, k3, yo,k1,yo,k2
Row 2 p6, k3
Row 3 k2tog,k3,yo, k1,yo,k3
4.p8,k2
5.k2tog, k3, yo,k1,yo,k4
6.p10 (now only the leaf remains)
7. K4,yo,k1,yo,k 5
8.p12
9.ssk,k7,k2tog,k1
10.p10
11.ssk,k5,k2tog,k1
12.p8
13.ssk,k3,k2tog,k1
14.p6
15.ssk,k1,k2tog,k1
16.p4
17.sl 1,k2tog,psso,k1
18. P2tog, draw the yarn thru the last stitch and....you're done!!

Good luck following my crazy notes and post pictures on ravelry please, if you make one.

If u have a favorite edging pattern that you like, you cud use the same scarf concept and substitute the edging of your choice for the leaf edging.

Also, if u are making a shorter scarf and thought of increasing every right side row, (to get the width without the full length) you can, but you will get a much steeper "curve" on the scarf tips, which you might end up liking.

Optional: if you look closely at the beginning of the scarf, I did some duplicate stitch by hand to extend the "stem" of the first leaf, since it didn't have one. You can do this when everything is done, if you feel like it.

2.23.2014
Adele just finished a scarf and she offered these comments on how she did the last leaf, in case or helps you. Thanks Adele!

"As far as adding anything to the pattern, I did modify the ending just a bit, unfortunately did not take notes on it but basically knitted 2 sts together on the garter edge border (right side of scarf) during the yarn overs on the leaf side so that I ended up with just the leaf on row 9 (1st ssk row) of leaf pattern and then finished last leaf.

Since there are 18 rows to the leaf pattern, depending on how many sts in between each person uses for the scarf, they can basically determine the number of rows needed to start decreasing to end up with 1 last leaf. Or they can just tweak it at the end with decreases on the right side of the scarf until they are up to the last leaf.

Hope this is helpful."

AdeLe :D