Pattern: Checkerboard Scarf

Size: 180cm long, 22 cm wide (or desired measures).

Materials:

• about 3 skeins of a bulky weight yarn.
• a pair of 8mm. straight needles.

Gauge: 10 stitches and 14 rows = 10cm. x 10cm. in stockinette stitch.

Stitches: the pattern is achieved by knits and purls.

Directions:

1. Loosely cast on 22 stitches (or a multiple of 10 plus 2 stitches, if you want the scarf to be wider). If you can’t cast on loosely use a needle one size bigger to cast on and then start knitting with the right needles.
2. Rows 1 to 7: knit 1 stitch, *knit 5 stitches, purl 5 stitches* repeat across ** until last stitch, knit 1 stitch.
3. Rows 8 to 14: knit 1 stitch, *purl 5 stitches, knit 5 stitches* repeat across ** until last stitch, knit 1 stitch.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, until the scarf is the desired lenght.
5. Loosely cast off all the stitches.
6. Sew in ends, block for a better result.

Notes:
The checkerboard pattern is inspired on some baby blanket pictures I saw while roaming the net. I opted for it because I wanted to create a “manly” scarf, that wasn’t a classical garter stitch or needed more than one colour.
Knitting the first and last stitch of every row makes a very thin garter stitch edge, that avoids most of the curling stockinette stitch has.