This Easy Mistake Stitch scarf is made with Jade Sapphire’s gorgeous 12-ply Cashmere in color “Green Tea”. If you know how to knit and purl you can make this scarf! Mistake Stitch creates a deep and lofty rib that looks like so much more work than it actually is.
If you’re interested in the Lovely Leaf Lace Scarf (the orange one on the right), you can find the full, free pattern right here!
Materials
- 5 skeins 12 ply cashmere. For this scarf I used Jade Sapphire’s amazing 12-ply Cashmere in color “Green Tea”. If you’d like to explore other yarns for this project, check out our collection of chunky yarns, you will need 300 yards total to complete the scarf.
- US size 11 needles (or size required to get gauge)
Gauge
4.5 stitches per inch in rib pattern, slightly stretched
Finished Measurements
48-inches long by approximately 8-inches wide
Pattern Note
Mistake rib is a multiple of 4+3
The Pattern
Cast on 39 stitches.
K2, p2, repeat to last 3 stitches, k2, p1.
Repeat this row. That’s it!
Bind off in stitch pattern.
Sew in ends, wash gently by hand, block and let air dry.
PRINT
I really like this pattern and have made a number of scarves using it. Thanks to you!
Hello! I’m a fairly new knitter and will be trying this pattern out as a christmas gift. Wondering how to adjust for slightly chunkier yarn (#5). Would I cast on a different number of stitches? Use a different sized needle? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Cynthia,
Thanks for reaching out! This pattern is written for a yarn that is approximately a #5 according to the Craft Yarn Council’s standard yarn weight system, so I don’t think you will have to make any changes to the pattern at all! Although I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch for a larger project to make sure your yarn substitution will work out, in the case of a relatively narrow scarf like this, you can just start the scarf and if you find that the stitches are too tight or the scarf is too wide after a few inches, it won’t be too much work to start over.
I hope that helps, and happy knitting!
Julianna
Thank you for your response, Julianna! I ended up purchasing size 9 needles since that is what was listed on the yarn I purchased. I’ll definitely knit a gauge swatch first as you recommended 🙂
Hello! Would you suggest blocking this piece to open up the rib a little? I am using a chunky alpaca yarn. Thank you!
Hi Lisha,
Great question! Yes, we do like the look of the Mistake Rib stitch after blocking! It isn’t necessary to block it aggressively, however – you can just soak the finished piece and gently lay it flat to dry!
Best,
Julianna
I bought the yarn I want already and it is worsted weight. I have three 150 meter/100 gram balls but I LOVE this pattern!! Any suggestions for alterations to make this work or should I buy new yarn?
Hi Lise,
Thanks for reaching out! This should be fairly easy to adjust to your yarn! I would suggest knitting a gauge swatch in pattern on the needle size recommended for your yarn. You can then multiply your stitches per inch by 8 inches and round to the nearest multiple of 4 plus 3 stitches to determine how many stitches to cast on!
Best,
Julianna
Hi Lisha,
I am really enjoying this pattern for a scarf. Do you have a pattern for a matching hat?
Thanks,
Marlene
Hi Marlene,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately we don’t have a hat pattern in Mistake Rib; however, although the stitch patterns are a bit different, I think our Snow Day Hat would complement the scarf quite well!
Best,
Julianna
This scarf looks beautiful! Do you need to slip the first stitch at the beginning of each row? Thanks!
Hi Becca,
Thanks for writing in! We didn’t use a slip stitch edging on this scarf; however, if you want to add one, just make sure you add two stitches to the cast on so it doesn’t interfere with the stitch pattern!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Hi,
I want to thank you for this easy to make yet gorgeous pattern scarf. I was skeptical about the pattern simply because I can’t picture it in my head, I am fairly new knitter as well. But once I started, I can see it in front me, I just fell in love with the design. Thank you.
So, my wife cut her hair super short during a mid-life crisis of sorts, and was initially feeling a little apprehensive about it, so I thought a home/hubby-made scarf to keep her neck warm this winter would be the perfect surprise for Christmas! Only problem was that I had never knit anything in my life, and I only had 4 weeks to get it done! The description of this scarf boosted my confidence, and I took the plunge. With the help of YouTube (man, some people can knit discouragingly fast!), I learned all sorts of things: how to read pattern descriptions and skein labels, picking the right yarn and needles, casting on, gauge, knitting versus purling, slipping the first stitch for selvedge edges (saw your other posting on the mulberry Mistake rib scarf), joining, binding off in pattern, weaving in, and blocking…oh my! Was I in over my head? After half a dozen attempts at a gauge swatch, I figured I was close enough to begin. Over the first 20 or so rows and a few more videos (thanks, Google), I learned that I was doing it way too tight and how to keep the edges from being too loose. I also figured out why I was periodically adding stitches, and occasionally losing a stitch (scary), how to effectively back out a row…and…that my scarf was WAY to wide–39 stitches of the super bulky lion head yarn resulted in a scarf that was going to be a foot wide! So I learned how to start over, and hoped my unlearned fingers would learn the motions and become more efficient (I play the piano, after all, but boy was I feeling clumsy with this!), because I had already calculated how long it was taking and I was barely going to make it by Christmas as it was! Casting on 31 stitches seemed more reasonable, and fortunately my fingers picked up the rhythm quick enough that I wasn’t too embarrassed to knit during my train commute–but this business suit-knitter did get a few strange looks from all the phone swipers, ha! My wife likes longer scarfs, so I used a full 4 skeins. The scarf ended up about 7″ wide and 100″ long after blocking–probably too long, but I’m confident I could shorten as desired with my new-found skills. Oh, there are a few mistakes if you look close enough, but this rib pattern does help conceal those. I’m proud of how it turned out! I’m already looking forward to another daintier scarf next year. Thanks!