Color Tipped Scarf in Gentle Giant
Who can resist a scarf knit up in something called Gentle Giant? And who doesn’t need a blast of bright color to chase away the winter doldrums? Wrap yourself in this high-spirited Color Tipped Scarf and everyday is a sunny one!

Gentle Giant, our loosely spun single-ply pure merino, knits up fast at just 1½ stitches to the inch. Cast on a few stitches and before you know it, you’re binding off!

We picked from our new palette of Gentle Giant for these scarves, using colors like Parakeet Yellow, Super Pink, and Rose Violet. We love the party these colors are bringing, but be sure to check out all twelve of our hand picked Color Tipped Scarf combinations below, plenty for every mood!

Twelve palettes, plus kid and adult sizes, also means you can make a different scarf for every person in your family, neighborhood, or book club. What to make for presents this year? Check!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoColorTippedScarf, and #PurlSohoGentleGiant. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
Our Color Tipped Scarf is made of four skeins of Gentle Giant, enough materials to make one adult scarf or two kid scarves…
- Contrast Color 1 (CC1): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Gentle Giant, 100% merino wool yarn.
- Main Color (MC): 2 skeins of Gentle Giant.
- Contrast Color 2 (CC2): 1 skein of Gentle Giant.
You’ll also need…
- US 17 (12mm) circular or straight needles
We’ve created 12 custom color combinations but the possibilities are endless (NOTE: Some colors are no longer available)! They are…
Top Row
Pink Lotus: Rose Violet, Heirloom White, and Super Pink
Pop Pop: Super Yellow, Heirloom White, and Super Pink
Bright Bee: Parakeet Yellow, Heirloom White, and Super Yellow
Second Row
Wild Berry: Rose Violet, Heirloom White, and Purple Lupine
Squash Blossom: Honey Amber, Heirloom White, and Cowrie Pink
Chamomile: Parakeet Yellow, Heirloom White, and Winter Bark
Third Row
Geranium: Super Pink, Heirloom White, and Orange Koi
Pink Ice: Super Pink, Heirloom White, Mint Ice
Lemon Ice: Super Yellow, Heirloom White, and Mint Ice
Bottom Row
Beach Plum: Super Pink, Heirloom White, and Sugar Maple
Glacier: Iceberg Blue, Heirloom White, and Elephant Gray
Firefly: Super Yellow, Heirloom White, and Wolf Brown
SAMPLES: We used the Pink Lotus, Bright Bee, and Pop Pop palettes.
Gauge
7 stitches and 12 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
Sizes
Kid (Adult)
- Finished Dimensions: 5¾ (8) inches wide x 42 (65) inches long
Note that garter stitch has a tendency to “grow,” so your scarf will lengthen a bit with wear.
Note
Once you’ve worked a few rows, you may find it helpful to mark the right side of the work with a removable stitch marker or piece of scrap yarn.
Pattern
Increase
With Contrast Color 1 (CC1), using Long Tail Cast On, cast on 3 stitches.
Increase Row (right side): K1, knit into front and back (kfb), knit to end of row. [1 stitch increased]
Knit 3 rows.
Repeat last four rows 5 (10) more times. [9 (14) stitches]
Repeat Increase Row. [10 (15) stitches]
Knit 1 row.
Cut CC1.
Work Evenly
With the right side facing, join Main Color (MC). Work evenly in garter stitch, knitting each row, using the entirety of 1 (2) skein(s), or to desired length. End with a wrong-side row.
Cut MC.
Decrease
With right side facing, join Contrast Color 2.
Decrease Row (right side): Knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1. [1 stitch decreased]
Knit 3 rows.
Repeat last four rows 5 (10) more times. [4 stitches]
Repeat Decrease Row. [3 stitches]
Bind off.
Weave in ends and you’re done!

LEARN ABOUT GENTLE GIANT + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
You can’t get more gentle or more giant than Gentle Giant! A single ply of 100% merino wool, Gentle Giant has a loose and lofty spin that puts the fiber’s softness up front and also keeps this jumbo-weight yarn from weighing you down. You knit Gentle Giant up on mega US 17 or 19 (12-15 mm) knitting needles, making it a very smart choice for last-minute gifts that don’t sacrifice a lick of beauty!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our vast collection of (mostly free!) Gentle Giant knitting patterns and cast on!
More Jumbo-Weight Yarns
- Shop our collection of jumbo-weight yarns
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fibers
- Shop merino wool
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
This is serious winter warmth and beauty1 Thank you!
Julie
Hi there! I have several skeins of Blue Sky Bulky left over from another project and wondered if I can use them for this scarf (very close to Gentle Giant, I think) and if so, would the pattern change? How many skeins would I need?
Thanks soooo much~very excited to make this!
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for writing in! Blue Sky Bulky is a touch thinner than our Gentle Giant, but it should work well here. You will need 1 skein for each end and 2 skeins for the middle on the scarf!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Perfect, Thanks so much!
Hi..love this scarf. When you change colors, you don’t have the other color mixed in for one row..how do you do that.. I always have one line with both colors.
Hi Sandee,
Thanks for the kind words! When you are changing colors or working stripes in garter stitch, the color change will always be sharp and clean on one side and have a ridge with both colors mixed together on the wrong side – this is unavoidable and you’re not doing anything wrong! We chose not to show this in our pictures as that is the wrong side of the scarf, but if you flipped them over you would see the same ridge with both colors.
I hope that helps and happy knitting!
Julianna
Do the ends curl with this pattern?
Hi Lee,
Great question! Garter stitch lays perfectly flat without any edging, so the edges of this scarf will not curl.
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Hi! I’m making this as my first knitting project. I just have a quick question—will one skein of the Gentle Giant be enough to make two contrast-color ends (for the adult scarf) or will it yield just one? Thank you!
Hello Laura,
This is a great question- For the adult scarf you will need four skeins of Gentle Giant to complete the project, so it is only enough for one scarf.
Happy knitting!
-Marilla
Hi! I’d like to make this with Super Soft Merino, what modifications would you recommend?
Hi Ethel,
Thanks for reaching out! This pattern is very easy to adapt for any yarn weight. All you’ll need to do is continue the INCREASE section until the scarf is as wide as you want, then work evenly to nearly your desired length, and then work the DECREASE section until there are only 3 stitches left. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili