Tree Ring Scarf
Visually mapping each year of its life, from annual rainfall to the length of a growing season, tree rings are beautiful evidence of time’s passage. For many of us, our knitting does the same, marking challenges faced and good fortune granted. The Tree Ring Scarf, knit up in our lovely new Quartz yarn, beautifully chronicles past, present, and future, ring by ring.
You knit the Tree Ring Scarf in a simple tube, carrying the colors up the inside to minimize tails. Over the course of the scarf, both the colors and the distance between the stripes shift in a complex rhythm, like life itself!
The delicate lines of the pattern are perfectly executed in our wonderful new Quartz yarn. Combining merino wool and suri alpaca into an absolutely lovely fingering-weight yarn, Quartz is lightweight but warm, very soft, and totally beautiful, too. With twenty enticing and gently heathered colors to play with, we’ve put together five Tree Ring Scarf Bundles (no longer available), including this glowing Rose Bark palette.
Whichever colors you choose, we’re going to go out on a limb and say you’ll love knitting your Tree Ring Scarf!
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!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Jake Canton. Click here to see even more of Jake’s designs!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoTreeRingScarf and #PurlSohoQuartz. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 5 skeins of Purl Soho’s Quartz, 65% merino and 35% suri alpaca. Each skein of this fingering weight yarn is 420 yards/ 100 grams.
- Color A: 2 skeins; approximately 532 yards required
- Color B: 1 skein; approximately 259 yards required
- Color C: 2 skeins; approximately 707 yards required
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 16-inch circular needles
- A stitch marker
We came up with five inspiring palettes (NOTE: the Tree Ring Scarf Bundles are no longer available.)…
ROSE BARK
This is the palette we used to knit our sample (see above)…
Color A: Pink Starfish; Color B: Golden Green; Color C: Reed Gray
HERB GARDEN
Color A: Fresh Pickle; Color B: Barn Owl; Color C: Green Dusk
LAGOON
Color A: Aquamarine Blue; Color B: Blue Jeans; Color C: River Rock
MUSSEL SHELL
Color A: Hydrangea Blossom; Color B: Wild Lupine; Color C: Gray Denim
GLADIOLA
Color A: Cardinal Red; Color B: Rose Hip; Color C: Lavender Moon
Gauge
28 stitches and 40 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Size
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 18 inches in circumference x 74 inches long
NOTE
STRIPES IN THE ROUND
To avoid a ton of tails to weave in at the end, be sure to carry non-working yarns up the inside of the tube in between stripes. For a few tips, visit our Stripes in the Round Tutorial!
Pattern
REVERSE STOCKINETTE EDGE
With Color A, cast on 126 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Place marker and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
Rounds 1-3: Purl to end of round.
Round 4: Knit to end of round.
BLOCK 1: TWO-COLOR STRIPES
Join Color B.
Round 1: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Rounds 2–4: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–4 thirty more times, or for almost 12½ inches.
BLOCK 2: THREE-COLOR STRIPES
Round 1: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Round 2: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Join Color C.
Round 3: With Color C, knit to end of round.
Round 4: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–4 ten more times, or for almost 4½ inches.
BLOCK 3: THREE-COLOR STRIPES
Round 1: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Round 2: With Color C, knit to end of round.
Round 3: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Round 4: With Color C, knit to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–4 nine more times, or for 4 inches.
Cut Color A.
BLOCK 4: TWO-COLOR STRIPES
Round 1: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Rounds 2–4: With Color C, knit to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–4 six more times, or for 2¾ inches.
CONTINUE
Cut Color B.
With Color C, continue working in stockinette for approximately 26¼ inches from last Color B stripe.
Join Color B and repeat Block 4.
Join Color A and repeat Block 3. Do not Cut Color A at end of section.
Repeat Block 2.
Cut Color C.
Repeat Block 1.
With Color B, knit to end of round.
Cut Color B.
REVERSE STOCKINETTE EDGE
Round 1: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Rounds 2–4: Purl to end of round.
Bind off knitwise.
FINISHING
Weave in the ends and gently wet block.
LEARN ABOUT QUARTZ + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Quartz brings a special glow to this project! A wonderful mix of 65% merino wool and 35% suri alpaca, this fingering-weight yarn is lustrous, radiant, and sumptuously soft. The addition of suri gives this yarn a lovely halo and subtle luminosity, while merino brings strength, elasticity, and of course, beauty. Choose from tons of gorgeous colors you’ll only find at Purl Soho!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) Quartz knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-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 yarn
- Shop suri alpaca yarn
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!
Surely my question is probably silly, but if you knit in the round how do you end up with a straight scarf rather than a looped, or tubed, one?
Hi Caroline,
Thanks for reaching out! Since you knit this scarf in the round, it does form a long tube! When we blocked our sample we flattened it into a traditional scarf shape, but it is still a full tube.
I hope this clears things up!
Gianna
I want to make the Tree Ring Scarf using the blue colors found in the Lagoon colorway. However, I would like to substitute either Reed Grey or Heirloom White for the River Rock color. My question is which would look better with the blue colors would the white be too bright and would the grey accent the blues better. thank you for any help given
Hi Dian,
Thanks for writing in! That is a great question, I think you could go either way for two different looks, Reed Gray will be a bit more subtle and Heirloom White would be a brighter contrast next to the blues. Personally, for the lagoon palette I would suggest using Reed Gray in place of River Rock!
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna
Sorry this may be a ridiculous question: can I use straight needles? I can, right?
Hi Joy,
Thanks for writing in. I’m afraid you will not be able to use straight needles for this pattern, since it’s knit completely in the round! You can use DPNs though, if you prefer those over circular needles. I hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili
Actually I think you could, using double knitting. Search for ‘knitting a tube on 2 needles’ will find you ‘how-to’ videos. It will be fiddly and, in my opinion, easier to use a set of double-ended or circular needles, but it is possible.
Hi Gill,
Thanks for the suggestion! You can absolutely modify the pattern and use double knitting instead.
All the best,
Lili
How can I download the pattern only? 3 pages t most
Hi Judy,
Thanks for reaching out! If you’re on a desktop version of the site, you will find a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. If you’re on a mobile version of the site, you will find a “print” icon below the pattern and above the comments.
Follow the easy on-screen instructions to delete whichever parts of the pattern you don’t want to print or save. For example, you may decide to shorten the pattern by omitting certain images or the list of materials. To remove images, click the drop-down next to the image icon and change from 100% to 0%.
I hope this helps!
Gianna
How can I copy the directions without coping the entire write up about the scarf
Hi Helene,
Thanks for writing in! If you’re on a desktop version of the site, you will find a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. If you’re on a mobile version of the site, you will find a “print” icon below the pattern and above the comments.
Follow the easy on-screen instructions to delete whichever parts of the pattern you don’t want to print or save. For example, you may decide to shorten the pattern by omitting certain images or the list of materials. To remove images, click the drop down next to the image icon and change from 100% to 0%
I hope this helps!
Gianna
Thank you Gianna for your help on printing the pattern only it worked perfectly.
Helene
Do you have a medium weight yarn that is self striping? Maybe size 7 or 8 needle? If so how many stitches would you put on the needle. ?
Hi Phyllis,
Thanks for writing in! We do not offer a self-striping yarn, but thank you for expressing your interest! I will be sure to pass this along to the rest of the team! You can find our full selection of yarn here: Knitting + Crochet Yarn
If you would like to knit this scarf in a heavier yarn, I would suggest starting off by working a gauge swatch with an appropriate needle size for that yarn (all of the yarns we offer comes with a suggested needle size that can be found in the Product Details). Once you work a swatch, from there you can calculate your stitches per inch to determine your cast on amount.
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna
Will blocking keep this scarf flat, even when wrapped around my neck?
Hi Judith,
Thanks for writing in. Because this scarf is knit completely in the round, it is one long tube! That means that you won’t experience any of the rolling or curling associated with flat stockinette fabric whatsoever. I hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Will you please explain how to make a single row jogless stripe when you are changing colors every row. Thank you.
Hi Sue,
Thanks for reaching out. I’m afraid that we do not yet have a tutorial for single-round jogless stripes, but here’s how I like to do this: First, knit up to the end of the round. Pick up the right leg of the stitch in the round just below the next live stitch and place it on the left needle. Knit this loop with the live stitch, just like a k2tog. Then just continue the pattern as written!
I hope this helps. There are certainly other ways to achieve single-round jogless stripes, so you might want to play around with the many techniques available to find the one that works for you!
All the best,
Lili
Hello,
I would love to make this scarf using a very neutral colour scheme. This is to match three hats (of various colours) that I knit for my friend . Could you recommend two neutral colours that would best with the reed gray as the centre section? Perhaps the barn owl as one? Also, is it possible to buys the wool not in a bundle? Thank you!
Jane
Hi Jane!
Thank you so much for your question! Yes, it is possible to buy our Quartz yarn individually, and we can suggest adding Golden Green with Reed Gray and Barn Owl for a neutral scarf. Alternatively, if you wanted to go more of a khaki green neutral route, you could use Reed Gray with Golden Green and Fresh Pickle! For a versatile black and white combination, you could use Reed Gray with Ash Gray and River Rock, too.
I hope these suggestions catch your eye!
All the best,
Margaret
I am knitting this scarf. It obviously is a long tube. Maybe this is a silly question but how are each of the ends of the tube “finished”? I believe the pattern says bind off all stitches. And, of course, at the beginning we cast on. Is the tube just left as a tube? Could I add maybe fringe to each end to pull the tube together to help make it look more finished? I know after blocking it’ll lie flat but the ends would still be open to the tube unless I’m reading the pattern wrong. Thank you!
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for reaching out. The way this pattern was designed, the ends are left open, so the scarf remains a long tube! But I love the idea of adding a fringe to each end to close that up–that sounds like it would look amazing! Let us know if you end up trying that.
All the best,
Lili
Hello , How long is the scarf when finished ?
Thank you ,
Heike
Hi Heike,
Thanks for reaching out. The finished dimensions of this scarf are approximately 18 inches in circumference x 74 inches long!
All the best,
Lili
Hi Heike,
I love how you designed the stripe pattern on this scarf. I am wondering if you can adapt the same design for a hat? Or do you know a similar design already patterned for a hat?
Thanks
Hi Tammy,
Heike looks like the latest person to ask a question right before you, so she probably won’t answer you back, but we’re happy to help you on the actual designer’s behalf!
We’re so happy to hear that you’re a fan of the Tree Ring Scarf pattern! I think this style of colorwork would look really wonderful as a hat. I would suggest looking at fingering weight hat patterns and seeing if you can map out the same color transitions on the hat. This is because the cast-on for a hat would be quite different from this scarf and a hat would need specific decreases during the crown shaping as well! One pattern that came to mind is the Tiny Stripes Hat, which features striping in a similar way as the Tree Ring Scarf: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2016/03/24/tiny-stripes-hat/
I hope this helps! Thanks again for writing in!
All the best,
Cat