Diagonal Pinstripe Scarf In Quartz
Not all pinstripes are all business! A little tweak to their directionality and color, and our Diagonal Pinstripe Scarf shows us just how fun those simple lines can be.
You knit this garter stitch scarf with easy increases and decreases, plus one-line pinstripes capriciously interspersed throughout. Don’t worry, you knit the tails in as you go to minimize weaving in at the end (You’re welcome, dear knitter!).
You might be knitting stripes, but you don’t have to fall in line. There are twenty beautiful colors of our Quartz yarn to choose from, so you can make your Diagonal Pinstripe Scarf as striking (or as subtle) as you like. And with the way this mix of merino and suri alpaca glows, you’ll be in business no matter what combination you choose!
Designed for Purl Soho by Joelle Hoverson.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoProjectName and #PurlSohoYarnName. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Quartz, 65% merino wool and 35% suri alpaca. Each skein is 420 yards/ 100 grams.
- Main Color (MC): 3 skeins; approximately 1200 yards required. We used the color Fresh Fig.
- Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein; approximately 40 yards required. We used the color Cardinal Red.
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 24-inch circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
GAUGE
30 stitches and 60 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 11 inches wide x 74 inches long
NOTES
SLIP STITCHES
Work all slip stitches knitwise with the yarn in back.
RANDOM STRIPES
We placed the pinstripes in this scarf randomly. To do the same, try one of these tricks: Whenever you put your project down for more than eight hours, start the next knitting session with a stripe, or roll a die to determine the number of inches before the next stripe. Let us know in the Comments section below if you have a go-to way of creating chaos you’d like to share!
PATTERN
INCREASE SECTION
NOTE: There are no stripes in the increase or decrease sections of the scarf, and the right side of the piece is not yet established.
With Main Color (MC), cast on 3 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Set-Up Row: Slip 1 (see Note), knit into front and back (kfb), k1. (4 stitches)
Increase Row: Slip 1, knit to last 2 stitches, kfb, k1. (1 stitch increased)
Repeat Increase Row until there are 120 stitches.
MAIN STITCH PATTERN
Row 1 (right side): Slip 1, knit two together (k2tog), knit to last 2 stitches, kfb, k1.
Place a removable stitch marker (or safety pin or scrap of yarn) to mark the right side.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you’re ready to work a stripe (see Notes).
STRIPE PATTERN
At the end of a wrong side row, cut MC yarn.
Row 1 (right side): Slip 1, with Contrast Color (CC), k2tog, pick up CC tail and k9 using both working yarn and tail, drop tail, knit to last 2 stitches, kfb, k1.
Cut CC yarn.
NOTE: When working each of the next 2 rows be sure to knit the nine double stranded stitches as only one stitch each.
Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1, with MC, k1, pick up MC tail and k9 using both working yarn and tail, drop tail, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Slip 1, k2tog, pick up MC tail from 2 rows below and k9 using both working yarn and tail, drop tail, knit to last 2 stitches, kfb, k1.
Row 4: Slip 1, knit to end.
Continue with Rows 1 and 2 of Main Stitch Pattern, working Main Stitch Pattern and Stripe Row as desired, until work measures approximately 74 inches from cast-on edge to top left corner (with right side facing you).
DECREASE SECTION
Decrease Row: Slip 1, with MC, k2tog, knit to end of row. (1 stitch decreased)
Repeat Decrease Row until 2 stitches remain.
FINISH
Cut yarn and thread it through the remaining stitches.
Weave in remaining CC tails through the stripe stitches. For the most invisible results use Duplicate Stitch for garter stitch. Trim remaining tail ends.
Weave in remaining ends and gently wet block.
Could this pattern be worked in a stockinette stitch, using it as a blanket pattern? I am assuming it wouldn’t ” roll” since it is knit on the diagonal.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for writing in! This pattern works best in garter stitch for a few reasons: First, the fabric will likely still roll up in stockinette, even though it’s knit on the bias. Another reason is that the row gauge of stockinette stitch is very different from the row gauge of garter (it’s a taller stitch). So if this pattern is knit in stockinette, it will not come out to be a rectangle, but more like a rhombus.
With those things in mind, I’d highly recommend sticking to garter stitch for this pattern!
All the best,
Lili
Oh my, this is perfect serendipity! Just yesterday, I was looking at my Slanting Stripes Scarf and was thinking about how much fun that was to knit. And the this morning, a new project with a new yarn that looks like similar fun appears in my in-box!
I was wondering if you could suggest a couple other color combinations. I don’t have any Quartz in my stash so I’m open to anything but do have a scarf already knit in the “Red Plum” color way so I’d like to try something new. Thanks so very much!
Megan
Hi Megan,
Thanks for writing in! This sounds like the perfect project for you, and I’d be happy to suggest some other color combinations. I’m a huge fan of pairing brown with a lighter color, so I think that Barn Owl would go very nicely with Pink Starfish, Celadon Green, and Hydrangea Blossom. For a more vibrant pairing, I’d recommend Green Dusk with Lavender Moon or Rose Hip with Heirloom White. I hope this helps give you inspiration for your own scarf!
All the best,
Lili
I would love to make this scarf for my sister, but she’s allergic to wool. Could I make it in cotton or silk?
Hi Michele,
Thanks for reaching out. You can absolutely knit this scarf in another yarn! For a cotton option, I’d recommend Buttercup Cotton, and for a silk option, I’d recommend Cattail Silk. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
What an interesting and clever way to get single-row stripes, I love it! I will have to give it a try once I finish my current project. Thank you for a great idea.
Looks lovely! Any other color combination ideas you might want to share😊
Hi Denise,
Thank you for your kind words! Quartz has such lovely colors that there are many combinations I can think of. Here are a few of my favorites:
Barn Owl + Celadon Green
Rose Hip + Heirloom White
Green Dusk + Lavender Moon
I hope these are useful!
All the best,
Lili
O.K. A REAL beginner here who may have been a bad mistake. I was so excited to get started on the project, I did not take the time to make a gauge of my stitches. 🙁
Question: If I reach the 11 inches wide before I get to 120 stitches as called for in the instructions, can I stop with the number of stitches that I have and still complete the scarf?
Thank heaven, this was not a sweater being created. Thanks!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for writing in. Yes, you can move on to the MAIN STITCH PATTERN section whenever you reach your desired width for the scarf! The only thing that this may impact is the finished length of the scarf, but since it sounds like your stitches are larger than intended, you will definitely still have enough yarn to make a very long scarf. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Re: quartz diagonal pinstripe scarf
I just completed my first stripe (ROW 1) on my scarf.
On ROW 2 (wrong side) I slipped the CC stitch, picked up the MC but cannot figure out how to knit the first stitch without having the tail ending up on the right side of the work! What do you suggest?
P.S. I think I have duplicated this question elsewhere when it should have been placed here! sorry!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for reaching out–that’s a good question! I would recommend leaving the tail on the right side of the work for now. Then, when you’re done with the scarf and ready to weave in ends, take a yarn needle and use that to bring the tail to the wrong side of the work. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Now I feel silly that I asked the question! The logical side of my brain must be in the “off” position.
Thank you so much. Please have a lovely day.
I usually knit with something streaming either on the laptop or the t and v. I will add the stripe at the beginning of each new program. That should make it interesting.
Also, I am in my year of yarning dangerousl so I am using yarn in my stash. This is going to be made with some brown tweed yarn with the stripe in a red tweed. That should also be interesting