Warm + Fuzzy Kerchief
Make one for yourself or as a gift, either way you’ll feel a surge of warm feelings when you’re knitting our Warm + Fuzzy Kerchief in ridiculously soft Fiddlehead!
Just like all of our Fiddlehead accessories, you only need one 2-skein Fiddlehead Bundle (no longer available) to cast on. And with eight brand new, very gorgeous colors of Fiddlehead, there’s even more beauty to choose from!
You could not ask for a simpler pattern… Perfect for beginners, travelers, last-minute-gift-knitters, or anyone who wants to settle into easy stitches and a relaxing knit.
And when it comes to making something special, our Fiddlehead Bundle does (nearly) all the work! This 100% alpaca is similar to a bouclé, but the alpaca roving runs in curly waves along the central threads, rather than in loops. (And yes, even those central threads are made of alpaca!)
Alpaca is already lighter than wool, but add to that Fiddlehead’s structure, and you have a yarn that is shockingly light, knitting into an airy, beautiful fabric that has the texture of a curly little lamb!
Fiddlehead Bundles (no longer available) come in 17 inspiring colors, and we knit our Warm + Fuzzy Kerchiefs in three of the new ones: Pine Nut, Pink Azalea, and Chocolate Truffle (below, top to bottom).
You only need one 2-skein Fiddlehead Bundle for a Warm + Fuzzy Kerchief, so pick one up for you and pick up another for the favorite knitter in your life! You will both feel warm and fuzzy!
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, Gaby Bush.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoWarmAndFuzzyKerchief, and #PurlSohoFiddlehead. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
You’ll need a Fiddlehead Bundle (no longer available), which includes…
- 2 skeins of Purl Soho’s Fiddlehead, 100% alpaca yarn. Each skein of this super bulky yarn is approximately 65 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 130 total yards required. We used the colors Chocolate Truffle, Pink Azalea, and Pine Nut (some colors are no longer available).
You will also need…
- US 13 (9 mm), 16-inch or longer circular needles
- Removable stitch markers
GAUGE
9 stitches and 15 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch, unblocked
9 stitches and 12¾ rows = 4 inches in garter stitch, blocked
NOTE: You’ll need almost every bit of your 2 skeins for this kerchief. To avoid running short, we recommend not cutting or blocking the yarn for your gauge swatch, so you can re-use it. If you’re close to the unblocked gauge and your fabric has some stretch, you should be good!
SIZE
- Finished Depth: 12 inches, blocked
- Finished Wingspan: 66 inches long, blocked
- Finished Lengths of Shorter Edges: 35 inches long, blocked
NOTE
SLIP STITCHES
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise with yarn in front.
PATTERN
SET UP
Using a basic Long Tail Cast On, cast on 2 stitches.
Set-Up Row 1 (right side): Slip 1 (see Note), k1.
NOTE: Place removable marker on previous row for right side.
Set-Up Rows 2–4: Repeat Row 1.
INCREASE
Row 1 (right side): Slip 1, knit front and back (kfb). [1 stitch increased]
Rows 2–4: Slip 1, knit to end of row.
Row 5: Slip 1, kfb, knit to end of row. [1 stitch increased]
Rows 6–8: Slip 1, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 5–8 twenty-three more times, then repeat Row 5 one more time. [28 total stitches]
DECREASE
Row 1 (wrong side): Slip 1, knit to last 3 stitches, knit 2 together (k2tog), k1. [1 stitch decreased]
Rows 2–4: Slip 1, knit to end of row.
Repeat Rows 1–4 twenty-four more times. [3 stitches remain]
Next Row (wrong side): Slip 1, k2tog. [2 stitches remain]
Next Row: Slip 1, knit 1.
Repeat last row 2 more times.
Next Row (wrong side): K2tog. [1 stitch remains]
FINISHING
Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitch. Weave in all ends, and wet block to finished dimensions.
LEARN ABOUT FIDDLEHEAD + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Fiddlehead brings joy wherever it goes! Delightfully curly, it is 100% alpaca and as soft as you can imagine. One characteristic of Fiddlehead that’s hard to convey in photos is just how surprisingly light and airy it is, so although it is a super bulky-weight yarn, it practically floats off your needles! Available in lots of gorgeous colors and in 2-skein gift bundles, too, Fiddlehead is as fun as it is beautiful!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) Fiddlehead knitting patterns
More Super Bulky-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of super bulky-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 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!
Hello,
I love the new colors of Fiddlehead they are just beautiful. If I wanted to make a “fold and knit” bandana like the pattern in Picnic yarn out of Fiddlehead, how many skeins, how many to cast on and a 13 size needle? With the bulky yarn I wasnt sure if it would be the same amount of the Fiddlehead yarn. I was thinking the small size bandana would be really cute and a fast knit too. Thanks so much!
Hi Pam,
You could definitely make the Knit + Fold Bandana in Fiddlehead! To figure out your cast-on number, you will want to first knit a gauge swatch in pattern. Once you know how many stitches you are getting per inch, you can multiply that number by the width of the bandana (24 inches for the Small size) and cast on the nearest whole number. Then you can follow the pattern as written! I’d recommend getting 4 skeins of Fiddlehead for this pattern.
All the best,
Lili
Oh thank you Lili, I really appreciate it! I think this will be so fun. Thanks again!
This is a lovely yarn and knits up beautifully- until you make an error and have to rip out a few rows. Due to the curly texture of the yarn, it gets all knotted up and I had to “frog” the project . I was three-quarters of the way through 😢
Hi Madeline,
We are so sorry to hear you are having trouble with your project. For a yarn like Fiddlehead, you will always want to frog as slowly as possible. This will help the project unravel rather than tangle and also keep your strands intact to be able to reknit or crochet with! I hope this helps!
All the best,
Gavriella
This was so much fun to knit, and the result is indeed reminiscent of a “curly little lamb”! I used straight needles because I couldn’t find circulars in the size and length called for, and they worked fine.
Hello,
I am not sure to understand why we need circular needles for this pattern. Does it really matter? Are we turning the work after each row or do we need to slide it at any point? or is it just because of the narrow width (at the beginning) that you are recommending circular instead of straight? Thank you!
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for reaching out! We recommended circular needles as a design choice for this pattern, but you could absolutely use straight needles instead if you prefer those more! The widest part of the scarf is about 12 inches so it may be easier to knit that amount of stitches on circular needles, but again, straight needles would definitely work too for this project with no problem!
I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Cat
I think Fiddlehead is a really nice yarn. I really want to make a big Kerchief out of this so that I can wrap it all around me. How many balls of this would I need? And is the pattern easy to adapt to a wrap? I want to be sure that the proportions of the shawl are still correct. I can knit patterns well, but usually cannot design something myself.
Kind regards,
Marieke
Hi Marieke,
Thanks for writing in! Do you have a sense of the specific dimensions you want the kerchief to be? That would really help me provide an accurate yardage calculation for you!
All the best,
Lili
Hi how many stitches do I need for a throw in fiddleheads. I regular throw not a crib size. Thank you
Hi Helen,
Thanks for writing in! Have you taken a look at our Coziest Blanket Ever pattern yet? We designed that blanket specifically for Fiddlehead, and it comes in a throw size!
All the best,
Lili
I love the fiddlehead yarn. I just made the cozy cowl and adjusted it so that there were fewer rows and less increases to make it less bulky. I would like to do the same for this (I bought multiple colors and skeins of the yarn), but I am not sure how to downsize it. I think I would like the widest part to be a little shorter. Any suggestions?
Hi Alyssa,
Great question! You can increase on every other row instead of every 4th row for a deeper shawl!
All the best,
Gavriella
Hi – I’m in the process of making the kerchief – and since the pattern says you’ll use up almost all of the two skeins- does that mean you should be mostly done with your first skein when you get to the point where you begin your decrease? Thanks.
Hi Catherine,
That’s correct! However, we almost always add a 10% buffer to the yardage requirements to ensure that people don’t run out of yarn, so your first skein will probably last through the beginning of the decrease section.
All the best,
Lili
Hi, new knitter here; would I be able to make this in a cotton yarn? If so, what size yarn would best be substituted? Thx!
Hi Kat,
Thanks for writing in! This is a wonderful pattern to try a different yarn for since it’s super easy to modify for any yarn weight. All you need to do, for any yarn, is repeat the rows in the INCREASE section until the kerchief is as deep as you want it to be (the original depth is 12 inches), and then repeat the rows in the DECREASE section until just 1 stitch remains. Any of our cotton yarns would be lovely choices, but I think that Witch Hazel in particular would be very fun since it’s so fluffy!
All the best,
Lili