Do you have balls or skeins of DK weight yarn in your stash in a fabulous colour but you’re not sure what to make with them? Use them to knit the free Tolcarne Scarf knitting pattern!
The gorgeous reversible texture gives interest and holds in warmth, whilst being easy to knit. One side shows up ribbed while the other side is a lovely nubby pattern, like rocks and pebbles on Tolcarne Beach in Newquay, Cornwall.
The scarf won’t fly away from you in windy weather either, due to its ingenious centre slot fastening! Just thread one end through it to keep your scarf secure and cosy around your neck.
The Tolcarne Scarf knitting pattern is FREE for you to download right now, so you can start knitting it straight away!
What will you need?
This easy knit pattern uses 100 grams of any Double Knitting weight yarn, so it’s a fabulous stash buster to keep making. It will look quite different in a variegated yarn to a semi-solid colourway. Knit several versions of this scarf with different fibre blends to give a look and feel with each one!
If you want to knit the Tolcarne Scarf in either of the gorgeous hand-dyed the yarns shown, you can find them here:
You will also need a pair of straight 5mm knitting needles to knit the scarf. If you prefer to knit with a circular needle, you can do that too, just working back and forth instead of in the round.
You’ll soon get the hang of the easy 4-row pattern repeat, so you won’t even need to look at the pattern for most of the knitting.
Tips for knitting your Tolcarne Scarf
A note about substituting yarn
If you’ve read my article about Choosing the right yarn type, you’ll know that different DK yarns will have different lengths, although they may all be the same weight. This scarf design accommodates any DK weight yarn, as you make it as long as you can with the yarn you have available.
If you haven’t read the article yet, then head over there now to expand your yarn knowledge!
Use a lifeline
You won’t know exactly how many pattern repeats you can knit in total for the scarf. You just need to leave enough yarn left off for the cast-off row. To make this as easy as possible, I use lifelines when I knit this scarf, and recommend them for you too.
All you need is a contrasting colour yarn that is slightly thinner than your working yarn. A 4ply yarn will work well for this, but you can use a finer yarn if you have some spare. You’ll need approximately 1 metre of this yarn, and it must be a colour that stands out against your working yarn.
When you’ve knitted the main length of your scarf, you’ll have a small amount of yarn left. If you don’t know whether that will be enough to complete another pattern repeat plus the cast off row, then use the lifeline.
To do this, simply thread the contrasting yarn onto a darning needle and pass it through all the stitches on your needle. Leave the ends hanging either side of your knitting. Make sure you’ve passed the contrasting yarn through the centre of the stitches, without catching any of the working yarn. This is your lifeline.
Leave the lifeline in place and work another repeat of the stitch pattern. Make sure you don’t knit any of the lifeline yarn into your stitches on that first row!
If you run out of yarn before you finish the pattern repeat (which is 4 rows in this scarf design), no problem! Simply take your stitches off your needle and pull them back to the lifeline row. Then pick up your stitches from the lifeline row and cast off.
If you still yarn that may be enough to work another pattern repeat, pull the lifeline out of your scarf and repeat the process.
This will easily allow you to get the maximum length of scarf from your yarn, and minimise the amount of yarn left over!
This technique of using a lifeline can be used in any knitting project where you may want to undo a section of knitting if you make a mistake or run out of yarn.
I use it frequently; I hope you find it useful too.
Download the pattern
Download your FREE copy of the 1-page Tolcarne Scarf knitting pattern, ready to print.
Alternatively, add it to your library on Ravelry, or download it from LoveCrafts.
While you’re here, take a look at my other free knit and crochet patterns too.
You’ll also find a selection of my other original designs plus knit and crochet kits.
Enjoy!
