free knitting pattern | Alaska Knit Nat

Last week a friend asked me if I could make a toddler scarf for her little niece, Amelia. The idea of a toddler wearing a scarf is funny to me. I can’t imagine it staying on a wriggling little 2-year-old. But that got me thinking: why not make a scarf that will stay put?

I searched Pinterest and came across the most adorable scarf pattern that uses a bow as a button. This was definitely the right idea. Create a buttonhole near the end of the scarf and secure a knit bow in the buttonhole. That should keep the scarf in place on a hippitty-hoppity hyper toddler.

I love the look of seed stitch, a.k.a. moss stitch. It keeps the knit piece from curling on the edges and it looks attractive on both sides of the fabric. And it’s a little fancier than garter stitch.

This is a simple weekend project that’s bound to keep your little lady cozy and warm.

Little lady scarf with bow

Materials:

1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Fisherman
1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Charcoal
Size 10 US needles
darning needle

Seed stitch:

Row 1: k1, p1 across all stitches

Row 2: p1, k1 across all stitches

Essentially, you knit where there’s a purl and purl where there’s a knit on the previous row.

Note: I slip the first stitch of each row, knitwise, and purl the last stitch of every row regardless of where I am in the seed stitch pattern. This creates a neat edge. It is not required and therefore I haven’t included it in the row-by-row instructions below.

Instructions:

Cast on 20 stitches.

Seed stitch for 18 rows.

For the buttonhole:

Row 1: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch for 9 stitches. With the left needle, pull one stitch over the other stitch, *knit one, pull the second stitch over the knit one; repeat from the * twice more. You have now cast off 4 stitches. Continue with the seed stitch for the rest of the row. You should have 8 stitches on either side of the cast-off stitches.

Row 2: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch to button hole, cast on 4 stitches, continue the seed stitch for the rest of the row. – 20 stitches.

Continue the seed stitch pattern until the whole piece measures 25 inches. Cast off and weave in ends.

Bow: Cast on 10 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 10 rows. Cast off and weave in ends. Wrap grey yarn around the middle of the strip several times and tie the ends in the back of the bow.

Using the fisherman color yarn and darning needle, sew the bow to the end of the scarf opposite the button hole, the same height as the button hole (about 4 inches from the edge).

I don’t have a little lady, so my little gent got to be the model. Kind of looks like a bow tie, right?

The top can be folded down a bit like a collar to make it a little narrower and warmer.

After knitting about 30 Alaska flag hats, I was yearning to knit myself something this winter that I would use every day. I love cowls, but often my hair gets all frumpy and frizzy when I try and put one on over my head. I really wanted a scarf that wouldn’t require a lot of thinking.

After many searches I came across this simple pattern from Leah Michelle Designs. The elongated triangle turns out less like a shawl and more like a bandana scarf. Just my style.

I fell in love with Mano de Ururguay’s Clara yarn the other day at the yarn shop. It’s soft, feathery and fluffy. Just my style.

This pattern is so simple. It increases by one stitch every four rows. No need to count stitches or rows. You just weigh the yarn before starting and increase until you’ve used half the weight, then start decreasing.

I also learned a simple technique that I’ll be applying to all scarf patterns in the future. You slip the first stitch knitwise and purl the last stitch on every row. This creates the perfect edge. I love it!