Introduction: Adorable Ruffle Scarf Instructions (Patons Pirouette)

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About: Teacher, tutor, trainer, author, and creative person; if I can do it or make it myself, I will! Jewelry & websites at http://www.aspiring-arts.com. Oh, and I did an "instructable" on TV once, on …

Have you ever seen someone knitting a beautiful garment and thought, "Oh, I MUST make that!"? That's what went through my head when I saw someone knitting a gorgeous ruffle scarf. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was so easy, a beginning knitter can do it.

The secret is the yarn itself. The yarn is Patons Pirouette, a ruffle yarn that is prepared in such a way that a simple knit stitch turns it into a scarf that turns heads and elicits compliments everywhere.

As soon as the Black Friday coupons came out, I scooted down to my local craft store and picked up a couple of skeins. I then went home to begin the project. To my dismay, I discovered the online instructions were lacking in clarity and left out some important steps. So today's project is to offer you a new, improved set of instructions to knit this lovely yarn into a pretty, warm scarf for winter.

Step 1: Materials and Supplies

You will need:
  • One skein of Patons Pirouette yarn
  • A pair of Size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles
That's it! Easy as pie.

Note: Two different colors of yarn are shown in the photos. The purple one is the scarf I made for myself; the blue one was made for this instructable and will be a gift for my mom's friend. If you look carefull\y, you'll see this yarn even has sparkly thread in it!

Step 2: Casting On

Casting on is really simple.
  1. Find the end of the skein, and un-double the yarn. (The yarn is folded in half when it is rolled.)
  2. On the un-fuzzy side, you will see alternating spaces and knitted bits. You want to run your right-hand needle through five spaces, skipping the knitted bits in between. The first space your needle should enter should be without risk of unraveling, so skip your very first option if necessary.
  3. The needle should be inserted back-to-front through each of those spaces. (Photo 2.)
You will now have five stitches cast on.

Step 3: Knitting the Rows

Now you just knit like you would do with normal yarn.
  1. Put needle with cast-on stitches in your left hand and bring the loose yarn around the back.
  2. Insert right hand needle through front of first stitch (the one to the far right, Photo 1), wrap the next open stitch around the needle (Photo 2), and pull it through the stitch with the right needle (Photo 3). You should now have one stitch on the right hand needle and four on the left (Photo 4).
  3. Continue until all stitches are knitted onto right needle.
  4. Put needle with stitches into your left hand and repeat from Step 1 until there are between five and ten open loops left on the yarn.
You will see the ruffles forming as you go. Depending on your knitting speed, the whole scarf can be finished in just a few hours.

Step 4: Casting Off

Now that you have just a few rows of yarn left, it's time to cast off the yarn. If you're experienced in casting off, just cast off like usual. For a step-by-step process, do the following:
  1. Knit two stitches as before until they are both on the right-hand needle (Photo 3-5).
  2. Bring the left-hand needle into the front of the stitch on the right side of the right-hand needle. Pull that stitch up and over the stitch to the left of it so it comes off the needle. It will form a loop around the needle and won't come undone (Photo 6).
  3. Continue doing the same with the remaining stitches until you have only one stitch remaining on the right-hand needle (Photo 8).
  4. Bring the end of the yarn through the last stitch and pull it tight (Photo 8).

Step 5: Finishing

The Patons instructions don't say to end it off, which implies you can leave the ends loose. This is an option, but there is more of a risk of the scarf unraveling. You can stitch up the ends if you wish.

Now wear it around town and be ready for all the compliments people will shower upon you. It's a super easy and super cute way to stay warm! But if you want to impress people, don't give away how easy it was to make.

Enjoy, and please let me know if you end up making this pretty scarf for yourself. Also, if any of my steps need further explanation, please let me know so I can update these instructions.