Snowfall Scarf

(Worked Flat)

A long, single-layer fingering-weight scarf in stranded colorwork, knit straight on two needles. Deep peacock green and gray form a drifting snowfield; white and emerald are used as sparkle. Garter borders keep the edges flat. Optional fringe finishes both short ends.

This is an original flat construction. If you are following snow-motif charts labeled A (opening), B (transition), and C (allover field), use them for color placement. Work the center panel in pattern; keep the 6-stitch borders in MC garter throughout.

Skill level: Advanced (stranded colorwork worked flat)

Finished measurements

Width: 7¼" (18.5 cm), blocked
Length: 63" (160 cm), excluding fringe
Fringe: about 6" (15 cm) at each short end (optional)

Materials

Yarn: Fingering weight (4-ply), 4 colors

Suggested amounts (you will have leftover from the original 3-skein MC / CC1 quantities):

• MC Peacock green: 500 yd / 457 m (fingering)
• CC1 Gray: 500 yd / 457 m (fingering)
• CC2 White: 44 yd / 40 m (fingering)
• CC3 Emerald green: 44 yd / 40 m (fingering)

A smooth, tightly spun fingering (the original used Nikke Victor Fingering) gives crisp motifs and manageable floats.

Needles: One pair US 2½ / 3 mm straight needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
(A short circular used flat is fine if you prefer the cable; the work is still knitted back and forth, not joined.)

Notions:

• 2 stitch markers
• Tapestry needle
• Blocking mats and pins
• Optional: US C-2 / 2.75 mm crochet hook for placing fringe

Gauge

36 stitches and 33 rows = 4" (10 cm) in stranded colorwork, blocked, on US 2½ / 3 mm.

Work a colorwork swatch at least 5" (12.5 cm) square and measure the center. Do not measure stockinette; stranded fabric is denser.

If your swatch is tighter than 36 sts / 4" (10 cm), go up one needle size (US 3 / 3.25 mm). If looser, go down (US 2 / 2.75 mm). Drape should be firm but not board-like.

Notes

Construction. The scarf is a flat rectangle: garter edge, stranded panel, garter edge. It is not a tube and is not folded.

Colorwork, flat.

• RS rows: knit the center panel, reading a chart from right to left (or following the written color order for that row).
• WS rows: purl the center panel, reading a chart from left to right.
• Both yarns stay on the wrong side of the fabric. On WS rows that means both yarns are at the front of the work while you purl.
• Catch (wrap) the unused yarn every 5 stitches if a float would run longer than that. At the two panel edges, catch every 3–4 stitches so the border join stays tidy.
• Do not carry contrast colors through the garter borders. Park CC at the panel markers; twist MC and the active contrast once at each marker so a hole does not form.
• Keep floats even and slightly looser than the stitches they pass behind, or the scarf will draw in.

Motifs. The field is two-color stranded knitting with occasional white and emerald sparks — snow crystals, drift bands, and small geometric flakes. Chart A is the opening border, Chart B the transition, Chart C the repeating snowfield. Work A, then B, then C to length, then B, then A so both ends match.

If a chart is not in front of you. Work the 54 center stitches in MC and CC1 stockinette (knit RS, purl WS), adding CC2 and CC3 as small 1-stitch or 3-stitch highlights every few inches, and keep the 6-stitch MC garter borders. The scarf will still be a straight, two-needle colorwork piece of the same size.

Cast-on / chart width. 54 center stitches equal one full motif width from a 108-stitch tubular version that worked the chart twice around. If your motif repeat is a different width, change only the center stitch count to a multiple of that repeat; keep 6 garter stitches at each side and recast on. Example: a 12-stitch repeat × 4 = 48 center sts + 12 border sts = 60 sts total.

Tension at the edges. The first and last stitch of every row may be slipped purlwise with yarn in front (WS) or in back (RS) if you want a chain selvedge for fringe. Otherwise knit them in garter with the rest of the border.

Abbreviations (US)

BO — bind off
CC1, CC2, CC3 — contrast colors 1, 2, 3
CO — cast on
k — knit
MC — main color
p — purl
pm — place marker
RS — right side
sl — slip stitch purlwise
st(s) — stitch(es)
WS — wrong side
wyib — with yarn in back
wyif — with yarn in front

Pattern

Cast on

With MC and US 2½ / 3 mm needles, CO 66 sts using a long-tail or knitted cast-on (firm but not tight).

(6 garter + 54 colorwork + 6 garter = 66 ✓)

Setup row (WS): K6, pm, p54, pm, k6.

66 sts remain.

Beginning — Chart A, then Chart B

Join CC1 (and later CC2 / CC3 when the motif calls for them). Do not cut MC.

Row 1 (RS): K6 (garter border, MC only), slip marker, work the 54-st snow motif panel in stranded knitting (Chart A, beginning at row 2 if you are using the original A/B charts that skip their first row; otherwise begin at Chart A row 1), slip marker, k6 MC.

Row 2 (WS): K6 MC, slip marker, purl the 54-st panel in pattern (read the chart from left to right), slip marker, k6 MC.

Continue Chart A in this manner until it is complete, then work Chart B the same way (RS knit / WS purl between the markers; 6-st MC garter every row).

66 sts every row.

When a motif row uses only MC, still keep the markers and knit/purl the center 54 in stockinette so the panel gauge does not change.

Main field — Chart C

Work Chart C across the 54 center stitches, repeating the motif along the length of the scarf.

Every RS row: K6 MC, work Chart C in knit stranded colorwork, k6 MC.
Every WS row: K6 MC, work Chart C in purl stranded colorwork, k6 MC.

Continue until the piece measures 55" (140 cm) from the cast-on edge, ending with a WS row. Measure on the blocking surface without stretching.

(Beginning A+B plus ending B+A will add about 4" / 10 cm at each end, bringing the blocked body to 63" / 160 cm ✓)

Ending — Chart B, then Chart A

Work Chart B across the center 54 stitches (flat, as before), then Chart A, so the second end mirrors the first.

If the original charts were started at row 2 at the cast-on, end Chart A on the corresponding last row so the bind-off edge matches the cast-on visually.

66 sts remain.

Bind off

With MC, bind off in pattern on the RS: knit the 6 border stitches, then bind off the center stitches knitwise (or in the colors of that last motif row), then knit the final 6. Keep the bind-off as elastic as the fabric — a too-tight bind-off will pull the end inward. A sewn or very loose knitted bind-off is recommended.

Cut yarns, leaving 6" (15 cm) tails.

Finishing

Weave in ends. On the wrong side, weave each tail along a matching-color float or into the garter border. Do not weave a contrast tail across a long stretch of a different color; it will show through. Trim after blocking.

Block. Wet-block. Soak in lukewarm water with a drop of wool wash for 15–20 minutes. Roll in a towel. Pin to 7¼" (18.5 cm) wide and 63" (160 cm) long. Do not overstretch the stranded panel — you want motif definition, not a sagging fabric. Let dry completely.

Fringe (optional).

Cut 12" (30 cm) strands. For each bundle, use 3 strands held together (MC, or MC+CC1+CC2 for a mixed fringe).

1. Fold the 3 strands in half to make a 6" (15 cm) loop.
2. With a crochet hook, pull the loop through a stitch at the short end (cast-on or bind-off).
3. Pass the cut ends through the loop and pull snug (lark’s head).
4. Repeat along both short ends, about every 4 stitches (15 bundles per end: 15 × 4 = 60, with the 6 leftover stitches absorbed at the two corners ✓).
5. Trim the fringe even to 5½–6" (14–15 cm).

No seaming and no folding. The scarf is complete as a single flat layer.

Knitting checklist

• 66 sts every row (count at the borders if the panel is busy).
• Contrast yarn never travels through the 6-st garter edges.
• Floats caught at least every 5 sts (every 3–4 sts next to a marker).
• Charts read right-to-left on RS, left-to-right on WS.
• Length: A, B, then C to 55" (140 cm), then B, A, then bind off.
• Blocked size: 7¼ × 63" (18.5 × 160 cm), plus fringe.