Colours of Autumn scarf
Colours of Autumn scarf is the third design in my book Fair Isle Knitting and Design. I designed this scarf to be suitable for knitters who wish to practise the techniques of stranding and weaving in yarn. The diced pattern is repeated both horizontally and vertically giving knitters time to memorise the pattern. Only the pattern colour changes, which enables a knitter with a little stranded colourwork experience to enjoy working with different colours without making the scarf too difficult.
The colours in this scarf were inspired by memories of autumn leaves. The allover diced pattern has one motif on the lighter diamonds and six different motifs on the darker diamonds. The pattern colours really glow against the warm dark brown background.
Construction
You knit the Colours of Autumn scarf, as traditionally, in the round, starting with a provisional cast-on. The stitches of each of the open ends, at the bottom and at the top of the scarf, are separately grafted together, to make a reversible scarf.
The pattern for Colours of Autumn scarf is only available in my book. The book also includes step-by-step photo tutorials for stranding yarn and weaving in yarn, as well as written tutorials for the provisional cast-on method and Kitchener stitch (used grafting). If you need more detail or you prefer a more visual approach, you can look at the following photo tutorials:
- The crochet provisional cast-on method (for knitting right-handed)
- The crochet provisional cast-on method (for knitting left-handed).
- Kitchener stitch or grafting (for knitting right-handed)
- Kitchener stitch or grafting (for knitting left-handed)
My yarn choice for the Colours of Autumn scarf
My favourite yarn for Fair Isle knitting is Shetland Spindrift from Jamieson’s of Shetland (4-ply weight; 100% Shetland wool; 105m | 115 yds per 25 grams). Spindrift comes in over 200 beautiful colours, including both natural, undyed and mill-dyed colours. This yarn is light and ‘sticky’ because it is woollen-spun. Both of these properties are great for stranded colourwork. A stranded knitted fabric is thicker than usual for the yarn weight, because of the layer of floats on the wrong side of the fabric. Using a lightweight yarn helps to keep the fabric light enough for garments and accessories. The ‘stickiness’ occurs because the tiny fibres on the outside of the yarn clink to each other. These fibres help the floats to stay in place which helps keep the knitted stitches even.
You can buy a Colours of Autumn yarn pack containing Shetland Spindrift in the original colours from the Being Knitterly webshop.
The Colours of Autumn scarf comes in one size:
- Finished width: 17 cm | 6¾ inches.
- Finished length: 157 cm | 62 inches.
My sample knitter used 3.25 mm | UK 10 | US 3 circular needles. You will also need a stitch marker, for marking the start of the round, some smooth waste yarn, for the provisional cast-on, and a blunt-ended yarn or tapestry needle, for weaving in the yarn ends and grafting the ends together using Kitchener stitch.
Alternative yarns
If you would like to use a different yarn, for your Colours of Autumn scarf, look for one with a similar meterage (yardage). As explained above, woollen spun yarn will work best, particularly if this is your first time knitting a Fair Isle design.
2-ply Jumper weight, Jamieson & Smith (4-ply weight; 100% Shetland wool; 125 m | 115 yds per 25 grams). Undyed or mill-dyed.
Pip Colourwork, Baa Ram Ewe (4-ply weight; 100% British wool; 126 m | 116 yds per 25 grams). Mill-dyed.
Choosing different colour palettes
The Colours of Autumn scarf is a good project for a knitter wanting to try developing a colour scheme by working from an inspirational image. In common with the Love of Lupins cowl, this design has one background colour and a set of pattern colours. In the last chapter of my book, I show you how I developed this colour palette. This chapter will help you develop your own colour palettes for this project and similar projects.
Colours of Autumn pattern options
The pattern for the Colours of Autumn scarf is only available in my book, Fair Isle Knitting and Design, which you can purchase from the Being Knitterly webshop. The pattern is only available as the standard version for right-handed knitters, although left-handed knitters should find it easy to follow. The Colours of Autumn yarn pack, containing Shetland Spindrift in the original colours, is available from the Being Knitterly webshop. If you wish to create your own colour palette, you will also find individual balls of Shetland Spindrift there.
