The Design

“Harmonize a hundred colors. Or quietly play tone on tone.”

Linen stitch has a way of harmonizing even the most disparate colors. Our friend Mimi Hepler first created this scarf to use up all her precious Koigu leftovers—18 different colorways! So for our scarf we chose three skeins of Koigu that combined as many different colors as possible. But it’s equally beautiful in subtle shades. In fact, we haven’t seen a bad combination yet! That’s the magic of linen stitch. Heck, it’s even beautiful on the ‘wrong’ side.

The Details

FINISHED SIZE
Approx. 5"/13cm x 60"/152cm, excluding fringe.

YARN
3 skeins Koigu KPPPM (175 yds/160m each) in 3 different colorways. Show lower left in Colors 105D, 458 and 536; lower center and right in Colors 315L, 325 and 857.
Or approx. 525 yds/480m of an equivalent fingering-weight yarn.

NEEDLES
US 6 (4mm) 24—32"/60—80cm circular, or size to obtain gauge.

GAUGE
32 sts = 4"/10cm in linen stitch, before blocking.
30 sts = 4"/10cm in linen stitch, after blocking.

KNITTER'S NOTES
The woven appearance of this fabric has intrigued us from day one, even as knitting this scarf can be slow and contemplative. Don't be tempted to rush through this project. Building this scarf, row by tiny row, is so satisfying. Also, fixing mistakes in linen stitch is no one's idea of fun. Slow and steady for a gorgeous result.

While the scarves in this pattern were knit with Koigu KPPPM, don't feel limited to using only fingering-weight yarns. If you want to try this with a different weight of yarn, as a rule, begin swatching using a needle 3 to 4 sizes larger than what is recommended on the yarn's ball band. Once you're satisfied with your swatch, calculate the number of stitches you will need for the scarf length you want (have it be an even number) and go!