Uncommon Ivy

Free Scarf Knitting Pattern

"Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old!"
-- Charles Dickens

This ivy is not green! I wanted to create a scarf that was bright, bold and had something of summer about it, all while being warm enough for the winter months. Uncommon Ivy was the result. Self-striping yarn creates a contrasting backdrop to the darker solid yarn used for the stem and leaves of the vine. The scarf makes a great gift for a fashionable lady or gentleman.

The scarf base is knitted first with the stem flowing across it. Increases at regular intervals provide the points where the leaves are later knitted on. You have the choice of attaching the leaves to the scarf so that they lie flat (as I did with the brown scarf) for a more traditional look or making them two-sided (as I did with the black scarf) for a fun 3-dimensional look.

Skills Required/Techniques Used:
--Knit & purl, cast on & bind off

--Increasing: make 1 (m1), yarn over (yo)

--Decreasing: knit 2 sts together (k2tog), slip-slip-knit (ssk), purl 2 together (p2tog)

--Working I-cord n double pointed needles

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Width: 8 inches [20 cm]
Length: 64 inches [163 cm]

MATERIALS

Brown Scarf

[MC} Lion Brand (affiliate link) Fishermen's Wool [100% wool; 465 yd/458 m per 227g skein] color: Nature's Brown; 0.7 skein
[CC] Knit Picks (affiliate link) Chroma Worsted [70% Wool, 30% Nylon; 198 yd /181 m per 100g ball] color: New England; 1 ball

Black Scarf

[MC] Elann (affiliate link).com Peruvian Highland Wool [100% Wool; 109 yd /100 m per 50g skein]; color: Black; 3 skeins
[CC] Noro (affiliate link) Kureyon [100% wool; 110 yd/101 m per 50g skein] color: 250; 2 skeins

Needles:

1 set of US #6/4.0 mm double-point needles
1 set of US #7/4.5 mm straight needles
OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

GAUGE
16 sts/24 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

Notions: 12 safety pins, cable needle (cn)

Abbreviations:
K – knit

k2tog - knit 2 stitches together

ssk - slip-slip-knit

P– purl

p2tog - purl 2 stitches together

MC - main color

CC - contrast color

RS - right side

WS - wrong side

st, sts - stitch, stitches

sl - slip a stitch

wyib - with yarn in back

wyif - with yarn in front

cn - cable needle

pss - pass the sliped st over the purled/knitted one

PATTERN NOTES:

Make 1 increase - I used the increase described by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Make a backward loop over the right-hand needle and in the next row purl it as a regular stitch. See picture at http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/FEATtheresa.html

Edge stitches: slip the first st in a row and purl the last one.

Scarf:
With MC cast on 34 sts and purl one row.
Row 1 (RS): with CC, sl 1, p15, slip 2 with yarn in back (sl 2 wyib), p16.
Row 2 (WS): sl1, k15, slip 2 with yarn in front (sl2 wyif), k15, p1.
Row 3: with MC, sl1, k32, p1
Row 4: sl1, p33
Row 5: with CC, sl1, p15, sl2 wyib, p16
Row 6: sl1, k15, sl2 wyif, k15, p1
Row 7: with MC, sl1, k15, slip 2 st onto cable needle (cn) and hold in front, k2, k2 from cable needle, k13, p1.
Row 8: sl1, p33.
Row 9: with CC, sl1, p17, sl2 wyib, p14
Row 10: sl1, k13, sl2 wyif, k17, p1
Row 11: with MC, sl1, k17, sl2 onto cn and hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, k11, p1.
Row 12: sl1, p33.
Row 13: with CC, sl1, p19, sl2 wyib, p12.
Row 14: sl1, k11, sl2 wyif, k19, p1.
Row 15: with MC, sl1, k19, sl2 onto cn and hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, k9, p1.
Row 16: sl1, p33.
Row 17: with CC, sl1, p21, sl2 wyib, p10.
Row 18: sl1, k9, sl2 wyif, k21, p1.
Row 19: with MC, sl1, k32, p1.
Row 20: sl1, p33.
Row 21: with CC, sl1, p21, sl2 wyib, p10.
Row 22: sl1, k9, sl2 wyif, k21, p1.
Row 23: with MC, sl1, k21, m1, k1, m1, k1, m1, k9, p1
Row 24: sl1, p36.
Row 25: with CC, sl1, p21, slip 3 sts to a safety pin, sl2 wyib, p10
Row 26: sl1, k9, sl2 wyif, k21, p1
Row 27: with MC, sl1, k32, p1.
Row 28: sl1, p33.
Row 29: with CC, sl1, p21, sl2 wyib, p10.
Row 30: sl1, k9, sl2 wyif, k21, p1.
Row 31: with MC, sl1, k19, sl 2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k9, p1.
Row 32: sl1, p33.
Row 33: with CC, sl1, p19, sl2 wyib, p12.
Row 34: sl1, k11, sl2 wyif, k19, p1.
Row 35: with MC, sl1, k17, sl2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k11, p1.
Row 36: sl1, p33.
Row 37: with CC, sl1, p17, sl2 wyib, p14.
Row 38: sl1, k13, sl2 wyif, k17, p1.
Row 39: with MC, sl1, k15, sl2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k13, p1.
Row 40: sl1, p33.
Row 41: with CC, sl1, p15, sl2 wyib, p16.
Row 42: sl1, k15, sl2 wyif, k15, p1.
Row 43: with MC, sl1, k13, sl2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k15, p1.
Row 44: sl1, p33.
Row 45: with CC, sl1, p13, sl2 wyib, p18.
Row 46: sl1, k17, sl2 wyif, k13, p1.
Row 47: with MC, sl1, k11, sl2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k17, p1.
Row 48: sl1, p33.
Row 49: with CC, sl1, p11, sl2 wyib, p20.
Row 50: sl1, k11, sl2 wyif, k19, p1.
Row 51: with MC, sl1, k9, sl2 onto cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn, k19, p1.
Row 52: sl1, p33.
Row 53: with CC, sl1, p9, sl2 wyib, p22.
Row 54: sl1, k21, sl2 wyif, k9, p1.
Row 55: with MC, sl1, k32, p1.
Row 56: sl1, p33.
Row 57: with CC, sl1, p9, sl2 wyib, p22.
Row 58: sl1, k21, sl2 wyif, k9, p1.
Row 59: with MC, sl1, k9, m1, k1, m1, k1, m1, k21, p1.
Row 60: sl1 p36.
Row 61: with CC, sl1, p9, slip 3 sts to a safety pin, sl2 wyib, p22.
Row 62: sl1, k21, sl2 wyif, k9, p1.
Row 63: with MC, sl1, k32, p1.
Row 64: sl1, p33.
Row 65: with CC, sl1, sl1, p9, sl2 wyib, p22.
Row 66: sl1, k21, sl2 wyif, k9, p1.
Row 67: with MC, sl1, k9, sl2 onto cn and hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, k19, p1.
Row 68: sl1, p33.
Row 69: with CC, sl1, p11, sl2 wyib, p20.
Row 70: sl1, k19, sl2 wyif, k11, p1.
Row 71: with MC, k11, sl2 onto cn and hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, k17, p1.
Row 72: sl1, p33.
Row 73: with CC, sl1, p13, sl2 wyib, p18.
Row 74: sl1, k17, sl2 wyif, k13, p1.
Row 75: with MC, sl1, k13, sl2 onto cn and hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, k15, p1.
Row 76: sl1, p33.
Row 77: with CC, sl1, p15, sl2 wyib, p16.
Row 78: sl1, k15, sl2 wyif, k15, p1.
Repeat rows 7-78 five more times or to desired length

End with
Row 439: with MC, sl1, k32, p1
Row 440: sl1, p33
Row 441: with CC, sl1, p15, sl2 wyib, p16
Row 442: sl1, k15, sl2 wyif, k15, p1
Row 443: with MC, sl1, k32, p1
Row 444: sl1, p33
Bind off

Leaf on a Stem

Transfer 3 sts from the safety pin to a dpn.
Work I-cord for 2-3 inches (5-7 cm)
Work last row of I-cord as follows: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1. Turn, purl next row, turn. Start the leaf pattern.

Leaf
Row 1: k1, yo, k1, yo, k2 = 7 sts
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12: purl
Row 3: k3, yo, k1, yo, k3 = 9 sts
Row 5: k4, yo, k1, yo, k4 = 11 sts
Row 7: ssk, k7, k2tog = 9 sts
Row 9: ssk, k5, k2tog = 7 sts
Row 11: ssk, k3, k2tog = 5 sts
Row 13: ssk, k1, k2tog = 3 sts
Row 14: slip 1 purlwise, p2tog, pss sliped stitch over = 1 sts. Fasten off.

Work 12 leaves with a stem. For the two-sided leaves, work 12 more leaves without the stem, by casting on 5 stitches, purling one row and working rows 1-14. The brown scarf uses 2 two-sided leaves, while on the black scarf, all 12 leaves are two-sided.

FINISHING

To make a two-sided leaf, position a leaf without a stem on a leaf with the stem, wrong sides facing, and sew them together along the edges.
For the brown scarf, sew the leaves, except the first and last, to the scarf along the edges. The first and last leaf are two-sided and should be allowed to dangle free.
For the black scarf, make all the leaves two-sided. Sew the base of the leaf to the scarf.

Weave in the yarn ends.

Enjoy!