3 Knitting Stitch Patterns to Spice Up Your Scarves

The box stitch looks like a checkerboard, with alternately raised and lowered squares. Cast on a number of stitches that is divisible by four, and then add two more. For a scarf, a good number of stitches might be 30.

For the first row, knit two stitches, then purl two stitches. Repeat that to the end of the row. On the second row, purl two stitches, then knit two, and repeat to the end of the row. Now, repeat these two rows in reverse; in other words, the third stitch is the same as the second (purl two, knit two) and the fourth stitch is the same as the first (knit two, purl two). Repeat these four rows until the scarf is the length you want it.

Close Checks

Close checks also create a checkerboard pattern, but rather than the squares being raised or lowered, the pattern is created by alternate horizontal and vertical rows of yarn. To start, cast on a number of stitches that is divisible by six, such as thirty.

The first four rows are the same: purl three stitches, then knit three stitches. For the fifth through eighth rows, knit three stitches, then purl three stitches. Repeat these eight rows until the scarf is long enough.

Little Pyramids

This stitch is a pattern created by triangles, with triangles made from purl stitches facing one way, and triangles made of knit stitches facing the other. Cast on a number of stitches divisible by six, and add five. For example, you could cast on twenty-five stitches.

On the first row, knit five stitches, purl one, and repeat to the end of the row. For the second row, start with one knit stitch. Then, purl three stitches, knit three stitches, and repeat until there are four stitches left. The last four stitches should be three purls followed by one knit. For the third row, start with two purl stitches. Next, knit one stitch and purl five stitches, and repeat those six stitches until there are three stitches left. For the last three stitches, knit one stitch and purl two. Now, repeat all of these rows in reverse, meaning that row four is the same as row three, row five is the same as row two, and row six is the same as row one.

Sources:
Barbara Breiter, Knitting on the Net.