Hello crafters!

In preparing for the blog’s debut, I’ve been working on a simple pattern easy and fun enough for knitters of any skill level: the Braided Infinity Scarf!

This scarf is so fun and easy enough that you can whip it up in a couple of hours. Make it in one solid color or in three strands of different colors–however you make it, it will look lovely and keep you cozy!

This pattern ranks as Easy on our difficulty chart.

Materials:

• 2 skeins of Cascade Yarns Magnum 100% Wool yarn, #4008 Ruby Heather (8.82oz/skein, 123 yards/skein)
• US size 13 knitting needles (UK 9.0mm)
• Tapestry needle for weaving in the ends

The yarn I chose for this scarf is nice and bulky, which is why I used the larger needles, but you can make it out of any weight of yarn and needle size you prefer, so long as you adjust for length and thickness of each of the braided strands! Gauge isn’t really important, as long as all of your strands are the same length and wrap comfortably around your neck–make sure you make them slightly longer as they will shrink up in size when you braid them!

Also, this scarf is worked in the stockinette stitch, which means that unless you block your work, it will curl up along the sides. I did not block my work because I liked the way the ends rolled in together, and I just made sure to braid them together with the rolled edges together in the back. This made it more like thick cords or tubes, a look that I preferred.

Pattern: the Braided Infinity Scarf

Cast on 6 stitches. (If you are using thinner yarn and smaller needles, you can cast on as many stitches as you want each of the strands to be wide. If you are using bulkier yarn and want yours to be thicker than mine, just cast on as many additional stitches as you like!)

Row 1: Knit each stitch across the row (6 stitches, or however many you need for desired scarf thickness).  Below is a photo of what the front of the work looks like: ten rows of the stockinette stitch with the knit-side facing.

Row 2: Purl each stitch across the row (6 stitches, or however many you need for desired scarf thickness). Below is a photo of what the back of the work looks like: ten rows of the stockinette stitch with the purl-side facing.

Rows 3-140: Repeat rows 1 & 2, knitting one row and purling the next. As you work, the purl-side will curl inwards, turning the strand of scarf into a sort of cord, which works well when braiding later.

(Note: To shorten the length of your scarf, you can decrease the number of rows desired–simply try it on as you work. If you want to make it longer, just increase the number of rows–you will probably need to do this if you are working with thinner yarn and/or smaller needles!)

When you’ve completed the first strand, make two more just like it. Then you will have three strands ready for braiding:

Tip: I placed all of my strands right-side (knit-side) up on a flat surface and rested something heavy on them to keep them steady while I braided them. A large book or even a laptop will do the trick!

When braiding, make sure that you don’t twist the strands; you want to have the open (“curled”) part of each strand in the back so that the front side shows when you wear it.

Once you’ve braided your strands, just weave in your ends! There are a bunch of ways you can do this, but I took the tail ends of each strand and used them to weave together the two closest ends of the strands on either side of the scarf (top, middle, bottom). Then weave in whatever tails you have left, trim them, and there you go!

I confess, this is only the second item I have ever knitted, so I know other beginner knitters can do this one! It works up fast with the bulky yarn and larger needles, and it’s so nice and encouraging for a beginner to have a finished product quickly!

If you give this a try and feel like sharing, post a picture in your comment! I would love to see all the different ways this fun scarf can be made!

Please feel free to share this pattern with other crafters! You may make and sell products from my patterns, but I ask that you please link back to my post. Please do not copy this pattern and claim it as your own. Let’s share the yarn-crafting love!