A step-by-step guide to knitting the Therese Scarf
Our Therese scarf is a cheeky little number that's going to make you feel good any time you wear her. She's made up of six colours and is knitted in our delicious chunky alpaca.
Even if you've never knitted before, we'll take you from zero to hero in no time 🦸♀️
When it comes to knitting, practice makes perfect
Before we get started on the pattern we suggest you spend a bit of time learning the basic stitches you’ll need to complete your scarf.
The Therese Scarf uses just one stitch - the queen of the knitting world, the knit stitch. You'll want to be confident with this stitch before you start 🧶 You'll also want to get a hang of tying a slip knot and casting on your stitches which is the first step in any knitting project.
You can use the yarn that came in your kit to practice with. Once you've got these mastered you'll find the pattern a cinch!
Knitting double strand
We knit our scarf double strand. This means you have two strands on the go at once. To do this, we suggest you find both ends in your yarn ball (one will be on the outside, the other on the inside) and then work with both of them.
🚨 Now, a little word of caution when knitting with two strands. It's much easier to put your needle through your stitch in the wrong place, and if you do this you'll end up with more stitches on your needle than you've cast on 🤯 We recommend counting your stitches every few rows as you knit to make sure you haven't added any rogue stitches. If you have, and it's picked up quickly, you can knit two stitches together on the next row to return to your correct number of stitches for the piece.
Total beginner? 👩🏫
For a more comprehensive lesson on the basics of knitting visit our LEARN TO KNIT Page.
📏 Test your tension
While we're practising and before you start your project, you'll want to make sure your tension (how tightly or loosely your knitting is) is juuuust right 🥣 We do this by making a “tension swatch”. It's a bit like Goldilocks, if the tension is too tight, your piece will be too small, and if it's too loose it may not hold its shape and might be too big.
GAUGE: IF DONE CORRECTLY, YOUR 10X10CM KNITTED SWATCH SHOULD BE 8 STITCHES WIDE AND 13.5 ROWS HIGH WHEN KNITTED IN GARTER STITCH ON YOUR 12MM NEEDLES.
TO TEST THIS, JUMP ON YOUR NEEDLES - USE THE YARN AND NEEDLES THAT CAME IN YOUR KIT. CAST ON 10-12 STITCHES, THEN KNIT IN GARTER STITCH (KNIT ALL STITCHES IN EVERY ROW) FOR 16 ROWS. THEN MEASURE A 10X10CM SQUARE AND COUNT YOUR STITCHES AND ROWS WITHIN THAT SPACE TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE KNITTING AT THE CORRECT TENSION.
IF YOU'VE GOT MORE STITCHES OR ROWS THAN THE INSTRUCTIONS SAY YOU SHOULD HAVE, YOUR KNITTING IS A LITTLE TOO TIGHT, AND IF YOU'VE GOT LESS YOUR KNITTING IS TOO LOOSE. ADJUST YOUR TENSION BY HOLDING THE YARN A LITTLE MORE TIGHTLY/LOOSELY AS YOU KNIT.
TIME TO SWITCH OFF. STITCH ON. AND WHIP UP YOUR COSY SCARF.
⚡️What you'll need
Your kit comes with everything you'll need to make your masterpiece. In your kit you'll find;
- 12mm needles
- 6 balls of Cardigang Alpaca Yarn in 6 colours
- A darning needle
- Made by me tag
You also want to have a pair of scissors handy.
💪 Remember learning a new skill can be a little challenging at first, and you’re bound to find yourself making some mistakes along the way. But as with learning anything, your brain and your hands slowly start to get the hang of it, muscle memory is created, and soon the thing you found tricky/daunting/scary is like second nature!
Cast on
First thing first, cast on your stitches. With colour 1 make a slip knot to get started. Then you'll cast on stitches until you've got 25 stitches on your left needle.
Remember you're working with two strands. This gives us a thicker and more full scarf.
💭 Casting on, like many things in knitting, can be done in a number of ways so if you don't like the technique we suggested, you can pick any that’s right for you.
GARTER STITCH
ONCE YOU'VE CAST ON THE RIGHT NUMBER OF STITCHES YOU MOVE ON TO THE knit stitch. Knitting every stitch in every row creates a garter stitch pattern.
Use the circles in your pattern to mark off each row you've completed. As the pattern instructs you'll change colors.
🎬 Watch How To Change Colours
Just keep knitting… DID SOMEBODY SAY WINE TIME?! 🍷
CAST OFF
✔️ Time to cast all your stitches off your needle.
When you cast off the second last stitch you'll be left with one stitch on your right needle. Cut your yarn from the ball (give yourself about a 25cm tail) and thread the tail back through the last stitch to secure it.
Use your darning needle to weave in the loose ends. You're just threading them back through the work to conceal them. Then trim any long ends with your scissors.
D.O.N.E! You've finished your scarf, well done! Epic work 🤩 If this was your first-ever knitting project or one of many, we hope you had a blast click-clacking and making your masterpiece💥❤️
Can't get enough Cardi?
Join the Cardigang Click on Facebook and connect with other knitters, ask questions and share your masterpiece.
In a bind and need a little more help?
Email us at stitchup@cardigang.com.au and we'll be able to help! Whether you're just starting out, or you've got a specific question or problem (dropped a stitch, no stress!), we're here to get you out of a bind.