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First make · Knitting

Garter scarf with a slipped edge

The same stitch as the dishcloth, made long. The one new idea is the slipped selvedge — slipping the first stitch of each row instead of knitting it, which turns a lumpy edge into a smooth chain and is the cheapest improvement in knitting.

Original HobbyHQ pattern

Who this is for

First make

Uses one skill, in one repeated action, with nothing to shape and nothing to fit. A mistake costs a few rows, not the project.

You will need to be able to:

  • Can cast on and cast off
  • Can work a knit stitch
  • Can slip a stitch purlwise without twisting it

About 10–16 hours, as an estimate.

What you need

  • Aran-weight wool yarn

    250g (about 400m)

    Two and a half 100g balls at this length. Buy three: running out at 140cm is expensive, and a different dye lot shows across a scarf.

  • 5.5mm knitting needles

    1 pair

  • Blunt darning needle

    1

Gauge and measurements

The numbers this pattern was worked at. Your gauge is your own; see what the pattern says about matching it.

Yarn weight
Aran
Needle or hook
5.5mm
Gauge
16 sts and 32 rows to 10cm
Cast on
32 stitches
Finished size
20cm × 150cm

Abbreviations

k
knit
sl1 pwise wyif
slip one stitch purlwise with the yarn in front
st / sts
stitch / stitches

What the slipped edge does

Knitting the first stitch of every row gives an edge made of one bump per row: functional, and slightly uneven, because the tension of a first stitch is never quite the tension of a middle one. Slipping it instead carries that stitch up across two rows, so the edge becomes a column of long, even chain links — one for every two rows.

It costs nothing, it is one movement, and on a scarf it is the difference between a piece that looks handmade and one that looks homemade. The same trick is why a slipped-stitch edge is the standard finish on anything that will later be picked up along or seamed.

What this was knitted at:

Gauge
16 sts and 32 rows to 10cm in garter stitch, on 5.5mm needles
Finished size
20cm wide, 150cm long
Cast on
32 stitches

The pattern

  1. Step 1: Cast on 32 stitches

    A long-tail cast-on, worked loosely. Thirty-two stitches gives 20cm at this gauge, which is a scarf that sits inside a coat collar rather than bunching in it.

  2. Step 2: Every row: sl1 pwise wyif, then knit to the end

    Bring the yarn to the front, slip the first stitch from the left needle to the right without working it, take the yarn to the back, and knit the remaining 31 stitches. Every row, both sides, the whole way.

    You will know it worked when: A chain forming along both edges, one link every two rows.

  3. Step 3: Work to 150cm

    About 480 rows. Measure along the middle of the scarf rather than the edge — the slipped edge is slightly shorter than the body, which is normal and pulls out when the scarf is worn.

  4. Step 4: Cast off loosely, and sew in the ends

    Cast off with a needle a size larger if your cast-off tends to be tight. Weave each end into the garter bumps for about 8cm — a scarf is handled and shaken more than most knitting, and a short-woven end works loose.

Working this pattern

One repeated row, and the slipped edge is findable by touch, so the pattern can be worked without looking at it once the rhythm is established.

Whose pattern this is

Knit it as often as you like, for yourself or to sell. Please do not republish the pattern text — link here instead.

Written for HobbyHQ in Phase 2. Dimensions derive from the stated gauge; the slipped selvedge is a long-established general knitting technique rather than anybody’s pattern, and the instruction text describing it here is ours. No third-party pattern was consulted or adapted.

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