Free Scarf Pattern | The Joy Scarf

A red scarf with a textured rib pattern is about to wrapped in brown paper and a red ribbon

If you watched my last YouTube video you'll know I was gift knitting a scarf for my dad this Christmas.

I had less than three weeks to complete the fingering weight project but I'm pleased to say I managed it.

Yes, it was still blocking on Christmas Eve but it was wrapped and under the tree on Christmas Day - phew!

Finding a simple, classic, fingering weight scarf pattern I thought my dad would wear was harder than expected!

Having trawled through scarf searches on Pinterest and Ravelry I kept coming back to the No-Purl Rib series of patterns by Purl Soho. (Check them out if you're interested in knitting a wrap, blanket, or chunky scarf) They use a stitch that I learned is called the Cartridge Belt Rib. A cleaver rib stitch that really doesn't include a single purl.

At first, I thought I could have a good guess at the number of stitches to cast on and just follow their pattern with my chosen yarn, and needles. I quickly realised that approach wasn’t going well and I needed a plan. I was using The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering which I know holds up really well to frogging so I decided to start again.

The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering in Nutkin

I ripped out my knitting, drafted a pattern that worked perfectly for my gauge using the Cartridge Belt Rib stitch and I got to knitting. The sizing looked so much better once I took the time to figure out the right stitch counts for a fingering weight yarn. It was well worth frogging the hours of knitting that went into my first attempt.

Another change I made when creating my own pattern was to add a slipped stitch edge to my scarf. This added a little more structure and the finished scarf has a very polished, neat finish which I knew my dad would appreciate.

I'm really pleased with how the scarf turned out and I honestly think it's a pattern you could knit for almost everyone on your gift knitting list.

If you'd like to knit your own fingering weight scarf like mine, I've made the pattern available to all my subscribers as a free download.

Sign up below and you’ll instantly get access to the pattern. Find yourself a plump, woolly yarn, and you're ready to cast-on.

I believe this scarf is a joy to knit and wear so I hope the pattern brings you a little joy too!