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Why a Ribbed Scarf Is the Perfect First Project

If you have just learned to cast on and make a knit stitch, a scarf is the natural next step. It is flat, it needs no shaping, and there is no seaming at the end. A ribbed scarf asks only that you repeat two simple stitches over and over, which means your hands get plenty of practice and you finish with something you can actually wear.

Ribbing has another advantage: it lies flat. Stocking stitch curls at the edges, a problem that catches out most new knitters, but a knit-two, purl-two rib pulls itself into gentle folds that sit neatly around the neck. Ribbing is also wonderfully forgiving. A slightly uneven stitch here or there disappears into the texture, so your first scarf can look genuinely good while your tension is still settling down.

Most people knit a scarf like this in a week of evenings, and by the end the knit and purl stitches have become second nature.

Choosing Your Yarn and Needles

You need very little equipment, but the choices you make at this stage will decide how pleasant the knitting feels.

• Yarn: worsted weight, which in the UK is usually sold as Aran. Two 100g balls will make a scarf of around 170cm; buy a third if you fancy a longer scarf or a generous fringe.
• Needles: 5mm straight needles, 30cm long. In old UK sizing that is a size 6, and in US sizing a size 8. Circular needles work just as well if you already have them, knitted backwards and forwards as though they were straight.
• Colour: choose something light or medium. Dark navy and black hide your stitches, and fluffy or fuzzy yarns hide them completely, which makes it hard to see what you are doing.
• Fibre: a pure wool or a wool-rich blend is springy and easy on the hands. If the scarf is for a child, or for someone who will not hand wash, a wool and acrylic blend that can go in the machine is the practical choice.

Add a blunt tapestry needle for sewing in the ends, and a pair of small scissors. That is everything.

Casting On and the First Few Rows

Use whichever cast-on you have learned. A cable cast-on or a long-tail cast-on both give a firm, tidy edge that suits ribbing well. Cast on 38 stitches.

That number is not arbitrary. Ribbing works on a multiple of four stitches, and the extra two stitches at the end give you a neat, balanced edge with the same stitch at both sides. If you would like a wider or narrower scarf, add or subtract four stitches at a time and keep the extra two.

Before you knit the first row, lay the needle down and check that all the cast-on stitches are sitting the same way, with none of them twisted around the needle. It is much easier to fix now than three rows later. The first row will feel tight and awkward, and that is entirely normal — it loosens as you go. If the cast-on edge is very snug, try casting on over two needles held together, then sliding one out.

The Rib Pattern: Knit Two, Purl Two

Here is the whole pattern, and you will repeat it for every single row:

• Row: knit 2, purl 2, and repeat that to the last two stitches, then knit 2.

That is it. No counting rows, no keeping notes, no working out where you are in a chart. The rhythm of knit, knit, purl, purl becomes almost meditative, and after a few rows you will stop needing to think about it.

The one thing to watch is where your yarn sits. For a knit stitch the yarn is held at the back of the work; for a purl stitch it comes to the front. Moving the yarn between the needles, rather than over the top of the right needle, keeps the stitches neat and stops you adding extra ones by accident.

Learn to read your knitting as you go. A knit stitch looks like a small flat V; a purl stitch looks like a little horizontal bump or pearl. Once you can spot the difference at a glance, you can tell instantly whether the next stitch should be a knit or a purl, and you will spot a mistake the moment it happens rather than ten rows later.

Knitting to Length and Casting Off

Carry on in pattern until the scarf is the length you want. A traditional guide is to make a scarf as long as the wearer is tall, which for an adult is usually somewhere between 150cm and 170cm. If the scarf is a surprise, around 165cm suits most people, and children's scarves are usually about 120cm.

Before you cast off, leave a tail roughly four times the width of your knitting. For a scarf about 20cm wide, that means a tail of around 80cm. There is nothing more frustrating than running out of yarn two-thirds of the way along the final row.

Cast off loosely, working each stitch as it presents itself — knit the knit stitches, purl the purl stitches. A tight cast-off makes the end of the scarf pull in and look pinched. If your cast-off is always tight, change to a needle one or two sizes larger for that final row.

Finishing, Blocking and a Few Fixes

Weave the loose ends into the wrong side of the scarf with the tapestry needle, following the path of the stitches for a few centimetres so they cannot work free. Then block the scarf: pin it out flat to the finished measurements, mist it lightly with cool water, and leave it to dry away from direct heat. Wool will relax and even out beautifully. Do not press acrylic with a hot iron, as it will melt and lose its bounce.

A fringe is optional but very traditional. Cut lengths of yarn about 30cm long, fold each in half, and use a small crochet hook to pull the loop through the edge of the scarf and the ends through the loop.

If something has gone awry, a few common culprits are worth knowing:

• Your stitch count has crept up. You are almost certainly making an extra stitch at the start of a row, usually by lifting the yarn over the needle.
• A hole has appeared. An accidental yarn over — the yarn travelled to the front or back over the top of the needle instead of between the needles.
• The edges look untidy. Keep the first and last stitch of every row firm, and give the yarn a gentle tug after working them.

None of these matter much in a scarf. Wear it, and by the second one you will be knitting without looking.