Dropped Stitch Scarf - CSM Supplies

Fall has arrived and I am so happy to be wearing my socks again! My feet (and my life stage) will not allow me to wear socks in the summer and hopefully, one day I will pass through this hotflash mania and be able to wear shirts with sleeves and socks on my feet for a whole day. Layering suits my life stage. Or else I will finally come up with the perfect cool sock….I’ve been working on that pattern for the last 10 years and have yet to come up with a suitable solution! I know some of y’all out there can feel me…anyway..let’s get back on topic, ok?

Speaking of hotflashes, the other thing I can’t do anymore is wear turtlenecks. Ever since I got preggers, I can’t stand things sucking up to my neck. So, scarves and cowls are what keeps my chest and throat warm in the winter. I love the cozy feeling of a soft wool cowl or scarf around my neck…but don’t get me started on acrylic here…..

So, I present to you the dropped stitch cowl or scarf pattern. Now, don’t get me wrong, lots of people out there make dropped stitch items, so dropping stitches to make a more interesting pattern in plain knitting is an age old technique. I’m just giving you an idea of how to do it on a circular knitting machine. This is a starting point. You can do with it as you will, but please be sure to send pictures so I can add them to this blog post, because let’s face it. I would rather look at pictures than read all this writing just to get to the pattern!!!

You may be wondering…why would one go to the trouble of dropping and running all those stitches instead of leaving needles out of the cylinder? It’s entirely possible to make the same scarf by removing needles and cranking a tube…and that could very well be your jam. But here’s why I like the drop stitch. When you drop the stitch, it drops a whole loop of knitting, giving you a wider bar in between stitches. This give a more dramatic effect and a wider scarf after blocking.

And there’s another thing….do you want to take your knitting to the next level? Start by blocking. Makes all the difference in a final product. I don’t mean you have to run out and buy multiple sets of sock blockers! I mean adjust your iron to the wool setting and fill that baby up with water and press your items with lots and lots of steam. Then leave them to dry. Try it. You’ll like it.

Enjoy fall and happy cranking!!

Dropped Stitch Scarf 7 — Since the knitting is done in a spiral, your kitchener will look like this. But read on because I had an idea to offset the Ktichener by one stitch to make it look better….PLUS, I also want to add that I steamed the scarf BEFORE I Kitchenered it together. It’s easier to block when it’s in a straight line, because when you steam it to block it, you have to pull it apart so the scarf will be wider. It’s also nicer to sew closed after steaming.

Dropped Stitch Scarf 8 — So, my idea was to offset the Kitchener stitch by one stitch to line up the dropped stitches.

Dropped Stitch Scarf 9 — And when I came to the wide spot on the Kitchener, two of them want to spread out into larger stitches, and the one across the street is one big stitch. So, I still went down into the old and up into the new on those stitches. I made a short you tube video on the closing of this cowl….you can watch it here…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w1sTdvqDKc

Dropped Stitch Scarf 10 — So, here’s the closing and what it looks like with the offset stitch. I think it looks much nicer than my first version! That’s the fun part about the CSM, there’s always room to step it up a notch! Lots of people on my Christmas list will be getting these cowls!!!

So, here’s the drop stitch scarf that Meghan from the comments section did!! She left the tails so she could identify where the Kitchener stitch is and show us her cowl! Zoom in!! I can’t see it!! Good job Meghan and way to keep at it!!!