Potato chip scarf ala Sal

A PC scarf can be knit or crochet. I choose to knit when I have the choice. I also modified the directions that I had been told because I wanted my scarf to twist more.

The size of the needles should be between a #9 and #11. It depends on how loose you want your stitches to be. I used short 10” needles #11. The yarn I used in the pictures was Bernat Baby Bouclé which is knobby and soft. It was a large 10.5 oz skein and I’m estimating it took about 4 oz. to make one scarf. My scarf is about 4 feet long.

Cast on 12 stitches.
First row knit 4 (K4)
Second row K4
Third row K3
Fourth row K3
Fifth row K12

Repeat these 5 rows until the scarf is the length you want.

The scarf will start twisting after only a few rows and because you are turning so often to go back and forth on 4 and then on 3 stitches, it will be real easy for a stitch to fall off, so be careful when you turn that you don’t drop a stitch. To figure out where I am when I pick the scarf up after a break… you can tell if after the first three stitches there appears to be a space, then when you knit the fourth stitch and there appears to be another space, then this means you are on the row that needs to be knit all the way across. If the stitches look uniform, you are on the row that you knit 4 then turn and knit 4 then turn and knit 3 and turn and knit 3 turn. I try to never put the scarf down between the K4 rows and the K3 rows, that way I can pretty much tell where I am when I start… it is either knit 12 across or start the knit 4 row.

One of the pictures is a close up of one end to show that you will have holes, but they are part of the pattern. The third picture is to give an idea of size.

Potato Chip Scarf

OK, here's a new one... a scarf made from potato chips. Only kidding, but that is what it is called. The other day I went to a birthday brunch for a friend who moved to Alabama and was back here for her birthday and Christmas, so a bunch of ladies were invited to brunch to celebrate Jean Evelyn. Jean Evelyn has become quite the knitter since she left Texas to become a full time grandma. She has been knitting lots of goodies for her grandkids, and lots of other special people too. One of the things she learned was how to make a potato chip scarf.

Jean Evelyn gave us a brief description of how it is done and I went home to look for a skein of yarn to try it out. The blue scarf pictured here is from one full skein (3 oz.) of Lion Brand Jiffy yarn. It really would be better if it was longer, but I wanted to complete one quickly so I could try a different one.

This is really simple to do. I used #9 needles because that was the largest size short needles that I had. I cast on 15 stitches. All rows are knit, and they are short, so it goes quickly. First row is knit 5, turn and knit 5 back, then you turn again and knit 15 to the other end. That is it, you knit 5, turn, knit 5, turn, knit 15, turn, then do it again, and again until it's as long as you want.

I started thinking that I would like it to swirl more, so I modified what I thought the directions were. I cast on 12 stitches onto #11 needles... they were long and get in the way, but they work fine. This time I knit 4, turn, knit 4, turn, knit 3, turn, knit 3, turn, knit 12, turn. and I found that it did twist more, and it went a little quicker because the needles were bigger. The gray on the right is the one from my modified directions.