Friday, August 14, 2009

Patternum Gratis: Cerus Scarf

Another pattern! I don't claim to be the first person to think of knitting a scarf in Linen Stitch, but I received many questions on how exactly I made this, so decided to write it up with my own combination of yarn, variation of linen stitch, stitch counts, etc.



Pattern: Cerus Scarf (click here to download if you don't have a Ravelry account)
Finished size: 7.25 x 54"
Yarn requirements: 4 balls of Rowan Tapestry (131 yds/120 m per ball) in color 170; since Rowan Tapestry has been discontinued, please CLICK HERE for a list of possible substitutes.
Needles: US 8 (5mm) circular needles, at least 40" in length
Gauge: 26 sts/4" in Linen Stitch (Note: Rowan Tapestry has an advertised gauge of 22 sts/4" in Stockinette)

Cerus is the name of a very old Roman god, who was originally the male counterpart to goddess of grain, Ceres, and was eventually "absorbed" by other gods in the Roman pantheon. The woven look of this scarf, along with the colors of the yarn, reminded me of wheat for some reason (and "Woven Wheats" is the name of the generic grocery-store brand of Trisquits that Neill and I buy, so I couldn't name it that). I originally thought about naming it Ceres, also as a tribute to a smallish town near where I grew up, but because this scarf is suitable as a man-knit, I thought a masculine deity might be more appropriate.

So there you have it.

If you have any questions at all about the pattern, please do not hesitate to contact me!

27 comments:

sheepish one said...

that scarf is SO handsome! i forsee holiday gifts all wrapped up with this one. thanks, H.

Team Knit said...

haha, I queued this one about an hour before you posted on this blog, and I went to your blog to see where the pattern post was, since I figured I must have missed it when I was at the cottage. I guess I've been overly keen! I love linen stitch, and I think this scarf is awesome!!

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

I won't pretend to know a thing about Roman Gods ~ but I know a fabulous scarf pattern when I see one!

Love the combination of woven texture with your yarn choice. Thanks for sharing a great pattern with all of us :)

t does wool said...

fabulous scarf I agree,Hilary...and thanks for the write up.

Hadley Makes said...

"Man-knit..." You're so funny!

This is gorgeous, though.

Gigi said...

Gorgeous scarf! I just downloaded the pattern to knit for my son.
Many thanks!
G

Katlyn said...

Thanks for sharing!

Helga Marie Bee said...

not sure I understand but just printed the pattern to try!! Thank you for sharing!

Teresa said...

What a lovely pattern, thanks for writing it up! I just may have a knittable gift for my dude this Christmas :)

Weedwacker said...

Thank you for sharing this pattern. I originally thought it was handwoven! Can't wait to make this one; it's beautiful (I mean handsome)!

Eliza said...

I love linen stitch! Thanks for the pattern. it looks perfect for a guy, and it's elegant too.

Philigry said...

oh, i love this pattern. i wish my husband would wear more scarves. this would be perfect for him.
thank god my son will love it. i have the perfect camel, tweed yarn in my stash to use too!
thanks for another great pattern.

Helga Marie Bee said...

Q re: pattern.
husbee has demanded this be added to his dressey wardrobe, I had a question regarding the linen stitch bind off... please email QallieQ@gmail.com

a friend to knit with said...

i absolutely LOVE that linen stitch....
i would love to make that for my hubby!
THANK YOU!!!!

peaknits said...

Wow - so simply elegant! Thank you for sharing!

Robby said...

Genius! I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, but frankly, too lazy to try to make my brain work it out. THANK YOU for doing the work. I see some very happy people at Christmas!

boogii said...

hi, I really love this scarf... But I wanted to knit it but i am not experienced and this is going to be my first one.. So I am kinda wondering how you knit it since I am not that able to see it from the picture that much... I am a person who learns when I see it.. so KInda hard to learn it by reading,. Can someone help me with this one??? I want to knit one for my bf.. please..

Hilary said...

Hi boogii -- If you download the pattern, there are step by step instructions for how to make the scarf. Just click on the download link above.

Lauren said...

Odd number of stitches? whaa I am confused. I am trying to do this front only but mostly just admiring your scarf and not knitting. But odd number cast on? Is that to have a K1 edge?? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Boogi, If you have difficulty following the written directions I suggest searching youtube for "linen Stitch". It's also called "rice stitch". Someone somewhere in the world will show you how to do it and you can replay as often as necessary!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know of a good substitute yarn? Rowan Tapestry has been discontinued. I would love to make this scarf!

Hilary said...

Hi there -- I suggest Noro Silk Garden or Silk Garden Lite as substitutes for the yarn. It may be a little bit fuzzier, but the color changes are similar. I was also going to suggest Patons SWS because it has a similar fiber content, but I see that it's been discontinued too!

Unknown said...

Made this scarf with three alternating yarns for my husband for Chirstmas this year. He loves it and so do I. Thanks for the great pattern, One I am sure to use again!

knitsky said...

very nice! I just purchased some gorgeous hand dyed sock yarn that my son picked out. Mom, knit me a scarf..ok. Well trying to find a scarf pattern for a man is not so easy. Do you think I can convert this to sock yarn?

Thanks,
D

Hilary said...

Sure! You can use any yarn you'd like. Just make sure to do a gauge swatch in linen stitch to figure out the number of stitches you'll need to cast on to make the scarf the right length. Happy knitting!

Jess said...

Love this pattern! Can you cast on the other way (i.e., cast on 39 stitches)? Knit width-wise instead of lengthwise?

Hilary said...

Sure thing! The stripes will look different, but as long as you use an odd number of sts you'll be fine.