Scarf for Boyfriend

#1

Hello! I hope someone can give me some advice. I am brand new to knitting - I don’t know any of the terminology, but I want to try and knit my boyfriend a scarf for Christmas. Today, I got practiced using 8 needles and an extra bulky Lion-Brand Wool-Ease Blossom color.

The color I’m going to get is the mushroom Lion Brand Wool-Ease

But as I practiced today with the Blossom color, I noticed that since it was extra bulky/a little fuzzy I would catch on parts of the yarn and not the whole part. I just want to have a bulky/thick scarf that is tight with a little bit of a stretch, so what weight and kind of yarn should I be using? And with what size needles? I read that if you use smaller needles with bigger yarn, it comes out tighter. I definitely don’t want loopy or loose holes!

So if I’m doing a regular size scarf, how many stitches do I need to cast-on?

Sorry if I’m not using the right phrasing/vocab I’m just starting!

#2

Are you just planning to use the knit stitch …which produces what is called garter stitch?

If you want a nice thick scarf you could use a bulky yarn (it’ll have a 5 on the label) with US size 9 or 10 needle…maybe larger. It depends on whether you knit tight or not.

Worsted weight yarn (4 on label and/or it’ll say medium or worsted) you’d use about a US size 8 or so.

You can use a smaller needle and make it tighter, however if you use too small a needle it’ll make the fabric stiffer which isn’t very comfortable around the neck and may not nicely. All you can do really is knit a little and see how you like the fabric.

How many you cast on depends on how wide you want it. For the bulky you might want to cast on about 25-30, for the worsted maybe 30-35. Again though you need to just try it and see if you think it is what you expect.

#3

Those needles are way too small for the yarn, you need a size 11 so it won’t be too dense. The regular worsted woolease should be okay with the 8s for a denser scarf.

#4

Yes, I can only do a garter stich so I was hoping I could just make a plain scarf from that. I would like to do ribbing where you knit 2 and purl 2, but I don’t know how to purl yet.

Yes, I noticed how with the small needles and thick yarn it was very dense and thick, and not as stretchy as I would like.

Today I ran out and found a very large pair of needles - US 15 - and tried it with my ultra thick wool-ease and found it was a bit too loose for what I wanted. Is that because I’m not knitting tight enough, or because of the difference in the size yarn and needles?

Another question I had was: What happens if you use large needles (say like US 15) with a thin yarn, like a 4 Medium? At the Michael’s today, a woman recommended I start with smaller yarn so it is easier to see, but I like the bulkiness of the thicker yarn.

#5

Choose the needle size to your knitting style. You went from an 8 to a 15 so yes, you’re going to see it be quite a bit looser. Since the 15’s make it too loose probably need something just a little larger than the 8… say 10-13. I knit loosely so I tend to go down in needle size from the suggested one. Some people knit tight though and need to go up.

It never hurts to have more needles because you’ll use them for other projects some day. Many of us (most?) use interchangeable needle sets so we don’t have to buy multiple needle sizes very often.

#6

Don’t think about knitting more tightly or more loosely. You’ll get going on a project, relax, and forget that you need to hold the yarn tighter or looser. Instead, adjust the number of sts per inch or the tightness of the knitted fabric by changing needle sizes as you are doing.

If you use thin yarn with large size needles you get a lacey effect which may be just what you want for a project, or maybe not.

#7

The 15s should be okay, just practice with them a bit and your tension will even up. Everyone’s tension is off at first, then you find another way to hold the yarn and needles and make stitches and you’re okay.

The larger yarn and needles is pretty good to learn on really, you’ll be able to see the sts easier and get the needle into them. If you use the regular WE with the 15s, it’ll be really loose, but that’s not wrong - sometimes I like to knit something really loose and it’ll be kind of lacey. That’s probably not the effect you want for your BFs scarf, but would be fine to practice with.

#8

You all have been so much help, thank you so much! I’ve been helping teach my mom how to knit so we’ve been doing it together: our main problem is that we have uneven sides or the stitches on the inside sometimes look uneven - one area maybe looser or tighter than the other. Any tips to remedy that?

#9

Practice, practice, practice. Even tension comes with time. :thumbsup: How fun to share knitting with your mother! :yay:

#10

And the nice thing about using those larger needles is that you won’t use as much yarn and the project will knit up fast.