Meander is simple 1x1 rib cabled 4 over 4 sts every eighth row, first to the right, then to the left, to produce, true to its name, a meandering braid. I used a sock yarn worked on size-8 needles to make a drapey fabric with none of the stiffness cables can give. The scarf is reversible, with no "right" or "wrong" side.
Materials: About 600 yards of sock-weight yarn. I'm using Cascade Heritage in a solid red, but any sock yarn will work. You'll also need a needle a good deal bigger than you would normally use with the yarn; I'm using a size 8. Although I've learned to cable without a cable needle, I'm finding it impossible with this project, so you'll need a cable needle too.
Gauge: I'm using a size-8 needle and getting about 10 sts to the inch in pattern; the scarf is just under 6 inches wide unblocked. I'm a pretty tight knitter, though.
The chart shows the basic pattern over 16 sts. Repeated pattern elements are shown with colored borders.
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Knit on odd side, purl on even side. |
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Purl on odd side, knit on even side. |
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Right-twisting 8-st cable: slip 4 sts to cable needle and hold in back, (p1, k1) twice from left needle, then (p1, k1) twice from cable needle. This cable is shown on the chart with a green border. For a 64-stitch scarf, do this cable 8 times on the specified rows. |
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Left-twisting 8-st cable: slip 4 sts to cable needle and hold in front, (p1, k1) twice from left needle, then (p1, k1) twice from cable needle. This cable is shown on the chart with a magenta border. For a 64-stitch scarf, work 4 sts even (blue border), then do this cable 7 times, end by working 4 sts even on the specified rows. |
See chart key for explanation of terms in bold.
Cast on 64 sts (or any multiple of 8 sts).
Rows 1-3: |
*p1, k1. |
Row 4: |
Right-twisting 8-st cable 8 times (or once for each 8-st multiple). |
Rows 5-11: |
*p1, k1. |
Row 12: |
(k1, p1) twice, left-twisting 8-st cable 7 times (or the number of 8-st multiples minus 1), end (k1, p1) twice. |
Rows 13-19: |
*p1, k1. |
Repeat rows 4-19 for pattern.
Copyright 2006 by Lucia R. Hicks. Permission is given for personal use only.