Lightweight Spring Knit Lace Scarf Free Pattern

light weight knit scarf pattern
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This lacy patterned scarf is SO simple to knit. It looks much more complicated than it actually is, I promise!

If you can knit and want to take your knitting to the next level with something lacy this could be just the pattern for you.

I originally shared this scarf pattern as a guest over at Cut Out and Keep almost 2 years ago so it is high time I shared it with you here now.

4 row lace knitting scarf pattern
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Check me out, getting all arty with my photos!!

I made my scarf with an absolutely beautiful fingering or 4 ply weight yarn from Easy Knits. This project is perfect for a luxury type yarn like this as you only need one skein so you can maybe afford to splash out a little.

Before you start please do read these notes/helpful hints!

The yarn I had was a 120g skein, I notice now that the Easy Knit skeins seem to be 100g now. You’d either have to make your scarf a little shorter if your yarn ball or skein is just 100g or you could adapt the pattern easily and just cast on 51 stitches instead of 61 and your scarf will be a little thinner. Or maybe splash out on 2 skeins?

The pattern is just 4 rows so it is simple and good for beginners to lacy knitting. HOWEVER you do need to concentrate, especially early on. Lacy and holey knitting is VERY hard to undo without ripping out the whole thing so you are best not to make a mistake! I started this over 3 times before I got it right!

I would suggest you count your stitches after each row for the first few inches, just to make sure you still have 61. Once you have been working the pattern for a foot or so you’ll be fine and probably won’t have to count any more.

Use a row counter. You will find it really difficult to tell the rows apart, especially if you’re on row 1 or row 3, so a row counter is your best friend.

Be especially careful when you are purling into the yfwd from the row before when working rows 1 and 3. Make sure you don’t miss any - count to be sure until you get the hang of the pattern.

My finished scarf measures 36cm (14") x 165cm (65") You can easily adjust the pattern to suit you and your yarn. The pattern repeat is 10 stitches, you need to cast on a multiple of 10 plus 1 stitch.

The SSK can be tricky until you get used to it. It’s yarn forward, slip the next 2 stitches to the right needle. Insert the left needle into the front of the 2 slipped stitches and bring the yarn over to the back to knit those 2 slipped stitches together. You are making one and losing one in the same action.

how to knit a SSK

For additional help also check out the little video’s I’ve made for rows 1 and 3. They are on my Instagram in my Highlighted Stories up at the top of my profile and also on my TikTok - (Row One) and (Row 3)

To make your own super light weight lacy scarf you will need:

1 x 120g skein of fingering weight yarn

6mm Knitting Needles (US size 10)

For this pattern the abbreviations are:

  • k - knit

  • p - purl

  • yfwd - yarn forward

  • ssk - slip 2 stitches then insert the left needle into the front of the 2 slipped stitches and knit them together (see above for details)

  • k2tog - knit 2 together

  • s1 - slip 1

  • psso - pass slip stitch over

Using 6mm knitting needles cast on 61 stitches

Row 1: k1 *(yfwd,ssk) twice, k1, (k2tog yfwd) twice, k1. rep from * to end
Row 2: purl
Row 3: k2 * yfwd, ssk, yfwd, s1 , k2tog psso, yfwd, k2tog, yfwd, k3 rep from * ending last repeat with k2
Row 4: purl

Continue repeating these 4 pattern rows until your scarf is the desired length or you run out of yarn.

Mine was 165cm (65") long when I had almost used up the yarn and decided to cast off.

Cast off in purl on a row 1 or row 3

Weave in the ends.

simple 4 row lacy knitting pattern

Once your knitting is finished you will need to block it to really show the beautiful lacy design.

blocking 1.jpg

Spread it out on a large towel, spray with water to dampen and then shape and leave to dry.

finished scarf 1.jpg

Before I started the scarf I tried out the yarn with a few different knit stitches, this is what the same 4 row pattern looks like on 4mm needles, just in case you’d rather try that. You can see it’s much tighter and the zig zag is more defined. You’d need at least 2 skeins to make a decent sized scarf if you choose the smaller needles though.

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easy knit lace scarf pattern free

Because the scarf is knitted on larger needles the lace is really open which makes it really pretty, light and airy. Perfect for Spring.

lace scarf free pattern

Julie

I’ll be sharing this pattern at these link ups