Now and Then, a free scarf pattern

Pattern: Now and Then
Designer: my own design
Yarn: Berroco Foliage, color 5947 (53% new wool/47% acrylic), 100 yds/skein
Amount used: 2 skeins or 200 yds.
Needle: size 11 Addi Turbo metal circular
Gauge: not critical - what you want is a fabric open enough to drape but closed enough to have some structure - in this case, 11 stitches and 16 rows to 4"
Finished Size: 6 inches wide by 70 inches long (note: I did not block my scarf; it will probably grow some the first time it is washed. I know, Christine, I should have blocked it, but I was moving on to the next thing!)

This scarf has a difficulty level of medium easy. (It's my first pattern, I'm allowed to waffle.) If you know how to make a knit stitch, you're almost there. The only other two stitches used are a yarnover (abbreviated YO) and worked by wrapping the yarn around the right hand needle and working the next stitch on the left needle from that position, thus creating a hole in the fabric and K2tog (the same as the knit stitch, but working two stitches instead of one). Find a teacher or take yourself to KnittingHelp.com for some clear instructions and video. Here's the link for yarnover. And the link for K2tog.

The only other thing you'll need to do before getting started is to choose the color in your variegated (that means the colors change along the length of the yarn) yarn that signals Lace Rows Here. In this case, I chose orange. It was my least favorite color as well as the most intense, so that I couldn't fail to notice it when it arrived. You could try working your scarf this way, or choose the most subtle shade, or even select more than one color for your lace sections. The point is that, Now and Then, when the color reaches your needles, you'll know that it's time to shift from garter stitch to this easy lacework.

Skills needed: cast on, knit stitch, YO (yarnover), K2tog (knit two stitches together)

Stitches:

• garter stitch - knit every row
• lace pattern - K1, YO, K2tog

Instructions:

1. Cast on 18 stitches.
2. Work first three rows in garter stitch.
3. Continue working in garter stitch until you reach the first of your chosen contrast color.
4. Work the contrast color in the lace pattern until the contrast color is used up.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have about 2 yards of yarn remaining.
6. Work 3 rows in garter stitch.
7. Bind off all stitches. Finish loose ends by weaving into scarf with duplicate stitch. Clip ends, leaving about 1/4" of yarn that will work itself into the fabric.

That's it. I choose to resist all opportunistic puns deriving from the name of this scarf, except to point out that I do like its implication of rhythm, of something going away and coming back at irregular intervals.

Enjoy. Send a picture along if you decide to make it; I'd be pleased to post it.