3×3 Ribbed Scarf Knitting Pattern


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The 3×3 rib is probably my favorite ribbing pattern, and this easy ribbed scarf knitting pattern is a great way to showcase it. It knits up in a flash (I literally knit mine in two days) and as soon as you bind off you’ll be itching to make another one!

How This Ribbed Scarf Works

I love 3×3 rib (which is knit 3, purl 3 repeating across the row) because it is squishy and graphic and maybe not as stretchy as other ribbings so it’s great for things you want to hold their shape. Like a scarf.

I also love playing up 3×3 ribbing’s chunkiness by making it even chunkier. This is not the first time I’ve worked 3×3 rib while holding 3 strands of yarn together, and I can assure you it won’t be the last. Seriously contemplating a sweater in this fabric.

Knitting with three strands held together isn’t any more difficult that working with one strand at a time, but if you’ve never done it before you might need to pay a bit of attention as you get started. The three strands are treated as one piece of yarn, or as one stitch even though it looks like three on the needle. So just be mindful that you’re holding all three strands and that you are putting your needle through all three strands as you go.

Ribbed Scarf Supplies

I raided by supply of blue (and a couple of green) worsted/medium/size 4 odd balls for this scarf, so it’s hard to say exactly how much yarn was used. My sample weighs 355 grams, and based on the weight of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, which I know is in there, that would mean I used about 780 yards total.

Of course different yarns have different yardage per weight, but that gives you a vague idea of where to start. Or just grab all your leftovers and see where it gets you.

I used a pair of size 15 US/10 mm knitting needles for my scarf. Gauge isn’t critical but mine came out to about 18 stitches and 12 rows per 4 inches/10 cm in 3×3 ribbing unstretched, and the full scarf is 5 by 60 inches, or 12.7 by 152.4 cm (about 1.5 meters).

You can make yours as wide as you like by increasing (or decreasing) the stitch count, so long as it remains in multiples of 6. I really wanted to make mine 30 stitches to play up the threes, but it would have been really wide. And of course you can knit as long as you like for a scarf that suits you. I stopped when I was running out of yarn.

3×3 Ribbed Scarf Knitting Pattern

Holding three strands of yarn together, cast on 24 stitches.

*Knit 3, purl 3. Repeat from * across the row.

Repeat this row as many times as you like for the length of scarf you want.

When you need to add a new color, leave a tail of each to weave in later. Or, if all your yarns are wool/animal fiber, you can felt the ends together. That’s what I did so this whole project used maybe 12 or more balls of yarn but I only had six ends to weave in. #winning

When your scarf is the length you want, bind off in pattern. That just means that you will continue to knit 3, purl 3 across the row, but binding off as you go. This makes the edge a little nicer looking for ribbing.

Weave in your ends. I did weave in the ends separately to decrease the bulk a little bit.

Cozy up in your great new scarf.

This same ribbed scarf knitting pattern could be used with other types of ribbing, still holding three strands of yarn together. Just be mindful of the stitch multiple required for the kind of ribbing you want to use. For example, knit 1, purl 1 ribbing needs a multiple of 2; knit 2, purl 2 ribbing needs a multiple of 4, and both of those happen to work with 24 stitches as well. Isn’t math cool?


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