Potato Chip Scarf

To Wrap and Turn or not to Wrap and Turn, That is the Question..

I went

A couple of weeks ago at our local needle arts meet up, a member was knitting a ruffled scarf. It looked like a fun scarf, and I asked about the pattern. She said a friend had given it to her. It’s very simple she assured me and gave me the pattern which I quickly jotted down.

I went home and found some yarn in my stash and started knitting.

The next day, my sister texted the same pattern to me with a slight variation.  Someone had given her the pattern at her knitters’ meet up.  Her pattern had a name, the Potato Chip scarf.

I started Googling “Potato Chip Scarf”, and found multiple free versions of the pattern. But I was unable to find the original source. It seems this is one of those patterns that has been around for awhile and gone “viral”.  Some sources say you can't make just one, which is the reason it is called Potato Chip, other sources say the ruffles resemble potato chips.






This is my first effort at the potato chip scarf



No Wrap and Turn, note small holes

I have only been knitting for a few months, so I’m a real beginner.  Above is a picture of my first Potato Chip scarf.    The scarf is constructed using “short rows”.  All of you experienced knitters know that short rows are often used for shaping.   Well I discovered that my scarf had small “holes” resulting from turning the short rows.  There is a remedy for this, and it was contained in the instructions that my sister sent me. There is a technique called wrap and turn which prevents the small holes.  Being a new knitter, I had no idea what wrap and turn was all about, so I Googled it, and found instructions that were very helpful.  Check out this link. How to Wrap and Turn My advice and the whole point of this post is that if you knit the Potato Chip Scarf, I strongly suggest that you add the wrap and turn. You are going to find some patterns that leave this part out. The results are just so much more professional looking.



Using Wrap and Turn, small holes gone



Here are the instructions incorporating the wrap and turn technique

Cast on 20 stitches

Knit 8 sts, wrap and turn, then knit back

Knit 6 sts, wrap and turn, then knit back

Knit 4 sts, wrap and turn, then knit back

Knit across

Repeat the series until the scarf is the desired length then bind off

For my second scarf (which isn't done yet) I am using yarn from Hobby Lobby, called, I Love this wool, and size 13 needles.

If you look closely, I think you will agree that the scarf with the wrap and turn is much more visually appealing.

No more annoying small holes