Buoy Kerchief Tips

On this page you’ll find tips & tutorials to help you make your own Buoy Kerchief! You’ll find information about:

Picking a yarn

I used the yarn Pima 100 by Berroco. This is a 100% pima cotton yarn, which I find softer than a lot of other 100% cottons out there. The other great part is how many colors you have to pick from – perfect for a two-color project like this! Below are just a few ideas, using photos courtesy of Wool & Company.

Tip: Although exact gauge isn’t critical in this piece, especially if you’re thinking of pairing together a very vibrant color (deep blue or red or example with a natural/white/very light hue), it may be a good idea to do a little garter swatch with a couple of rows of each of the colors. Then wet block the swatch to ensure the colors don’t bleed. My Inferno/Rye colors didn’t bleed at all, but different yarns in different colors may have different results.

Do you have to use cotton yarn?

Nope! You can really use any type of fiber for this project. And since you only need one skein of each of the two colors (100 gram skeins), it’s a great use of leftover yarn you may have in your stash.

Adjusting for a different weight

Although I call for worsted-weight yarn, you really can use any weight you like! Adjusting the yarn-weight may just have an impact on how much yardage you need – the thinner the yarn, the more yardage you’ll need.

How to use a different weight:

  • Depending on the yarn-weight you chose, you may need to change the needle size. I’d advise that you look at the yarn label and see what needle size they suggest. For my Pima 100 version, I used a US 7 – typically worsted-weight is knit on a US 7 or 8 but because its cotton and I didn’t want it to stretch out too much, I went with the smaller US 7. So with DK-yarn for example, that’s typically knit on a US 5-7, so I’d likely suggest a US 5 or 6 for this project, depending on the fiber type.

  • In the pattern, sections 1 and 2 instruct you to repeat rows until a certain number of stitches is attained, but it also provides what the length measurement is at that point, measuring down the center spine. So if you’re using a different yarn-weight (and thus having a different gauge), you’ll want to refer to the length measurement listed and not the number of stitches.

Adjusting the size

As written, this piece wears like a small scarf/kerchief. But if you’d prefer it to wear more like a regular shawl or scarf, you can easily make it bigger. Just keep in mind of course that you will need more yarn!

The easiest way to make it bigger is to work more rows in “Section 2” of the pattern. This is the area where the main color is worked, before the bottom stripes. “Section 3″ of the pattern is the bottom stripe area and takes up approx 1” of depth. So you can just repeat the rows in “Section 2″ until 1” less than desired depth.

Alternatively, if you’d prefer to also increase the depth of the top contrasting color area as well as the middle main color area, you’ll just want to work more rows in “Section 2” of the pattern as well as “Section 3”.

10 helpful general tips before you start

1. Working with cotton: If you are using 100% cotton, keep in mind that the first few rows may feel tight. Cotton doesn’t have any elasticity, and pair that with starting with so few stitches and working increases and you’ll get fabric that feels pretty dense. But, after you have an inch of fabric established, it should feel much more comfortable. If it doesn’t, then consider bumping up a needle size.

2. Casting-on: In the pattern it says to use the long-tail cast-on method to cast-on your stitches. If you are new to this cast-on, you can check out my video lesson here.

3. Helpful tip regarding RS and WS Rows: To help differentiate between RS and WS rows, attach a locking marker to the outside of your work on the RS. I often do this after the set-up row (row 4) is complete. Row 5 is a RS row so when starting that row, attach it as I’ve done below.

4. The first 2 stitches of every row are slipped: But if you’re starting a RS row, you slip them holding the yarn in the back of the work and if you’re starting a WS row, you slip them holding the yarn in the front of the work. Watch my video lesson below for a tutorial on how to do this.

5. Although the stitch pattern featured is garter stitch (knitting every row), you always purl the last 2 stitches on WS rows: Due to the style of slip stitch edging I used, when working a WS row, the last 2 stitches are always purled. But this is just on WS rows – when working a RS row, the last 2 stitches are knit.

6. Different pattern sections: When beginning, your first 6 rows are part of the “Initial Set-Up” section and are worked in the contrasting color. Afterwhich the pattern is divided into 3 sections; Section 1 continues the contrasting color, Section 2 switches to the main color, and Section 3 is the last approx. 1″ and consists of stripes of contrasting color and main color. Below is a diagram to illustrates these sections:

7. Increases are worked on both RS and WS rows, but different types: When working RS rows, you work “kfb” increases towards the ends (a few stitches in from each edge). And on WS rows, “LI” increases are worked near the center marker (into the stitch on each side of the marker). When beginning each row, it’s good to ask yourself/remind yourself – “ok, am I on a RS or WS row? If RS: kfb towards the ends; and if WS: LI towards the center marker.”

8. No increases are worked on color change rows: In order to keep the color transition line nice and clean, no increases are worked on the RS or WS rows when changing colors. Increases cause the previous row’s loop to be brought up, so if you were do this on the color change rows, then you’d see little bumps of the previous color. This is especially good to keep in mind should you go ‘off-pattern’ and add additional stripe sections.

9. Main color yardage: When finishing up section 2 of the pattern (this is the area where the bulk of the MC is worked, as illustrated above), just keep in mind that you will need enough MC leftover at this point in order to work 4 rows with it in Section 3.

For reference, I had approx 25 grams leftover of my MC at the end of Section 2, and then had approx 18 grams of it at the end. So I used 7 grams of MC in Section 3. But to be on the safe side, I’d aim to have 20-25 grams left of your MC at the end of Section 2.

If you find that as you’re getting closer to finishing section 2 that you’re already short on MC (which could be due to having a slightly different gauge or if your MC skein was a bit smaller to start with), you may want to end section 2 a little earlier so you have enough MC leftover for those 4 rows in section 3.

10: Weave in ends using the duplicate stitch method: Because of the garter stitch fabric, a great method to use when weaving in ends is to use the duplicate stitch, weaving the end into the body of the fabric (and not up the edge). Scroll below for more info/tutorials on this.

Working the slipped stitch edging

At the beginning of every row, 2 stitches are slipped and this is what creates the pretty edging (below is a close-up shot). In my video lesson which is just below (in the next section), I demonstrate exactly how it’s worked should you want a step-by-step tutorial!

How to work the two types of increases

This kerchief features two types of increases – a knit-front-and-back (abbreviated kfb) and a lifted increase (abbreviated LI). Check out my video lesson by clicking here or the image below for how each of the RS and WS increase rows are worked, including these stitches as well as how I work the slipped stitch edging.

Note: Lifted Increases can be worked differently depending on the stitch pattern. In this project, you’re working in garter stitch and so the method I’m using is how I work them in garter fabric. I originally learned about this particular method from Brooklyn Tweed – if you’re interested in learning more about the method, check out their video here.

How to handle the color changes (and when to carry the yarn up)

There are two main areas of color change in this piece. You cast-on and get started with the contrasting color in Section 1, and then change to the main color in Section 2. When changing colors at the beginning of Section 2, you just cut the contrasting color (leaving a good size tail for weaving in at the end – around 8-10″), and then just start knitting with the main color.

But in section 3, you switch back to the contrasting color but only for 6 rows. And then you switch back to the MC but only for 4 rows, and then you’re back to the contrasting color for the last row and the bind-off. Because of all of this, it’s easiest to not cut the colors each time and instead carry them up as you work. Check out my video lesson by clicking here or click the image below where I show you exactly how to do this (in addition to how I initially join a new color).

For carrying the yarn up in Section 3 of the pattern, here is exactly what I would suggest:

  • After section 2, do not cut MC. On row 1 of section 3, join the CC as specified.
  • Carry the MC up at the beginning of row 3 and row 5 (after slipping the first 2 sts, as I show in the tutorial below).
  • On row 7, you’ll begin working the MC again so your CC will then become the “unused color”.
  • Carry the CC up at the beginning of row 9.
  • Row 10 is your last MC row, so at the end of that, you can just cut the yarn. Row 11 and the bind-off is worked with your CC.

Weaving in ends

Because of the garter stitch fabric in this piece, I think the ‘duplicate stitch’ method of weaving in ends is a great option for hiding all of those tails. I suggest weaving the ends in using this method, and weaving into the body of the scarf (not up the edge) – this will keep the ends most hidden.

For a tutorial of this, check out my blog post here!