Zig Zag Tunisian Purl Scarf – Free Pattern!

Welcome to the Guest Blogger series on KnitterKnotter! This is the first post in this series and I am excited to share this beautiful scarf designed by Richard Gartland.

I have been crocheting for a while now but since I discovered Tunisian crochet, it has been my favorite! If you know a handful of stitches and techniques, there are so many beautiful projects that you can make. This scarf is one of those patterns – it is a one row repeat that uses some very basic stitches and is super easy to make!!

** All the pictures in this blog post are provided by Richard..

Click here to pin this pattern for later —>>

Meet the designer

I’m a retired business man, having worked most of my life in finance and accounting. I also did a bit of commercial acting—most notably for H&R Block.

Originally from the east coast (Boston, MA), I’ve resided in California for nearly 50 years—mostly in Los Angeles. I first learned to crochet while in college when a friend returned from Christmas break wearing an extremely long scarf she had made (they were all the rage in the late 60s). I asked her if she’d make me one if I bought the yarn, to which she said, “No, but I’ll teach you how to do it.” The rest is anything but history, however. That was it until 1976, when I was laid up for about six weeks, and I bought a kit to make an afghan—a ripple afghan in single crochet, at that. (I still have it, by the way). And then life took over, and that was that…

Until about 2 years ago now. Fully retired for the second time, I found I was spending far too much time on the internet and looked for something else to do with my time. A YouTube video caught my eye, and I drove to a local yarn store, bought a hook and some yarn and followed along to make a hat. It was fun, so I made another, and another, and yet another. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon Tunisian crochet and that was that; I was smitten. From there on, the rest is pretty much history, as they say! I enjoy challenging patterns, especially the “Ah ha” moment when the logic of the designer reveals itself. One of my earliest challenges was the Vajra Infinity Scarf, in fact. I’m still in love with that design. I gave it to my nephew’s wife, Rajshri, and she loves it.

Inspiration for the pattern and the yarn

The inspiration for this, my first pattern, came from one I saw on the Danish yarn site, Hobbii (www.hobbii.com). It was all about colors that changed subtly without repetition; it reminded me of an Impressionist painting. It used two different color-transition colorways in fingering weight wool (Dream Colour). There was just one problem: it was a knitting pattern! It was all garter stitch with color changes every two rows. While waiting for the yarn, I made a few different swatches and finally settled on the Tunisian Purl Stitch as probably the closest to garter stitch. It’s actually a very simple one row repeat, made just a bit tricky by having the decreases on the return path and the increases on the forward pass. Other than that, it’s really the yarn that makes the piece so special!

Pattern

This pattern is available for free on my blog. I would love to see your projects on Instagram! Tag your posts with:
@knitterknotter #knitterknotter

Click here to check out more pictures and find the pattern in Richard’s Ravelry store

What you will need (with clickable affiliate links)

1. Yarn: This scarf can be made with any weight yarn with an appropriate hook. The sample in the picture is made using 2 skeins of the sport weight (category 2) yarn Hobbii Dream Color (1 Spring and 1 Fall colorway)
2. Hook: 5 mm Tunisian crochet hook with a cord sufficient enough to hold 73 stitches.
3. Scissors
4. Measuring Tape
5. Tapestry needle to weave in tails

Experience level

Easy – You are expected to know how to make the foundation row, some basic Tunisian crochet stitches, and how to bind off.

Gauge

Gauge (blocked): 22 stitches and 16 rows = 4 x 4 inches

Gauge is not important in this pattern. This scarf can be made with any weight yarn with an appropriate hook.

Abbreviations

You can find my stitch guide with all the abbreviations here.

1. ch – chain
2. Cl3tog – Close 3 together – yarn over, pull through 4 loops on the hook.
3. fs – first stitch – Skip the first vertical bar of the previous row (the one right under the one on the hook). The loop on the hook will count as the first stitch for every row. 
4. ls – last stitch – Pick up the two vertical bars of the last stitch of the previous row, yarn over, pull through both the vertical bars into a loop on the hook. 
5. st – stitch(es)
6. tfs – Tunisian Full stitch – Insert hook into the next space between two stitches, yarn over, pull up a loop on the hook.
7. tps – Tunisian Purl Stitch – Bring yarn forward, insert hook into the vertical bar, yarn over, pull up a loop on the hook.
8. tss – Tunisian Simple Stitch – Insert hook in the vertical bar, yarn over, pull tup a loop on the hook.
9. yo – yarn over
10. FP – Forward Pass
11. RP – Return Pass

Sizing

Finished size (blocked): 11 x 63.5 inches

Resources

Photo and video (left and right handed) tutorials for Tunisian crochet stitches and techniques used in this pattern:

1. How to make the Foundation Row
2. Tunisian Simple Stitch
3. Tunisian Purl Stitch
4. Tunisian Full Stitch
5. How to Bind Off

Support video to follow along and make this scarf (Right handed)

Support video to follow along and make this scarf (Left handed)

Pattern notes

1. This pattern is written in US terms.
2. Decreases are made on the return pass by closing 3 stitches together (YO, pull through 4 loops) indicated as “Cl3tog.” Increases are made on the forward pass. As a result, there are more stitches on the forward pass than after the return pass.
3. The ripple pattern is a 12-stitch repeat + 1. The example is 73 stitches for the foundation row and each forward pass. At the end of the return pass there will be 61 stitches — due to the 6 decreases.
4. On the forward pass, work the tss under all three bars of the previous row’s Cl3tog. The increase (tfs, tss, tfs) combination is worked without skipping any stitches — so tfs increase on either side of the tss, which forms the apex of the increase. Each ripple consists of 4 purl stitches, a decrease (or increase) and 4 purl stitches.
5. This is a one-row repeat and I worked it until I ran out of yarn! On the bind off row, ignore the increases (i.e. no tfs). There should be only 61 stitches. However, it does look nice to begin the bind off with a chain 1.
6. The magic is in the interplay of the two different color transition yarns — they don’t repeat at the same rate, so no section is duplicated. In swatching, I found that the purl stitch most closely resembled the garter stitch used in the knit pattern, and created more of a heather look than simple stitch. The purl stitch also creates a lovely “wrong side” look.

Instructions

Foundation Row

FP	Chain 73 stitches, pick up a loop in each chain starting with 2nd chain from hook (73 loops on hook).
RP	Chain 1, (yo, pull through 2 loops on the hook) 4 times, (yo, Cl3tog), *(yo, pull through 2 loops on the hook) 9 times, Cl3tog*, (work between * * 5 times total), (yo, pull through 2 loops on the hook) 4 times, (2 loops remain on hook). With new color, yo, pull through 2 loops on the hook.

Rows 1 – until you run out of yarn or achieve desired length

FP	tfs, 4 tps, tss, 4 tps, *tfs, tss, tfs, 4 tps. tss, 4 tps* (work between * * 5 times total), tfs, ls.
RP	Same as Foundation Row.

Bind off

FP	4 tps, tss, 4 tps, *tss, 4 tps. tss, 4 tps* (work between * * 5 times total), ls. Fasten off and weave in ends. Make this as the bind off row using the slip stitch method.
RP	There is no return pass.

Pattern Charts

Forward Pass

Return Pass (this is for the Foundation Row and all subsequent rows)

Other patterns you might be interested in

Pin it and make it later!

Click here to pin this pattern for later —>>

Share your pictures with me!

I really hope you liked this pattern. I would love to see your version of this design so please share your pictures with me!
– Share them on Instagram with the tags #knitterknotter, #madewithknitterknotter, and @knitterknotter
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Copyright and Terms of Use

This pattern is for personal use only. You are welcome to make and sell handmade items using this pattern but you are required to credit the design to Arunima Goel @ KnitterKnotter by linking back to https://knitterknotter.com. Do not publish or sell this pattern, in part or in full and do not make any video tutorials of this pattern without my permission. When featuring KnitterKnotter in pattern roundups, blog articles or Facebook posts, you may use one of my photos and provide a link back to the original source.

Disclosure

This page may contain affiliate links where I earn a small commission. While using these links doesn’t cost you more, it helps me continue to offer patterns for free. Thank you for your continued support!

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