Stitches

How many stitches do you cast on when ribbing a scarf?

I've tried casting on 24 and 26 but whenever I do the ribbing pattern (K2, P2, K2, P2) i always end up purling two at the end when its supposed to end with me knitting two. I don't know why this is happening, i just want to make a basic ribbed scarf. How many stitches should I cast on so that the pattern will work?

Public Comments

1. Obviously you need to cast on in multiples of two. You should also leave one stitch for each end so that you get a nice edge. Now if you want to start with K2 and end with K2 and want it to be about 24 stitches, you need to cast on: 24 and use the first stitch for the edge then K2, P2 for the next 22 stitches then knit the last stitch as a Pearl. When you turn, do not knit the first stitch just take it off and then your next stitches will be P2 and you will end P2 and the last stitch will be Knit Repeat. I wish you fun. It is very easy. You may have someone in a knit department or knit shop show you how to do it. If you want to do a little wider scarf of perhaps 26 stitches, you need to cast on 28 and do as above. The key is in the edge stitch.
2. Basically you are going to do this in a multiply and no matter how many times you try this you will end up with the purl 2. If you want the k2nat the end you will have to start in the reverse with the purl 2 in the beginning to get the k2 at the end.
3. I don't believe that you are getting the same results when you cast on 24 as you do when you cast on 26; when you cast on 24, there are 12 pairs of stitches, while when you cast on 26, there are 13. So over 24 stitches you will end with P2, while with 26 you will end with K2. If you cast on a number of stitches that you can divide by 4, you will end up purling 2. Then you start the next row with knit 2 and you will get the ribbing. If you cast on a number of stitches that can be divided by 2 but not by 4, you will end up with knit 2 and need to start the next row with purl 2. I prefer the number-divided-by-four method because it lets me always start with K2.
4. What I suggest you do is cast on two more stitches than you need for the scarf itself, and always slip the first one, and always knit the last one. These will be you edge stitches. Your scarf will then work like this: Slip 1 (edge stitch), (K2, P2) however many times you need, K1 (edge stitch) Then both front and back rows will start the same way. This will be a multiple of 4 + 2, so you could have 26 stitches. Alternatively, if you wanted 24 stitches you could do the following: Slip 1 (edge stitch), (K2, P2) 5 times, K2, K1; for the front, then the back would be Slip 1 (edge stitch), (P2, K2) 5 times, P2, K1. Repeat these two rows.