Pull-Apart Scarf

Awhile back my mom told me about this scarf that she used to make all the time that she called a pull-apart scarf.  She got the pattern from her mom, and her and her sisters used to make it and at this point none of them has any idea where the pattern came from.  My mom described it to me and I thought she sounded nuts so finally I got her to give me the pattern so I could try it out myself.  Her version of the pattern was hand-written on a yellowed index card.  All this is to say that I did not design this but I did make a few amendments to make it work better.

So here it is!  I have given the yarn and needles that I used but yarn, gauge, and needle size are not that important for this project.  

I used Cascade Soft Spun, but unless you have six or so hours to spend on pulling this thing apart, I recommend using a worsted to bulky weight yarn that is fairly smooth (boucle or other fuzzy yarns would be a terrible idea) and spun fairly tightly.  That said, the finished product knit with soft spun is SO soft and luxurious.  So perhaps it's worth it, but that's your call.

Yarn: 150-220 yds of your favourite worsted, aran, or bulky weight yarn.

Needles: dpns appropriate for chosen yarn (5 mm for worsted weight works well)

Gauge: not important

Beginning of scarf:

CO an even number of stitches that is divisible by 3 (for worsted weight yarn 30 stitches is appropriate, but adjust as necessary).  Long-tail cast on is a good choice.  Divide stitches evenly over 3 needles and join to work in the round.

Work k1, p1 ribbing until piece measures 1.5".  This is to keep it from curling since stockinette will curl.  You may also do this portion in seed stitch if you prefer (Rnd 1: k1, p1, repeat to end.  Rnd 2: p1, k1, repeat to end.  Repeat these two rounds until appropriate length.)

Body of scarf: 

K1, yarn over (YO), repeat to end of round.  You should be starting each needle with a knit stitch and ending each needle with a YO.  It is very important that after this round you do not move the stitches around on the needles. After this round you should have double the number of stitches that you began with (60 if you started with 30).

Next round, K all stitches.  Continue in stockinette stitch until you have approx. 10 yards of yarn left.  Leave more if you are worried about running out.  (I had about 8 yards left before this last part and after binding off I had less than half a yard left.)

At this point the piece will look like the ugliest, baggiest, most ridiculous sweater sleeve in the world.  It will also not look long enough for a scarf.  But just trust me.

End of scarf:

K1, drop 1, repeat to end of round.  You should be back to your original number of stitches (30).  This is why keeping track of your YOs at the beginning is important.  You want to make sure that the YOs line up with the dropped stitches.  Otherwise, terrible things will happen (earthquakes, floods, indigestion, you name it).

Begin k1, p1 ribbing again (or seed stitch) for another 1.5" (or until you have just enough yarn left to bind off).  BO loosely in pattern.

Now comes the fun part, and is where the scarf gets its name.  Begin pulling apart the dropped stitches until they have all pulled right down to the YOs at the beginning.  If you have used a smooth yarn, they should pull apart very easily.  If you are crazy like me and used a fuzzy or loosely spun yarn, this process will take much (MUCH) longer.  Once complete the scarf should be 2-3 times as long as it was before dropping the stitches, and the stitches will be very loose.

Weave in all ends, and you're done!

This piece can be worn like a normal scarf, or you can tuck one end inside the other end to create a loop, place the join at the back of your neck and wrap around to wear as a cowl!  This is how I prefer to wear mine.  The ribbed bit at the end helps keep the other end from sliding out, plus when it's inside a coat it's not going to go anywhere anyway.  

Enjoy!  Feedback is encouraged as I have never written out a pattern before.  Thanks for reading!