Cerus Scarf by Hilary Smith Callis

Cerus Scarf

Knitting
August 2009
DK (11 wpi) ?
26 stitches = 4 inches
in Linen Stitch
US 8 - 5.0 mm
450 yards (411 m)
7.25 x 54"
Flag of English English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

Rowan Tapestry has unfortunately been discontinued; recommended substitutes are as follows (and can be seen in the photos, from top to bottom):

  • Lotus Yarns Sunset
  • Cascade 220 (for a solid Cerus)
  • Hedgehog Fibers Silk/Merino singles
  • Noro Shirakaba
  • The Alpaca Yarn Co. Classic Alpaca (note: three colors were used, two greens and a grey)
  • Noro Kureyon Sock
  • Plymouth Yarn Mushishi
  • Noro Silk Garden
  • Sirdar Eco Wool DK

I am certainly not the first person to think of knitting a scarf in Linen Stitch, but I have had several questions about how exactly I made this so I have decided to write out a pattern.

The scarf is knit in Linen Stitch lengthwise (each row travels the entire length of the scarf, rather than back and forth along the width). I used Rowan Tapestry in color 170.

This scarf is named for the early male counterpart to the Roman goddess Ceres (goddess of grain and agriculture), who never made it into the regular Roman pantheon. The way the colors of the yarn wove together in Linen Stitch reminded me of wheat somehow, and because it’s a knit appropriate for men, I dug up the name of this obsolete god.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the pattern!

Version 3 Uploaded 3/2/10
Two items of note specified:

  1. Cast on is done with the Long Tail method.
  2. To bind off in linen stitch (on the RS), bind off as usual, and knit/slip stitches according to the linen stitch pattern. For example: K 1, sl 1, pull 1st st (the one you k) over 2nd st (the one you sl), k1, pull 1st st (sl) over 2nd st (k), sl 1, pull 1st st over 2nd, etc.

Version 2 Uploaded 8/18/09

A formatting mistake was made in the Linen Stitch pattern description, so instead of asterisks showing the pattern repeat, everything was italicized. This is now fixed.

I also added that the bind off is done in Linen Stitch.