by Leslie-Anne Brook-Roberge

Hexadot is my take on a linen stitch scarf. While working a linen stitch bag in variegated yarn, I noticed that occasionally the colors lined up just right to make a little hexagon that looks like a dot. I do love a puzzle and some investigating led to the discovery that linen stitch makes a polka dot pattern when striped correctly.

Most lengthwise-knit self-fringing scarves that I have seen call for you to leave a length of yarn at the start of the row and again at the end of the row, then cut the yarn and go back to the start. I didn’t really like the idea of having the fringe hanging around to get tangled in zippers or tempt kitties while I knit, so I chose instead to add a small stockinette panel and work the scarf in the round. The stitches in this panel are dropped and cut to create the fringe. As a bonus, I didn’t need to measure the lengths of yarn to ensure an even fringe – the dropped stitches are the same length and need minimal tidying up.

Because the yarn changes occur in the middle of the stockinette fringe panel which is eventually dropped, no extra care needs to be taken to keep the yarn changes tidy. This actually makes Hexadot even easier than a lot of other striping patterns, and a great introduction to colorwork.

SIZE
One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Length: 114 inches, excluding fringe
Width: 5 inches

MATERIALS
Yarn
Mrs Crosby Steamer Trunk [100% Merino Wool; 164 yd per 100g skein];
[MC] Smoky Granite; 2 skeins
[CC] Peacock; 1 skein

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below — every knitter's gauge is unique]
40 inch or longer US #11/8mm circular needle
Optional: interchangeable needle, 40 inch or longer cable with needle tips in both size #8/5mm and #11/8mm – see pattern notes

Notions
stitch markers
yarn needle

GAUGE
14 sts/18 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
16 sts/30 rows = 4 inches in linen stitch
Note: Your gauge swatch should be in linen stitch. This pattern uses almost all of the MC yarn so it’s better to swatch in CC and/or be prepared to unravel your swatch.

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

This pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn, worked on larger needles than you would normally. If making a substitution, choose a yarn that works to 18-20 sts in 4 inches.

Yarn changes occur in a section of the scarf that eventually becomes fringe, so you don’t need to be overly tidy or make the yarn changes presentable. I just leave both colors attached and use the one I need.

Linen stitch (worked over an even number of stitches):
Round 1: [With yarn in front, slip one stitch purlwise, k1] to end.
Round 2: [K1, with yarn in front, slip one stitch purlwise] to end.
Linen stitch is a firm stitch that can be a little bit tight to knit. To make this easier, if you have an interchangeable needle set, you can attach a smaller needle tip (2-3 sizes smaller than the size required to get gauge) on the end holding the stitches to be knit. Cast on with the larger sized needle tip.

Long-tail cast on may be easier to work if you pull yarn from the extra ball as your tail, instead of trying to guess at how long a tail to pull.

DIRECTIONS
Using a long-tail cast on and MC, CO 5 sts, place marker, CO 401 sts, place marker, CO 6 sts, place marker. Join to work in the round.

Join CC.

Round 1: With CC, k to marker, k1tbl, work round 1 of linen stitch to marker, k1tbl, k to end.

Round 2: With MC, k to marker, k1tbl, work round 2 of linen stitch to marker, k1tbl, k to end.

Round 3: With MC, as Round 1.

Round 4: With CC, work as Round 2.

Round 5: With MC, as Round 1.

Round 6: With MC, as Round 2.

Repeat Rounds 1-6 an additional 5 times (there will be 12 CC stripes in the 10-stitch stockinette section).

Work Round 1 once more.

Bind off: With MC, k5, remove marker. BO all stitches to next marker. Remove marker. BO 1 stitch. Cut a 4-inch tail and pull through last bound-off stitch. Slip 5 stitches, remove marker.

You should have 10 stitches remaining on your needles.

FINISHING
Drop the remaining 10 stitches and unravel them. Fold your scarf in half so that the columns of ktbl line up. Cut the strands of unraveled stitches in half. Taking 2 pieces of fringe at a time, give each strand several twists in the direction of the plies and knot the strands together at the ends. The two strands should twist around each other. You will have an odd strand out; combine it with a pair so one fringe is tripled instead of doubled. Trim fringe evenly if necessary.

Weave in any ends that occur in the body of the scarf. Block.

Leslie-Anne Brook-Roberge picked up her knitting needles in 2010 and refuses to put them down, which has caused some problems in airports.

You can find her on Ravelry and Tumblr.