Pattern Tutorial, Tips & FAQ: Pfeiffer Falls

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This is the pattern tutorial/ FAQ for the pattern Pfeiffer Falls, by Anne Kuo Lukito, which was published in the Winter 2008 issue of Interweave Knits.

General

Why is the pattern written so that the scarf halves have to be grafted?

I wrote it that way for symmetry — so that when you wear the garment, each side looks the same and so that one side’s cable doesn’t appear to look upside-down.

What types of yarn might be a good substitute?

Any yarns constructed of wool and wool blends in a worsted weight would be a good substitute.  Alpaca blends would be okay as well, so long as the percentage of alpaca fibers is less than 50%. Alpaca tends to be a little heavier and more drapey than wool.  Cotton yarns would not work very well for this pattern due to the weight of cotton, and the inelasticity of cotton make make working the cables a little hard on your hands.

Some great yarns that I like for this project are Austerman Bambou Soft, Claudia Handpainted Yarns Worsted 55, Schulana Fashion Silk, Mission Falls 1824 Wool, SWTC Karaoke, Zitron Loft Classic, Zitron Nimbus Multi, and Zitron Nimbus Solid.

Why is the hood done with short rows?

I designed the hood to be rounded, as opposed to 2 square pieces sewn together (which tends to create a pointier hood), so I utilized some short row shaping to acheive the effect.

Pockets & Scarf Body

Why not use provisional CO instead of a regular CO for the pocket (for the no ruffles version)?

I used a regular CO for the pockets/scarf and then have you split the stitches because I wanted there to be a more pronounced edging.  If you prefer, you can certainly use a provisional cast on.

What is the best way to split the stitches after CO?

There is no “best” way, but I prefer to take a darning needle with a contrasting yarn and thread through every other stitch first.  Then, I continue and work the next row, dropping every other stitch (the ones on the contrast yarn) as I go.  This saves me an extra step of picking off every other stitch first.  It is very easy to weave in and out with the tapestry needle, and I don’t really have to worry about dropping stitches when I transfer them.

The photos show the technique (left) and purling of the set-up row of the scarf body with the threaded stitches (right) on a Pfeiffer Falls with a ruffled edge:

The following shows what the work would look like after the first cable on the RS (left) and the WS (right) on a version with a ruffled pocket edge:

I am confused as to which side is the RS and which is the WS after I pick up the stitches for the scarf body. How can I tell?

Gravity can make this confusing.  I got confused myself once when I was not paying attention. The RS refers to the RS of the garment when you are done. It will be the side with the cables. However, in this early stage, when you are working on it, gravity will pull the pocket flap down, making it flop over.  Thus, it is best to pick up your stitches by laying the pocket right-side up on a flat surface.

Since the pocket flops down when you knit, why didn’t you write that as the RS then? Well, that will not be right because just because it flops down does not make the side that you see the RS.  It would be improper labeling and wrong for me to label it that way (IMO). Think of it this way…if you are knitting a sweater from the bottom edge up, you don’t see patterns refering to the bottom as the top of the sweater because it happens to be upside down when you are working on it, right?

Why does the pocket and the scarf portion that touches the pocket have 2 extra stitches than the rest of the scarf body? Is that an error?

No, it is not an error. A stitch was added to each side to account for the stitches that would be lost when sewing the seam.

I’ve never done a cable before. How do I do it?

KnittingHelp has lots of good videos on various knitting techniques, including cable knitting. Because the cables on PF is wide, you definitely want to learn how to do it on a cable needle (or double-pointed needle). I do not recommend doing the cable without a cable needle, unless you are good a cables and are brave. Here’s the video on cabling with a needle.

Am I doing the prep row before the buttonhole right?

To work the prep row, you are holding your cable needle behind your Left-hand needle and you knit the first stitch of each needle together by first inserting the tip of your right-hand needle into the front stitch first, then into the stitch in the back. It works like a 3 needle bind off, but you’re just not binding off. The bamboo needle in the photos below is the cable needle.

Is the one-row buttonhole the same as the buttonhole where you bind off on one row and then cast on the other?

No, it is not. The benefit of a one-row button hole is that the buttonhole is a little tighter and more finished looking (IMO), and it’s just as easy as the BO/CO buttonhole. The glossary of your issue of IK does cover this well. If you are a visual person, here’s the link to the KnittingHelp video on the topic.

A close-up of the finished one-row buttonhole (click photo to enlarge):

What if I don’t want pockets? How do I start?

To omit the pockets for the no-ruffles version, CO on 39 sts using your favorite regular cast-on method. Work the scarf body chart repeats as instructed, but make sure you omit the first and last sts of the chart. And of course, you’re not picking up any stitches and you will not be binding off any stitches because you already have 39 sts on your needles. (See FAQ #3 to see why there are 2 extra stitches put in for the pocketed section.)

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How do I pick up for the scarf body? I’m a little confused by which side is the WS.

The WS facing refers to the pocket if it were up as it should in a finished product, not flopped down (which is what happens due to the weight and gravity). So, the WS of the pocket is the WS of the scarf body. The WS of the pocket will touch the RS of the scarf.

The best way to do this if you are confused is to lay the pocket on a table, with the buttonhole at the top and the cables facing you. This is the RS. Now flip it over, still with the buttonhole on top – this is the WS. Pick up the sts on the waste yarn and purl with the WS facing you.

The images below shows picking up on a RS on a pocket with a bottom ruffle (click for a larger image):

 

The dark gray represents the WS of the pocket. The pink are the stitches to be picked up for the scarf part.

I don’t understand why you wrote the picking up of the scarf body sts that way because when I pick up my knitting and knit it, the pocket flops down and I am seeing the RS of the pocket though you seem to be calling that the WS.

I did grapple with how to write the instructions for this part, but after thinking about it, I thought I would be wrong to write “p41 with RS of pocket facing.” Because it only is doing that because it flops upside-down due to it’s own weight and gravity. An analogy that I can think of is when working a top-down sweater, even though the sweater is flipped upside down as you’re working it, you wouldn’t re-label the part that’s upside-down the bottom, would you? So with gravity pulling down on the pocket and making it flip down and showing the RS when you are in fact working on the WS does not make that the RS.

I think what is confusing some folks is that they are forgetting or not realizing that the scarf and pocket fold up in the finished product. And sometimes we just automatically interpret based on what we see visually. The RS to which I am referring is the RS of the scarf, and the WS is the WS of the finished scarf. So, the WS of the pocket is the WS of the scarf because the pocket sits on top of the scarf with the RS facing up. This is why I suggest that folks place the pocket on a table when you first pick up the stitches and are trying to figure which side is which.

If physics, electromagnetism and gravity were not an issue on Earth, then this is what our knitting would look like while we work on the scarf:

 

If gravity were not a factor, then our knitting would like like this. The light gray is the RS of the pocket. The pink is the RS of the scarf. Take note of the buttonhole. Then compared the buttonhole position in the diagram below, which depicts the gravitational pull on the pocket.

However, due to gravity, the pocket wants to flop down and it will continue to do so until we sew it to the scarf body.

This is what it looks like hanging down, with the buttonhole on the bottom:

In a diagram, this is what the gravity flop looks like when you have the RS of the scarf body facing you. When you have the WS of the scarf body facing you, the RS of the pocket will also face you:

 

The WS of the pocket (dark gray) will show when gravity makes it flop down. Notice the buttonhole position. The pink is the RS of the scarf body.

It will look “wonky” and just not right when you are working on it. But, no worries, because all will correct itself after you finish and sew the pocket and scarf together.

It will be a-okay after you sew it. Light gray is the RS of the pocket and the pink is the RS of the scarf.

I hate seaming. How do I adapt the pocket/scarf to knit on circulars?

no ruffles version: CO as instruct less 4 stitches. It’s probably easiest to do this on 2 circular needles. If you are magic looping, place your loop halfway. Start by designating and working the first 39 sts as the pocket (omitting the first and last st on the chart). The remaining sts will be the scarf body and the WS of the scarf will be facing you when you come to that point. Work the chart, except reverse all the symbol designations. So, if you see a plain square you purl, and if you see a square with a dot, you knit. You will also be working the purl tbl every round on the scarf body part. When you get to the part of the cable crossing, don’t forget that you will be reading Rows 5 and 13 as if you were reading a WS row. So, on Row 5, for the center 21 sts, you will be working the C14B first. The C14B will be worked by holding 7 cable needle stitches to the back, purl 7 from the LH needle, then purl 7 from the cable needle. You would work Row 13 in similar fashion. You continue this way until you’ve bound off the pocket, then you should have 39 sts and you an resume to following the regular chart and the rest of the pattern instructions.

ruffles version: CO and work as instructed in pattern. When you get to Row 4 of the ruffles, work the k3tog twice in the beginning, then work the rest of the row as instructed until the last 6 sts, k3tog twice – 78 sts.

Why did you write the pattern to graft in pattern instead of using a 3-needle bind off or a regular Kitchener stitch bind off? What’s the benefit of grafting in pattern?

I wrote to bind off in the stitch pattern (basically doing a Kitchener-style graft in the stitch pattern) because it yields a really clean and virtually invisible bind off. People will be in awe at your knitting prowess because they won’t know how you finished your scarf/hood symmetrically without a seam! You can work a regular Kitchener, but you will be able to easily tell where the seams are at the seed stitch edges. With a 3-needle BO, you will see a very visible seam. You can still elect to do any BO you wish.

The pieces are unblocked, but you can still barely see where the seam is in the piece on the Left, which was grafted in pattern. The piece on the Right was worked using a traditional Kitchener stitch. A 3-needle bind off would be even more visible.

I really hate grafting and would like to avoid it at all costs. How do I do the 2nd pocket if I knit all the way through the other end on the scarf body?

The grafting makes the scarf look symmetrical when it hangs on your neck. The grafting can be challenging, but you can get away with a 3 needle BO to join it too if you prefer, but the seam will not be as nice.

You can knit all the way through.  Your cables will be appear upside-down on one side, and this would be apparent if you put the 2nd pocket back on. If you knit all the way from one end to the other end, knit the required repeats for the scarf body or until you are where the pocket top of the pocket would be (You would work the row requirements in reverse). X = the height of your first pocket. Then, you would CO 2 sts (one on each side) until the end. Then you have 2 ways to add the 2nd pocket:

(a) Working on a scarf RS row, purl 1 row. It helps this part if you lay your work on a flat surface, like a table. Then rotate your work 180 degrees.That purl row you did is a marker for you later to indicate where you need to fold the pocket/scarf. Now your working yarn should again be on the right side. Now start the Chart Row 1 – this is your new RS; the public side of the pocket. Remember that the WS of the pocket will be touching part of the RS of the scarf body, but because of gravity, when you knit, you will be looking at the RS of the scarf when you are working on the WS of the pocket. Then work and finish the pocket as indicated by the pattern, except you will need to work a C14F in Row 5 and a C14B in Row 13.

(b) BO the scarf and work a separate pocket and sew 3 sides. CO for your pocket and work and finish the pocket as indicated by the pattern, except you will need to work a C14F in Row 5 and a C14B in Row 13.

Hood

How come the number of stitches to pick up for the hood is so much fewer than what is needed to work the charts? Is there a typo or error?

No there isn’t. Look at the chart more closely, and see the arrows where it indicates for the start/end of the hood.

I’m confused with the instructions in the back of the magazine for the short row shaping. The pattern instructions say to do the short row shaping without wraps, but I can’t figure out how to do it.

Ignore the glossary for this part. Just follow the instructions for the hood as it says. Try not to second-guess yourself and the instructions.

The best way to do this if you are confused is to lay the pocket on a table, with the buttonhole at the top and the cables facing you. This is the RS. Now flip it over, still with the buttonhole on top – this is the WS. Pick up the sts on the waste yarn and purl with the WS facing you.

Why did you write the pattern to graft in pattern instead of using a 3-needle bind off or a regular Kitchener stitch bind off? What’s the benefit of grafting in pattern?

I wrote to bind off in the stitch pattern (basically doing a Kitchener-style graft in the stitch pattern) because it yields a really clean and virtually invisible bind off. People will be in awe at your knitting prowess because they won’t know how you finished your scarf/hood symmetrically without a seam! You can work a regular Kitchener, but you will be able to easily tell where the seams are at the seed stitch edges. With a 3-needle BO, you will see a very visible seam. You can still elect to do any BO you wish.

The pieces are unblocked, but you can still barely see where the seam is in the piece on the Left, which was grafted in pattern. The piece on the Right was worked using a traditional Kitchener stitch. A 3-needle bind off would be even more visible.

 

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Tips

• You don’t have to knit both pockets first, but I just find that it’s easier to just do it and get it out of the way. You can even do both at the same time on your circulars using 2 separate balls of yarn. (see FAQ #8)
• If you don’t like sewing, you can knit the pocket and the scarf part in the round. Make sure you omit the extra stitches that were included to account for the seaming (see FAQ #3 and #8). Then when you are at the end of the pocket, BO the pocket stitches and work the rest of the scarf body as indicated by the pattern.
• If you are newer to cables and/or if you distract easily, lifelines are your friend.
• This is probably not a project for cabling without a cable needle unless you are very confident and adept at doing it

• Once the scarf body is long enough to extend past the pocket, you may either (a) want to set it together first to minimize the hang or (b) pin the pocket up to the scarf with a safety pin or two. I find doing (a) or (b) makes it less cumbersome and my scarf is less likely to tangle with my working yarn.
• So that you don’t have to count as much, you may want to mark each time you complete a cable with a split marker or a safety pin. You’ll notice that the cable pattern is easy to memorize, so marking after each cable row makes it easy to just knit on without worrying where you are. 🙂
• Like the scarf body, you may want to use a split stitch marker to mark each time you work a cable row when working the hood. It makes it a little easier to see where you are visually, even with the short row shaping because the short rows are still meant continue the basic cable pattern.
• To make your hood even more rounded, once the decreases at the center of the hood commences, you may want to remove the marker and k2tog the sts to either side of the marker. I did that with this one. It was just easier to write the pattern and help folks with the counting if I inserted a marker at the center.

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