Zen Knitting

with worsted weight yarn and size 9 needles i would say to cast on 32 stitches for the scarf to be 8 inches wide. to have the scarf to be 6.5 inches wide you would cast on 26 stitches.

Is this a trick question?

Your scarf is going to be 5’8″ wide? (or that is the finished length.)

To calculate the number of stitches you need for the width, knit a test swatch in the pattern you plan on using. For worsted weight, your swatch usually needs to have at least 20 stitches and as many rows as it takes so you’ll end up with at least a 4″ square.

Then, putting a pin in a stitch or two from on end and another at 4″ mark, count the number of stitches, divide by 4 and that is your “gauge” (Stitches per inch). Cast on St/in times the number of inches of your desired width.

Then knit until you–
1) reach your desired length
2) you run out of yarn
3) get bored & settle for a hot pad.

Just remember that there are recommended gauges for each yarn and suggested needle sizes for that yarn and gauge. However, each person knits with a different tension so you use whatever size needle it takes to get the right tension/gauge.

Also, keep in mind that some yarns will work well if you knit them a little looser or a little tighter than recommended gauge. It’s isn’t about hard and fast rules, it’s about how to achieve the desired result as a designer/artisan.

Have fun!