Zen Knitting

I really don’t think it will work, mainly because the purl stitches will lie below the knit stitches and not stand out. I’ve done quite a lot of pictures on knitting, both knitting them in (intarsia) and duplicate stitch.

If you are only trying to do letters or initials, just doing duplicate stitch on the knit stitches could maybe work although it would probably pull the rib in a bit but if it is a picture it will be distorted.

Your only other alternative could be to try doing embroidery stitches instead although it usually is done on stocking stitch also.

Try these sites for embroidering tips:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2006/09/embroidering_on_knitting.html
http://pimpstitch.typepad.com/blog/2008/09/tutorial-monday-embroidery-on-knitting.html

Here are some youtube videos showing embroidering on knitting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MZrvZBtM9c
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-chain-stitch-embroidery-fro-knitting-projects-255202/

Hope this helps.

While what you suggest will work as long as the ribbing isn’t stretched, it’s going to be broken up once there’s any stress on the ribbing.

Rather than ribbing, consider doing the scarf in shadow knitting and knit the picture directly into the scarf. It then will show up and hide as the person moves, very interesting effect in the knitting. Check Vivian Hoxboro’s book Shadow Knitting out of your library to learn the technique and how to work the picture into the knitting.