DIY Network

Fibonacci Accessories: Scarf you don't have to be a mathematical genius to appreciate this scarf of many colors! From "Knitty Gritty" episode DKNG-410

First off, you need to know that there is a number Phi (1.6180339887498948482) that is an expression of something called the golden ratio. Since ancient times, it has been known that using this golden ratio enabled designers to create art and buildings that were most pleasing to the human eye. Even Mother Nature used the golden ratio when designing spiraled things such as shells and sunflowers!

advertisement

This chart illustrates the Fibonacci sequence.

Then, in the 13th century, a guy named Leonardo Fibonacci (Fee-bo-nah-chee) discovered that when he took a number (starting with 0), added the previous number to it and continued doing that with each resulting sum, he arrived at a unique sequence of numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21...) that had golden ratio-like properties. As he went further and further out in the sequence, he found that the ratio of one of the numbers to the one preceding it began to approach the golden ratio!

And why, you may ask, should we care about this math stuff? Well, architects and designers have been using the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers for eons to make eye-pleasing work--and so can knitters! For example, the fabric of these scarves, wristlets and capelet (designed by Adina Klein) are particularly appealing because all of the stripes are worked in garter stitch with the total number of ridges in any stripe being a number in the Fibonacci sequence.

Difficulty level: Easy--anyone with needles and yarn can make these scarves!

Size: Depending on your taste and yarns used, the width will be about 3"-5" and the length about 55" (more Fibonacci numbers!).

Gauge: You will be working with different yarns that will give you different gauges, so you don't need to worry about getting a specific gauge when knitting these scarves. Just aim for a fabric that drapes however you like it.

Materials:

approximately 9-15 yarns in different weights and textures (leftovers work great)
knitting needles, one pair U.S. size 11 or 13 (8 or 9mm), or whatever size gives you a "scarfy" fabric that you like
crochet hook

Knitting the scarf:
Gather a lot of odd balls of yarn in a palette that you like. These should be a mix of fibers, weights and textures (for example, you should have yarns that are fuzzy, flat, shiny, metallic, bumpy--whatever). Don't worry about the weight of the yarns: you can always create a bulky yarn by knitting two of the thinner ones together.

Abbreviations:
CO cast on
K knit
WS wrong side

1. Using the long-tail cast on, loosely CO 13 stitches. You will notice that this CO gives you a ridge on one side of the needle. That ridge is on the right side of the fabric and counts as the first ridge in that stripe. Now keep working in garter stitch (K every row) with that same yarn until you have 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, or 13 ridges on the right side (including that first CO ridge) and ending with a WS row. Cut the yarn, leaving a tail about 10" long. It's time to change yarns!

2. Pick another yarn (or 2 together, knitter's choice!) and begin knitting with it. On the first row, weave in the tails of the previous yarn and the new yarn on the wrong side. Leave the tails somewhere in the middle to deal with later. Keep working in garter stitch until this stripe also has 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 or 13 ridges. Now just repeat what you did when you changed colors the first time.

Page  1 | 2