Boyfriend Scarf

Boyfriend Scarf

I’ve never knit anything for a boy before, especially one that I’ve been dating. I think it’s because of the “Boyfriend Sweater Curse” – I didn’t want this to be a scarf that would end our relationship or something silly like that. 

What prompted the idea to knit him a scarf was the topcoat he bought to wear to with his suits this winter: the coat didn’t button all the way up and required a scarf to stay warm.  I knew that if I wanted to guarantee that he would wear it, the scarf needed to be a “manly” scarf.  And what could be more “manly” than charcoal gray and a thermal-like stitch pattern?

Boyfriend Scarf

The best part?  On days when it’s colder than he thought, he gets upset that he left his scarf at home since he said it keeps him nice and warm.

Boyfriend

MATERIALS:
Yarn
2 skeins Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick-N-Quick – Charcoal

Needles
US 15 straight needles

Notions
Tapestry needle

Gauge
2 sts = 1″

DIRECTIONS:
CO 20 sts

Thermal Stitch Pattern 
Row 1: K
Row 2: K

Row 3: K 2, P 2

Row 4: K 2, P 2

Continue in pattern until scarf is 58″ or to desired length.  BO and weave in loose ends.

Boyfriend Scarf
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60 Comments

  1. January 18, 2012 / 3:41 pm

    It's a beautiful scarf! very "manly"

  2. January 18, 2012 / 3:58 pm

    Thank you! I was tempted to even keep it for myself and not give it to him!

  3. January 19, 2012 / 12:04 am

    Love it. Thank you!

  4. January 19, 2012 / 1:02 am

    Oh…it's a winner alright! Gorgeous! I just read something somewhere that you should never knit/crochet anything for a boyfriend….only husbands but then again with the divorce rate…what difference does it make? LOL!
    I'm copying that one down as I have 3 sons who don't knit and are REALLY hard to buy for! Thanks and NICE JOB!!! Hope he appreciated it!

  5. Michelle B
    January 21, 2012 / 3:27 am

    I loved knitting this scarf. It went fast and my #1 boyfriend (hubby of 14 years) is wearing it as I type this. I didn't have enough yarn to make it a length that I liked, so I connected it together and it totally suits him.
    Thanks!

    • January 21, 2012 / 3:51 am

      Oh my goodness, wow, I can't believe you made one already! I'd love to see what yours looks like 🙂

  6. July 17, 2012 / 2:27 pm

    I love everything you post. I'm recommending this page on my blog http://www.undermyskein.blogspot.com. Hope it's Ok. If it's not, please let me know and I'll remove the link. It's a non-commercial blog, just my memoirs as a knitter, literature and ideas.
    Isabella

  7. NMgirl
    December 27, 2012 / 12:00 pm

    Very nice, classic, and no curl!!!! Will do in a finer yarn diametre, so more cast-ons.

  8. Carol
    January 2, 2013 / 5:31 pm

    Lucinda, thank you so much for this pattern! I was stressing out over what to get the boyfriend last month for Christmas, and serendipity brought me here after my mum suggested I break out of my long knitting hiatus and make him something 🙂 Used Debbie Bliss Paloma instead because Wool-Ease is harder to get here in the UK, so the scarf was actually quite snuggly!

    Incidentally, we now have *two* of these scarves…the boyfriend loved his so much and insisted I make a longer one in a different color for myself "so we have matching scarves." Solved the "knitter's giveaway remorse" debacle right there XD I'd imagine this would make a lovely cowl too…

    • January 3, 2013 / 1:19 am

      You're very welcome! You make a good point, I really should make one of these for myself as well. It was hard to part with it!

  9. Anonymous
    January 7, 2013 / 8:42 am

    Love it! Very charming and appropriately manly 🙂 may very well end up making one for my boyfriend. Thanks for sharing.

  10. January 24, 2013 / 4:28 am

    This looks so smart 🙂 I love it! I have pinned it to my knit board to gently remind me I want to make one for my husband… you know.. to fit his smart look 😀 thank you for sharing this! ♥ Dawn

  11. February 4, 2013 / 8:20 pm

    I'm in the process of making one of these for my husband. However, I can't actually needle knit but I can loom knit. Would you mind if I rewrote your pattern for the loom and put it on my ravelry account (with links back to you of course)?

    • February 4, 2013 / 11:26 pm

      Sure! Thanks for asking 🙂

    • Paige
      December 30, 2017 / 2:11 pm

      Do u have the loom knit pattern?

      • Lucinda
        Author
        December 31, 2017 / 12:42 pm

        Sorry, just a knitting pattern

  12. February 24, 2013 / 1:43 pm

    Love this pattern .. so easy to follow and knits up fast with great results.
    Knitted this for my self in a super chunky knit in cream… Love it.
    Anymore patterns like this one?

    • April 13, 2013 / 12:37 pm

      Sorry, no hat pattern!

  13. Anonymous
    October 2, 2013 / 10:26 am

    Beautiful scarf! Good job!
    I'm new to sewing but I'd really love to sew this scarf for my bf. I'm not familiar with the sewing language so if you could 'decode' what this means, I'd be really thankful:

    DIRECTIONS:
    CO 20 sts

    Thermal Stitch Pattern
    Row 1: K
    Row 2: K
    Row 3: K 2, P 2
    Row 4: K 2, P 2

    • October 14, 2013 / 4:03 pm

      CO cast on
      sts stitchs
      K knit
      P purl

  14. October 29, 2013 / 9:24 am

    Thanks for providing such a simple instructions through which I can make men scarf at home also.I will try this for my father.

  15. February 4, 2014 / 9:33 pm

    What are the dimensions when finished? I like to knit all my scarves narrow. Don't know why, I just do. Could you tell me how to make this narrower? It's a beautiful scarf!! I love it! I'm sure my son would love it also.

    • February 11, 2014 / 5:23 pm

      Hmm I'll have to ask my boyfriend for the scarf back so I can measure it. Looking at the gauge and CO count, it should be about 10" wide. The pattern is a repeat over four stitches, so just decrease the count by four if you want it narrower.

  16. February 9, 2014 / 4:23 am

    I just bought 2 skeins of Wool-Ease Thick-N-Quick to make a scarf for my husband. I went to Ravelry to find a pattern and found this one! I think it will be perfect.

  17. February 9, 2014 / 5:03 am

    I purchased 2 skeins of Berroco Chunky in charcoal to make it for my son. Can't wait till the yarn comes.

  18. Barbara
    February 10, 2014 / 8:55 pm

    I have just finished two scarves for my sons. One is already on it's way to Boston, U.S.A. and the second will go to London tomorrow. I used Katia 'Peru' in the charcoal colour for both and really enjoyed knitting them. Thank you Lucinda for the pattern.

    • February 11, 2014 / 5:20 pm

      I'm sure the scarf will come in handy for the remainder of this winter here in Boston! Brrrrr

  19. February 18, 2014 / 3:37 am

    Very nice. I'm knitting this for my son…almost finished. I wonder if you plan to make a hat for this scarf? Thanks for sharing.

  20. February 26, 2014 / 2:45 pm

    I made this scarf for my hubby last year. He was a little hesitant at first to wear a scarf, but he seriously fell in love with it. One morning he left for work (he has an hour each way commute) and actually turned back when he realized he forgot it. I just finished one and mailed it out yesterday to a college guy that is good friends with our family. It's been soooo bitter cold this winter in WI…. again today it's back to the -5 degrees with windchill -20 to -30. UGH. Thanks for sharing the pattern! ~ MamaGing.com

  21. Anonymous
    March 2, 2014 / 7:45 am

    This scarf pattern is so easy but wonderful to look at. I to wonder if you could do a hat to match and post the pattern. I could do the hat, but its the decreases that would get me in trouble.

  22. March 7, 2014 / 5:19 am

    I made it with size 7 needles and a worsted weight yarn (pink) and it it came out great… kind of the "girlfriend" scarf. Love the pattern! 🙂

  23. June 6, 2014 / 12:35 pm

    Thank you for the beautiful pattern. Love from London

  24. December 10, 2014 / 7:15 pm

    Handsome scarf indeed. Lovely presentation too. I read that Brittany was going to convert your pattern to loom, with your permission; and attribute the pattern to you on Ravelry. I can't find it anywhere. Do you recall seeing it? Any help would be very much appreciated. 🙂 TIA

  25. April 3, 2015 / 9:23 am

    I love your boyfriend's look. The hat, scarf, coat, shirt and tie and that awesome looking goatee. Does he dress like that or in that style frequently. I would certainly turn a few heads. Well done on the scarf, by the way.

  26. Bianca
    October 28, 2015 / 12:58 am

    This is such a nice scarf! I want to make one for my soon to be Father in Law for Christmas but I bought a bulky not a super bulky like the yarn you used. Can you suggest a CO amount for a bulky yarn? Thanks in advance! -Bianca

  27. DeBorah Coursey
    January 3, 2016 / 1:08 pm

    Love the look. I’m new to knitting, so when you say “continue in pattern” do you mean from row 1 or row 3?

    • Lucinda
      Author
      January 3, 2016 / 3:25 pm

      Continue in pattern means that you’re going to repeat the three rows over and over again – those are the rows for the pattern.

  28. Rose
    January 14, 2016 / 10:54 pm

    I gave this to my boyfriend for Christmas and he said he will not take it off until the end o f his life. Very dramatic guy. A painter, as in oil paints. It was recently 27° in the early morning and he said it kept him toasty warm.

    • Lucinda
      Author
      January 16, 2016 / 5:32 pm

      That’s wonderful, I’m so glad he likes it that much!!!

  29. Christine
    January 17, 2016 / 11:59 am

    This scarf is just what I’ve been looking for to knit. You list four rows. Do you repeat all four rows to achieve the pattern? Or start the scarf with two knit rows and then repeat rows two thru four until the end and finish with two knit rows ?
    The pattern looks like squares not just a rib stitch. Is that achieved with one knit row and the two rib rows and a knit row or two knit rows two rib rows and two knit rows?

    • Lucinda
      Author
      January 19, 2016 / 7:24 pm

      Hi Christine! The scarf is the same four rows knitted over and over again until you reach the length you want.

  30. Alison Callahan
    June 23, 2016 / 8:09 pm

    I made the scarf for my husband. He really loved it and asked for a blanket (not a throw). It was really easy to knit. Once you have worked several rows, you can just tell where you are when you pick it back up. It did take a while to knit (It was literally a blanket that could cover two people neck to toes.), but it turned out great – extremely warm and great texture. He is very possessive of that blanket. I came back to this post because my son now wants his own blanket! Thanks for sharing.

  31. Xio
    July 27, 2016 / 10:03 am

    Hi Lucinda,

    About to start knitting this and I’m confused. In one comment you say “knit the same three rows again and again” and in another you say this for “the same four rows”. Is it 2 knit, 2 ribs all the way through, or 1 knit, 2 ribs all the way through?

    • Lucinda
      Author
      August 4, 2016 / 7:32 pm

      Sorry, that was a typo in responding to a commenter. The pattern is a four row repeat throughout the entire scarf, after you’re done knitting row four you go back to row one and start the pattern again.

  32. FengYe
    September 2, 2016 / 10:36 am

    This is very nice. I have been wondering what to knit for my hubby and this is perfect.
    Thanks for sharing your pattern.
    Excited to get started.

  33. Carmen Tsang
    September 9, 2016 / 5:10 pm

    HI Lucinda,
    Thanks for sharing this nice and easy pattern. Using this pattern, i have knitted four scarf already to all my male significants and they all loved it. Thank you very much. XOXO.

  34. Lisa
    October 9, 2016 / 2:18 pm

    Could I use size 10 needles? What would be the result?

  35. Marybeth
    January 6, 2017 / 10:18 am

    Beautiful – I will make this for my sons. Thanks!

  36. Linda
    December 8, 2018 / 1:09 pm

    Love this scarf and I am in the process of working it now. I am thinking of doing one for my grandson when I get finished working this one for my husband. Thanks for sharing your pattern to all of us.

  37. Dayna Turner
    December 19, 2019 / 6:09 pm

    Love love love this simple quick but beautiful scarf!!! I am going to make a matching “girlfriend” scarf as one commenter did! Genius!

  38. Michey
    March 12, 2020 / 8:44 pm

    I enjoy watching this pattern come about. I used an oatmeal speckled color…I’m a newbie and once I got the hang of remembering which row I’m on its going good sew…well….ha ha..thanks

  39. Ken Ferris
    February 18, 2021 / 6:37 pm

    Male knitter here! I was ready to take the next step for patterned stitches on a stocking cap or a scarf. This pattern was easy and fun (and quick!) Made this scarf (charcoal, as in your example) for my son, and the scarf looks dynamite with his charcoal gray cashmere overcoat. My son loves the scarf, and he’s received several compliments on how it looks (from ladies, of course!) The textured pattern really stands out, and makes this a beautiful masculine scarf for more formal business wear. Thanks for remembering us guys in your knitted product showcase!

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