The Land of the KnitaSaur

Portal Illusionistic Scarf

More Photos
Illusion Knitting is a technique using two contrasting colours of yarn and raised and flat stitches to create an image that is only visible from certain angles. If you look straight at the scarf, it looks like a simple striped scarf. If you catch it at certain angles, the hidden picture or words pop out. From the back, the image is clearly visible, but backwards. For the Portal Illusion Scarf, I am providing 2 sets of instructions: Written out line-by-line and a normal color chart. Illusion knitting works out to being mostly stockinette stitch, so it WILL roll. I recommend adding a few rows of garter or seed stitch at each end, and a few rows of garter or seed stitch on each edge to stop this from happening. It is not necessary to meet gauge in this scarf, however, the scarf needs to be knit at a slightly higher tension than normal to make the illusion show. Simply choose needles a size or two small than the recommended size for the yarn you choose. A few tips: 1) All odd rows are knit. Always. 2) Don’t pull the yarn too tightly when carrying colours up the sides. This will cause the edge to bunch together, and that’s not very pretty. 3) Putting stitch makers on the edges of the letters (in this case, 11 stitches in from each edge) will make you life much easier. 4) I knit the Portal in the two colors of the logo. It is a neat look, but I recommend not doing it unless you really like weaving in ends. It would work just as well with the blue O knit in the same white yarn as the rest of the scarf.

Size
Width: 7 inches
Length 72 inches

Yarn
Bernat Satin Solids (100% Acrylic; 166yd/152m per 100g ball); Color: 04040 Ebony
Bernat Satin Solids (100% Acrylic; 166yd/152m per 100g ball); Color: 04005 Snow
Optional: Bernat Satin Solids (100% Acrylic; 166yd/152m per 100g ball); Color: 04141 Sapphire

Needles
US 4 (3.5mm) straight needles

Notions
Tapestry needle
2 stitch markers

Gauge
22 sts = 4 inches (10 cm) in st st
33 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in 2 row st st, 2 rows garter pattern