Scarf for Melanie: a beginner's scarf pattern with fringe

This is a photo of the first longest (red) scarf that I kept for myself... I knitted a cream, shorter version with only two balls of yarn for my cousin Melanie's last Christmas gift, and of course I forgot to take a picture .
I offer here the "pattern" of this simple and stunning scarf, for the beginner knitter who wants a slightly more refined version of the plain garter stitch scarf, to give to someone he/she loves, or to keep for him/herself.



Yarn: HOME by Manor: Lena (39%Wool; 33%Polyacryl; 28%Polyamid) 65m/50g: 2 1/2 balls
Needles: 8.0 mm or US 11 (I used bamboo straights)

Notes:
- This is a very simple scarf, in garter stitch with fringes, that is designed so to show off the beautiful yarn. Very quick to knit on large needle.
- The border is engineered to be very straight, without the knotted aspect of the traditional garter-stitch border.
- The yarn for the fringes is cut in the beginning, before starting to knit. This insure for a peaceful finishing.

Circle the yarn 36 times total around the small width off your favourite magazine. Do not overlap the yarn, but lay it nicely close to the precedent loop. Cut the yarn and put the magazine on a safe place.

Cast-on 16 stitches loosely. I used the knitted cast-on, usually employed for knitted lace, as it is loose and match the cast-off well.

K15, bring yarn in front, slip last stitch purlwise.
*K1 throught the back loop, K14, byf, s1p*
repeat last row until you almost run out of your yarn

Bind-off VERY loosely.

Carefully cut the yarn looped around the magazine. You can slide one blade of the scissor between the pages of the magazine to insure a regular cut precisely along the edge and obtain totally even fringes threads.
As my yarn was a slow self-stripping one, I kept the order of the colors by laying the first thread on my left, then the second on my right, and carefully aligning each other yarn at each side. You'll have 18 thread on each side, and your scarf is 16 stitches wide. You will put two threads in the first and last stitch on each extremity of the scarf, and all other stitches will have one thread each. I kept the colors in order.
To put a thread on each stitch, fold the thread in two, use a crochet or one needle to pick up the fold of your thread through one stitch, then pass the extremities of the thread in the loop formed by the fold, and pull on the extemities to tighten the knot. If you take care to fold the thread precisely on the middle, and pull on both extremities held together, your fringe should be perfectly regular and need no "haircut" to be straight.



Here is my beloved baby modelling the scarf for you about one year ago. I love this scarf and look forward to wear it again this autumn. And yes, if you are feeling a strange sensation of "déjà vu", you have already seen those images.