Materials: I used size 8 dpns and Lion brand woolease. Guage doesn’t really matter, you just want it to fit an apple. If you get to the end of the increase section and it doesn’t seem big enough, add a few more increase rows and the same number of decrease rows to compensate. This will make your cozy both wider and taller to better hold those gigantic apples you can buy at the supermarket. This will also work if your yarn is thinner than worsted weight. Don’t forget, though, that the finished product will stretch!

CO 12 stitches and divide evenly on 4 dpns. Join for knitting in the round.
Row 1: knit across
Row 2: make 1 (m1) stitch at beginning of each needle ‘ 16 st
Row 3: on each needle knit to 1 stitch before end, m1 ‘ 20st
Rows 4-13: Repeat rows 2 & 3 five more times ‘ 60 st

(This explanation might help you visualize the pattern. Each dpn holds the stitches for 1 side of the apple cozy plus 1 stitch to simulate a seam between each side. So after casting on, 2 stitches on each needle are the beginnings of one side and the 3rd stitch is the ’seam’ stitch. On the first increase row, you increase at the beginning of each of the four sides. On the next row, you increase at the end of each side, then knit the ’seam’ stitch. By doing this, you create evenly rounded sides and, therefore, an evenly rounded apple cozy. If you use fewer dpns or magic loop, just place markers between the stitches for each side and follow the instructions.)

Rows 14-15: knit across
Beginning with the next row, begin knitting back and forth, not in the round! (you could switch to a straight needle but I found it easiest to stick with the dpns)
Row 16: On each needle, purl the first stitch (this is your ’seam’ stitch), purl 2 together (p2tog), purl to end ‘ 56 st
Row 17: slip, slip, knit (ssk) 1st 2 stitches on each needle, knit to end ‘ 52 st
Rows 18-25: repeat rows 16 & 17 four more times ‘ 20 stitches (5 on each needle)
Row 26: on each needle, purl 1, p2tog twice. On last dpn, CO 8 stitches.
BO all stitches.

Finishing: With scrap yarn, sew end of 8 cast on-bound off stitches to the edge of the cozy, making a loop.

Bobble button and leaf: I knitted these as written in the book, Knitorama, so I won’t post the patterns. It’s really easy, though. For the bobble, CO a few stitches, increase a few more, decrease and cast off. Then roll or fold up the tiny knitted piece you just made and sew it across from the loop you just made. Viola- a button!
The leaf is knitted the same way only bigger. CO a few stitches, increase a few more, knit several rows even, decrease down to 1 stitch to make a nice, pointy tip and bind off. Sew it on wherever you would like to embellish the apple.

Row 1 (ws): purl across until last stitch, slip last stitch
Row 2 (rs): K2, yo, K2, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K2, yo, K2, yo, K3, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K3, yo, K2, yo, K3, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K3, yo, K2, yo, K2, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K2, yo, K1, sl 1

Slipping the alst stitch on each row makes a nice, smooth edge on each side.
Repeat these 2 rows until you reach your desired length. See notes below about knitting in one or two pieces.
Wash and block, being careful to pin each point so they will end up nice and defined.
Sew on beads, if desired. I just used thread in a matching color to sew them on.

To help you visualize the pattern a little better, The blue font shows the small edge shells and the red font shows the larger, middle shells. This pattern is easy to modify. You could knit just one large panel instead of two in the center or knit only 1 knit stitch in between the yo’s separating the shells for a more delicate look. Play around with it and you’ll get a beautiful scarf tailored to your yarn.

If you want the ends to match perfectly, knit scarf in two pieces then graft together. If you choose to graft, I recommend ending each piece with a right side row and then grafting. This makes the pattern at the join more continuous. You can use a 3-needle bind off to attach pieces but that will leave a seam. I grafted my pieces together and you could tell that something was going on there although it looked neat. It’s the part of the scarf that will be at the back of the neck and not really seen so I wasn’t bothered by my less than perfect finish.

If you don’t want knit the scarf in 2 pieces, it will still look nice knitted in one piece. The red line in the picture below shows how the bound off edge will wave if you knit it in one piece. You will end up with 1 more point on this edge than on the cast-on edge.

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John Muir Scarf

More pictures can be seen here.
I used 4 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Treasure: 100% baby alpaca, 110 yards / 50 grams

I used size 5 needles. Guage isn’t important as it’s just a scarf! I was in such a Christmas hurry to send this off, I forgot to measure it. I think my finished scarf was about 7 inches wide and you can see it being worn if you click the link above to give you an idea of it’s length.
CO 54

Row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P44, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, K46, P1, K1. P1, K1

Row 3: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P44, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

Continue working 5 stitches on each side in seed stitch for the rest of the scarf.
Rows 5-?: work 5 stitches in seed stitch, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work chart, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work chart, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work 5 stitches in seed stitch

When you reach your desired length, repeat rows 1-3, bind off.

On my chart, empty squares are knit stitches on the right side and purls on the wrong side. Squares with dots represent purl stitches on the right side and knits on the wrong side.

Twist 6 Left rib: Slip next 4 stitches onto cable needle, hold at front of work. Knit next 2 stitches from left hand needle, slip the 2 purl stitches from cable needle back to left hand needle and purl them. Knit 2 stitches from cable needle.

Twist 6 Right rib: Slip next 4 stitches onto cable needle, hold at back of work. Knit next 2 stitches from left hand needle, slip the 2 purl stitches from cable needle back to left hand needle and purl them. Knit 2 stitches from cable needle.

(Cable pattern taken from The Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting, edited by Debra Mountford. )