Cosido Scarf in Malabrigo Rios - Downloadable PDF

Cosido Scarf in Malabrigo Rios by Quenna Lee – Pattern Summary

The Cosido Scarf is a beautifully textured, smocked scarf designed by Quenna Lee and worked in the beloved Malabrigo Rios yarn. The name cosido hints at the sewn, gathered quality of the smocking technique that gives this accessory its distinctive, dimensional surface. Finished at 7.25 inches wide and 74 inches long, this is a generously sized scarf that drapes elegantly and makes a striking handknitted gift or personal wardrobe staple.

Design Overview

What makes the Cosido Scarf truly special is its two-colorway construction. Rather than relying on a single skein, Quenna Lee designed this pattern to use two coordinating colorways of Malabrigo Rios — one as the Main Color (MC) and one as the Contrast Color (CC). The interplay between the two colors is what activates the smocked patterning and creates the scarf's signature visual rhythm. The designer suggests choosing two colorways with similar hues and tonalities for a subtle, tonal effect, as demonstrated in the sample using Tranquilo #841 as the MC and Pocion #139 as the CC. Alternatively, knitters are encouraged to experiment by pairing colors from opposite ends of the color spectrum for a bolder, more graphic textile.

Techniques Used

• Smocking: The central technique of this pattern, smocking in knitting involves gathering stitches together at intervals to create a puckered, honeycomb-like texture. Unlike woven smocking, knitted smocking is achieved through a combination of slip stitches and gathered stitches worked directly on the needles, producing a three-dimensional fabric with wonderful elasticity and visual depth.
• Gathered Stitch: A key component of the smocking pattern, the Gathered Stitch draws previously slipped stitches together, creating the characteristic pinched clusters that define the smocked look.
• Slip Stitch Colorwork: Stitches are slipped purlwise with yarn in front (sl wyif), allowing the contrast color to float across the surface and interact visually with the main color without requiring the knitter to manage two working yarns simultaneously in the same row.
• Moss Stitch: Used as the foundational stitch pattern, Moss Stitch creates a firm, non-curling fabric with a subtle pebbly texture. It is worked by alternating knit and purl stitches in a specific offset sequence, and it serves as the backdrop against which the smocking patterning stands out beautifully.
• Two-Color Striping: The MC and CC are alternated across specific rows, with the MC worked for several rows before the CC is introduced to work the gathering rows. This structured color alternation is what produces the smocked pattern's depth and dimensionality.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (k)
• Purl stitch (p) — all wrong-side rows are purled
• Slip stitch purlwise with yarn in front (sl wyif)
• Gathered Stitch — a specialty stitch unique to the smocking construction
• Moss Stitch — used for gauge and as the base fabric structure

Materials

Yarn

This pattern calls for Malabrigo Rios, a single-ply 100% superwash merino wool yarn in the aran weight category. Each skein contains 210 yards (192 meters) per 100 grams. The pattern requires one skein of Tranquilo #841 as the Main Color and one skein of Pocion #139 as the Contrast Color. Malabrigo Rios is celebrated for its rich, hand-dyed colorways, exceptional softness, and the subtle tonal variation that makes it particularly well-suited to textured stitch patterns like smocking, where color depth enhances the dimensional quality of the fabric.

Needles and Notions

• US 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles