Falling Leaves Knitting Pattern: A Free Scarf and a Triangular Shawl

Both patterns below are built from the same repeat: eleven stitches, two decreases at the outer edges and two yarn overs either side of a centre stitch. It is written out in full each time, so you never need a chart.

The leaf repeat

• RS row: *k2tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk* — 11 stitches, repeat as many times as the pattern calls for
• WS row: purl

Two stitches are removed and two added in every repeat, so the count is constant. If you finish a right-side row with a different number of stitches than you started, you have missed a yarn over — the usual culprit.

Pattern 1: the falling leaves scarf

Yarn: 200 g DK wool. Needles: 4.5 mm straight. Size: about 22 × 170 cm blocked.

1. Cast on 48 stitches.
2. Rows 1–6: knit every row (garter border).
3. Row 7 (RS): k2, *k2tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk* four times, k2.
4. Row 8 (WS): k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2.
5. Repeat rows 7 and 8 for 8 rows, then work 4 rows of stocking stitch keeping the garter edges — this is what separates one leaf from the next and makes them read as falling rather than climbing.
6. Continue alternating 8 lace rows and 4 plain rows until 6 cm short of the finished length.
7. Knit 6 rows and cast off loosely, one needle size up.

For continuous vines instead of separate leaves, simply leave out step 5 and repeat rows 7 and 8 the whole way — that version is written up in full in the autumn leaves knitting pattern.

Pattern 2: the falling leaves shawl

A top-down triangle: it starts at the back of the neck with five stitches and grows outwards, so you can stop whenever the yarn runs out or the shawl is big enough.

Yarn: 400–800 m fingering weight. Needles: 4 mm circular, 80 cm, worked flat.

Setting up

1. Cast on 5 stitches. Knit 2 rows.
2. Row 1 (RS): k2, yo, k1, yo, k2 — 7 sts. The centre stitch is the spine; mark it.
3. Row 2 (WS): k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2.

The body

Repeat these two rows:

• RS: k2, yo, knit to the marked centre stitch, yo, k1 (centre), yo, knit to last 2 sts, yo, k2 — 4 stitches added
• WS: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2

Each right-side row adds two stitches to each wing. Continue until each wing holds 44 stitches — 93 stitches in total, which is 22 increase rows. For a larger shawl, carry on to 66 stitches per wing (137 total) instead; any multiple of 22 per wing works.

The leaf border

Stop the increases. Working over the 93 stitches:

• RS: k2, *k2tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk* four times, k1 (centre), *k2tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk* four times, k2
• WS: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2

Work those two rows twelve times — 24 rows of leaves. Then knit 6 rows and cast off very loosely. A tight cast-off on a shawl edge is the single most common way to ruin one; if in doubt, cast off with a needle two sizes larger.

Blocking, which is not optional

1. Soak the finished piece 15–20 minutes in cool water with wool wash.
2. Press the water out in a towel. Do not wring.
3. Pin the shawl out under real tension: the long top edge straight, the point pulled down, and the lower edges stretched until the eyelets open into leaves.
4. Leave to dry completely — overnight, and longer in a cold room.

A blocked lace shawl is often a third larger than it was off the needles. Plan the size around the blocked measurement, not the knitted one.

Yarn choices

• Non-superwash wool blocks best and holds the shape longest.
• Wool-silk blends add drape and shine, at the cost of some memory.
• Avoid short-repeat variegated yarn — it hides the leaves entirely. A slow gradient in rust, gold and brown does what a variegated yarn promises and fails to deliver.
• Avoid acrylic for anything you intend to block.

Fixing the usual mistakes

• Stitch count wrong at the end of a RS row — a dropped yarn over. Count each repeat as you go rather than the whole row.
• Leaves drifting sideways — a decrease worked as k2tog where it should be ssk, or vice versa. The lean is what holds the column straight.
• Edges curling — the garter border was skipped or is too narrow. Two stitches is the minimum; three is safer in fingering weight.
• Holes in the wrong places — a yarn over made before a purl on the wrong-side row. All wrong-side rows here are plain.

If you would rather make leaves as separate pieces to sew on, string or scatter, the standalone version is in how to knit a leaf. And if a knitted piece is destined to be felted afterwards, read felting in knitting first — lace and fulling do not mix, and the maths of how far it shrinks is in wool shrinkage when felting.