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| Photo above © BohoBerry |
Morning Surf Scarf by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer is a wonderfully adaptable knitted scarf featuring soft, undulating openwork inspired by waves moving across the sea.
The design uses dropped yarnovers to create long, flowing stitches and an airy lace-like fabric. It is particularly attractive in variegated and handspun yarns, but one of the great advantages of Morning Surf is its flexibility: the pattern can be adapted to many different yarn weights and scarf widths.
✓ Free Pattern Availability
Good news: Morning Surf Scarf is still available as a free knitting pattern. The pattern is associated with Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer and HeartStrings FiberArts and has also been published by Spin-Off / Interweave.
Morning Surf Scarf at a Glance
Pattern: Morning Surf Scarf
Designer: Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Original Publication: January 1998
Craft: Knitting
Category: Scarf
Yarn Weight: Adaptable to different yarn weights
Gauge: Flexible — choose a needle that produces good drape
Width: Adjustable in 10-stitch increments
Notable Technique: Dropped yarnovers
Construction: Worked flat
Current Availability: Free pattern
About the Morning Surf Scarf
Morning Surf is a scarf where the yarn can become just as important as the stitch pattern.
Instead of dense cables or complicated colourwork, the design creates long open stitches that move gently across the fabric. The result has a wave-like appearance that works especially well with yarns containing several colours or subtle changes in texture.
This makes Morning Surf an interesting choice for a special skein of hand-dyed or handspun yarn that you want to showcase rather than hide inside a very complicated stitch pattern.
The Story Behind Morning Surf
The scarf has an especially fitting origin.
Designer Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer was inspired by a morning walk along the beach while attending a spinning event in Florida. The colours and movement of the water influenced both her choice of fibre and the undulating stitch sequence that eventually became Morning Surf.
The original scarf was created to showcase handspun yarn whose variations in colour and texture became part of the character of the finished piece.
A Pattern Designed for Different Yarns
One of the most useful characteristics of Morning Surf is that it was not designed around one rigid yarn specification.
The pattern can be adapted to a wide range of yarn sizes. Rather than insisting on one yarn weight and one needle size, the designer provides guidance for selecting needles that create a fabric with attractive drape without becoming excessively loose.
This makes Morning Surf particularly useful for:
- Handspun yarn
- Variegated yarn
- Hand-dyed yarn
- Special single skeins
- Stash yarn
- Experimenting with different yarn weights
Adjusting the Width
The scarf width is also easy to customize.
The cast-on can be increased or decreased in increments of 10 stitches, allowing you to make a narrower scarf or a broader wrap-like version.
Remember that increasing the width also increases yarn consumption, so allow extra yardage if you plan to make a substantially wider or longer scarf.
The Dropped-Yarnover Effect
Morning Surf gets much of its distinctive appearance from dropped yarnovers.
Yarnovers create additional loops while knitting. In this design, selected loops are later released in a controlled way, allowing the surrounding stitches to lengthen and form the characteristic open, wave-like sections.
Although the finished fabric looks unusual, the underlying concept is approachable once you understand what is supposed to happen to the extra loops.
This is one of those techniques where a small practice swatch can make the full project much easier to understand.
Why Variegated Yarn Works So Well
Highly variegated yarn can sometimes hide elaborate textured stitches. Morning Surf takes almost the opposite approach.
The elongated stitches create enough visual space for changing colours to remain visible, while the repeating waves add movement without competing heavily with the yarn.
For this reason, the pattern can be particularly effective when you have a colourful skein that looks beautiful by itself but seems difficult to match with a conventional stitch pattern.
Needle Choice
Because Morning Surf is designed for different yarn weights, there is no single needle size that every knitter must use.
The goal is to choose a needle that produces a draping fabric without becoming sloppy.
Make a small swatch first. If the fabric feels stiff, try a larger needle. If the elongated stitches look excessively loose or unstable, try a smaller needle.
Straight or Circular Needles?
The designer specifically recommends straight needles for this project.
Circular needles can technically be used for flat knitting, but the multiple yarnovers used in Morning Surf may be less convenient to slide from the flexible cable back onto the needle tip.
If you normally prefer circular needles, this is worth considering before beginning the project.
Skills That Help
Useful skills for Morning Surf include:
- Casting on
- Knit stitches
- Purl stitches
- Working yarnovers
- Handling multiple yarnovers
- Dropping designated loops intentionally
- Following a repeating stitch sequence
- Binding off
- Blocking a knitted scarf
Use Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer's original pattern for the exact stitch sequence and row-by-row instructions.
A Good Handspun Yarn Project
Morning Surf has a particularly strong connection with handspinning. The original scarf was designed specifically to showcase the character of handspun fibre.
Handspun yarn does not always have the absolute uniformity of commercially produced yarn, but in a design like this those variations can become part of the visual effect rather than something that needs to be hidden.
The pattern later appeared in Spin-Off, making that relationship with spinning even more appropriate.
Blocking Morning Surf
Blocking helps the elongated stitches settle into position and allows the wave-like structure to become more visible.
Follow the washing instructions appropriate for your chosen fibre, especially when working with handspun or unusual blends.
Shape the damp scarf gently and allow it to dry completely before removing it from the blocking surface.
Is Morning Surf Scarf Still Free?
Yes. Morning Surf Scarf by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer is still listed as a free knitting pattern.
The pattern has a long history, having first appeared in the late 1990s and later being published in Spin-Off.
Amazing Knitting does not reproduce the designer's copyrighted row-by-row instructions. Instead, we provide project information and direct knitters to the legitimate pattern listing.
Get the Free Morning Surf Scarf Pattern
Ravelry currently lists Morning Surf Scarf as a free pattern and provides the pattern information and source details.
Get the Free Morning Surf Scarf Pattern →
More Free Knitted Scarves
If you enjoy adaptable scarf projects, continue exploring the Amazing Knitting archive for more free patterns and stitch ideas.
Explore Free Scarf Knitting Patterns →
You can also browse lace scarf patterns, handspun knitting projects, and projects for variegated yarn.
Before You Start
Choose the yarn you would like to showcase and make a small swatch before deciding on your final needle size and scarf width.
Pay particular attention to the dropped-yarnover technique. Once you understand how the elongated stitches are created, the repeating pattern becomes much easier to recognize as you knit.
Pattern credit: Morning Surf Scarf was designed by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer of HeartStrings FiberArts. The existing photograph on this Amazing Knitting page is credited to BohoBerry. Amazing Knitting does not reproduce the designer's copyrighted row-by-row knitting instructions.