How to Loom Knit Drop Stitches with Free Scarf Pattern

Inside: Learn how to loom knit drop stitches with these written instructions and video tutorial. Includes free pattern for the Garter Drop Infinity Scarf.

Drop stitches are a great way to add an open texture to your project.

Garter stitch is the one of the first stitch patterns you learned as a new loom knitter. It introduces the purl stitch, doesn’t curl and is an easy stitch pattern to master. I’m going to teach you how to add drop stitches between rows of garter to add a lacy look to your knits.

But first, let’s talk about how to loom knit drop stitches…

Drop stitches are created on purpose and are actually elongated stitches.

If you look closely at the drop stitch pattern you can still see the “V” of the knit stitches, but they are much longer than they would typically be. This makes a row of knitting that is loose and open.

Creating drop stitches is as simple as wrapping each peg multiple times on on row and then removing those wraps on the following row to create a long stitch.

You can follow the instructions below to loom knit drop stitches as a flat panel or in the round.

How to customize the garter drop stitch pattern…

The garter drop stitch pattern I’m teaching you today works with any yarn weight and almost any stitch count. I say almost any because you do need at least 3 stitches for this to work.

The garter drop stitch pattern is a multiple of 1+1 and I’m demonstrating it using a 6 row repeat.

After you cast on you need one foundation row of all purl stitches. Then you begin the repeat.

Row 1: Knit all.
Row 2: Purl all.
Row 3: Knit all.
Row 4: Purl all.
Row 5: K1, *K1, yo3x on the same peg.  Rep from * to end of row. K1. 
Row 6: Drop the yarnovers from the first few pegs and pull down on work before working the first stitch. The first stitch will elongate to a drop using working yarn. Purl first stitch loosely while tugging down on fabric.  Continue across the row dropping yarnovers then purling each stitch.

First, let’s talk about the odd abbreviation “yo3x”. This simply means yarnover 3 times. To make a this yarnover simply e wrap each peg 3 times after you knit it over.

Next, let’s talk about how much drop you want. I chose 3 yarnovers to make the drop row very dramatic, but you may prefer 1 or 2. But if you like more height in the drop row increase it 4, 5 or 6. Choose as many yarnovers as you like for your drop stitch row, but be mindful of the height of the pegs. Some looms with shorter pegs may not be able to fit 4-5 wraps on the peg.

Lastly, you can alter this stitch pattern by adding more garter ridges before the drop stitches. I used 4 rows of garter stitch before I started my drop stitches. You can use any even number of rows between the drop stitch rows.

Here’s the full pattern for the scarf so you can see exactly what I did. Be sure to scroll all the way down and watch the fully-captioned tutorial videos. I’ve got videos for both right and left handed loom knitters so you can always see the knitting from the proper perspective.

Garter Drop Infinity Scarf

By Kristen Mangus

A downloadable PDF of this pattern is available in my Etsy store or from Ravelry at the links below:

MATERIALS

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Yarn
Medium (#4) weight yarn
Caron Cakes (383 yds. / 350 m, 7.1 oz. / 200 g) color Blueberry Shortcake used in sample.

Loom
⅜” small gauge (SG) loom with at least 40 pegs
KB Skinny Flexee Loom used in sample.

Tapestry needle

ABBREVIATIONS

K = E wrap knit stitch
Rep = Repeat
St(s) = Stitch(es)
Yo3x = Yarnover 3 times (Ewrap each peg 3 times without knitting over.)

For a refresher on loom knitting basics see the blog posts below to get started:
13 Questions for Beginner Loom Knitters
How to Loom Knit Basics (cast on, knit, purl, & bind off)
How to Loom Knit Basic Stitch Patterns (garter st, seed st and ribbing)
How to Loom Knit in the Round

GAUGE
11 sts x 12 rows in 3” in garter drop stitch pattern

SKILL LEVEL Easy

MEASUREMENTS
Approx. 11” x 54” (27.9 cm x 137.1 cm)

NOTES 

You can make this scarf in one color or use color changing yarn like I did to add more colors.   

The drop stitch garter pattern is a multiple of 1+1. Any number of stitches will work for this stitch pattern.

I recommend blocking your scarf before connecting the ends.  Blocking dropped stitches creates uniform, even stitches. 

INSTRUCTIONS

Cast on 40 sts using double e-wrap cast on. 

Setup:

Foundation Row: Purl all.

Garter Drop Stitch Pattern:

Row 1: Knit all.

Row 2: Purl all.

Row 3: Knit all.

Row 4: Purl all.

Row 5: K1, *K1, yo3x on the same peg.  Rep from * to end of row. K1. 

Row 6: Drop the yarnovers from the first few pegs and pull down on work before working the first stitch. Purl first stitch loosely while tugging down on fabric to create the drop stitch with the working yarn on Peg 1.  Continue across the row dropping yarnovers then purling each stitch.

Rep Rows 1-6 35 more times or until desired length.

Bind off and cut long tail to sew seam. Weave in beginning yarn tail.  Wet block scarf before seaming to set drop stitches and to show open stitchwork. After blocking, place wrong sides together and sew seam. Weave in tail.

PIN IT!

How to Loom Knit Drop Stitches Video Tutorials

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The following tutorial video on How to Loom Knit Drop Stitch Pattern demonstrates the stitch pattern used in this infinity scarf.  It does not include the cast on, bind off or seaming, but links to those videos are below.

Right handed

Left handed