Soft as a sigh, feather light, and toasty warm, our free Whisper Bandana pattern in our new 100% cashmere Nigh Fine will take your breath away!
The first step is choosing your design: a solid color, a wide stripe, or a narrow stripe. All three versions are equally easy to knit and beautiful to wear, so which one is whispering your name?
To knit the simple square shape, you start at one corner with just a few stitches and, knitting in garter stitch, you increase at both edges until you’re halfway. Then you reverse it and decrease back to a point! Fold it in half to wear with a knot to the front, back, or side, the stripe up the middle or along the fold, over or under your other layers.
Our exceptional 100% Mongolian cashmere Nigh Fine creates an exquisite fabric, full of life and beauty, with a relaxed drape and yet enough body to hold its shape. A delicate halo, characteristic of fine cashmere, floats above the surface of the fabric, irresistibly touchable and absolutely gorgeous.
Marvelously soft, airy, and warm, Nigh Fine is a fingering-weight 2-ply yarn that you can knit at a wide range of gauges thanks to its incredible bloom.
And here’s an important detail… Nigh Fine is a whopping 448 yards per skein! One skein goes far, and you’ll only need 2 or 3 skeins for your Whisper Bandana, depending on which version you make.
Whether as a special treat for yourself or as a gift for someone you treasure, cast on for a lovely Whisper Bandana and experience the gossamer softness of Nigh Fine!
If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!
Designed by Purl Soho designers,Laura Ferguson and Gaby Bush.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoWhisperBandana, and #PurlSohoNighFine. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
To make 1 bandana, you’ll need…
- Purl Soho’s Nigh Fine, 100% cashmere yarn. Each skein of this fingering-weight yarn is 448 yards/ 55 grams.
- Solid Version
- Main Color: 2 skeins; approximately 845 yards required. We used the color Pale Orchid.
- Thin Stripe Version
- Main Color: 2 skeins; approximately 790 yards required. We used the color Meadow Mushroom.
- Contrast Color: 1 skein; approximately 55 yards required. We used the color Rosy Red.
- Thick Stripe Version
- Main Color: 1 skein; approximately 440 yards required. We used the color Turquoise Patina.
- Contrast Color: 1 skein; approximately 405 yards required. We used the color Heirloom White.
- Solid Version
You will also need…
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 24-inch circular knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
GAUGE
28 stitches and 56 rows (28 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch
NOTE: Cashmere tends to relax with blocking, so be sure to wet block your swatch.
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 23 x 23 inches square, and 32½ inches from corner to corner
PATTERN
NOTE: You will work this piece from corner to corner, on the bias.
BEGIN + INCREASE
With Main Color (MC), cast on 5 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Do not turn work. Instead, slide stitches to right end of needles, and bringing yarn behind work so you can work the first stitch of the next row…
Row 1 (Increase Row, right side): K2, make 1 left (m1L), knit to last 2 stitches, make 1 right (m1R), k2. [2 stitches increased]
Row 2 (wrong side): P2, knit to last 2 stitches, p2.
SOLID VERSION
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you have 229 stitches, ending with Row 2. [Piece measures approximately 16 inches from cast-on point to center of live stitches]
Continue to Work Even section, below.
THIN STRIPE VERSION
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you have 223 stitches, ending with Row 2. [Piece measures approximately 15½ inches from cast-on point to center of live stitches]
Cut MC, and join Contrast Color (CC).
Continuing with CC, repeat Rows 1 and 2 three times. [229 stitches]
Continue to Work Even section, below.
THICK STRIPE VERSION
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you have 165 stitches, ending with Row 2. [Piece measures approximately 11½ inches from cast-on point to center of live stitches]
Cut MC, and join Contrast Color (CC).
Continuing with CC, repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you have 229 stitches, ending with Row 2. [Piece measures approximately 16 inches from cast-on point to center of live stitches]
Continue to Work Even section.
WORK EVEN
Continuing with same yarn…
Row 1 (right side): Knit to end of row.
Row 2 (wrong side): P2, knit to last 2 stitches, p2.
DECREASE
Still with same yarn…
Row 1 (Decrease Row, right side): K1, slip slip knit (ssk), knit to last 3 stitches, knit 2 together (k2tog), k1. [2 stitches decreased]
Row 2 (wrong side): P2, knit to last 2 stitches, p2.
[227 stitches remain at this point, for all styles]
SOLID VERSION
Go on to Continue section, below.
THIN STRIPE VERSION
Cut CC, and join MC.
Go on to Continue section, below.
THICK STRIPE VERSION
Continuing with CC, repeat Rows 1 and 2 until 169 stitches remain, ending with Row 2. [Stripe measures approximately 9 inches from bottom to top]
Cut CC, and join MC.
Go on to Continue section.
CONTINUE: ALL VERSIONS
With MC, repeat Rows 1 and 2 until 7 stitches remain, ending with Row 1. [Piece measures approximately 32½ inches from cast-on point to center of live stitches]
Bind Off Row (wrong side): P1, purl 2 together, pass first stitch on right needle over second, k1, pass first stitch on right needle over second, slip slip purl, pass first stitch over second, p1, pass first stitch over second. [1 stitch remains]
Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitch.
Weave in all ends and gently wet block to finished dimensions.
Learn About Nigh Fine + All Our Beautiful Yarns
Our exquisite Nigh Fine makes this project an heirloom to treasure! Soft as can be, unbelievably light, and toasty warm, this 100% Mongolian cashmere is spun into a 2-ply fingering-weight yarn that feels amazing to knit. It blooms into a feather-light fabric that seems to float on air, with a soft halo that is the hallmark of fine cashmere. With 448 yards per 55-gram skein, you won’t need many to create something truly extraordinary!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) Nigh Fine knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-weight yarns
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop cashmere yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of ourfree knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!