Knit Your Own Buff

Last Updated on January 18, 2019 by lydiaf1963

As you may recall, I spent most of the month of September walking the Camino de Santiago. I took a little knitting project with me. It’s my own version of the Buff, a versatile piece of clothing that can be used to cover your head and neck in multiple ways. The weather was so pleasant while I was walking I didn’t get a chance to wear my buff until I returned home. No worries, I’ll have plenty opportunities in the next couple months.

The commercial versions of the buff are a simple fabric tube. You’ll find instructions on the internet for making one out of knitted fabric. The advantage of the knitted one is that it is worked in the round…no seaming involved.

Any stitch pattern that looks good on both sides can be used to knit your own buff. This is the perfect project for using that odd, leftover skein of yarn. You’ll want to consider the thickness of the end result as the buff is often doubled. I used about 100 grams of lace weight merino yarn leftover from a shawl I made my sister. It’s not too bulky when it’s doubled to use as an ear warmer or hat.

To knit your own buff you’ll want to do a little math and a little swatching so you’ll know the number of stitches to cast on. (See this post for more information) Knit a ribbed border for an inch or so then switch to your pattern stitch and knit until your tube is somewhere between 18 to 20 inches long, then repeat the border and cast off.

Here’s how I made my Camino Buff:

Materials

• 100 grams lace or sock weight yarn
• 4.5mm circular needles or DPNs long enough to hold your project
• stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round

Instructions

1) Cast on 120 stitches using a loose cast on (I use a knitted cast on), place a marker and join to work in the round.

2) Knit in K2,P2 ribbing for an inch or more.

3) When you reach the end of the ribbing, purl the last two stitches together to decrease one stitch.

4) Begin the pattern stitch:

• Round 1: *K2, P2* around until the last stitch, P1
• Round 2: P1, *K2,P2* around until the last two stitches, K2
• Round 3: P2, *K2,P2* around until the last stitch, K1
• Round 4: K1, *P2,K2* around until the last two stitches, P2

This is a travelling rib, which means you’re just repeating K2,P2, but on each round you’re “moving” the rib over one stitch, creating a spiral pattern like this:

5) Repeat the four rounds of the pattern until the buff is between 18 – 20 inches long.

6) Increase a stitch at the end of a round, then knit in K2,P2 ribbing to match the other end.

7) Cast off using a stretchy cast off.