Braille Birthday Scarf

 

This scarf was inspired by reader Ellen who commented on my secret message scarf post. After reading her comments it occurred to me that very few people who are blind will be able to read Morse code. Therefore, the obvious decision was to design a scarf with a happy birthday message in braille!

In real life I spend a lot of my time in a lab trying to develop new treatments to prevent blindness and making things accessible to blind people is a cause very close to my heart. It has been a fun experiment mixing work and knitting.

I have used DK weight yarn for this project and doubled it so that you get very strong stitch definition so the braille pattern can be easily made out through touch alone. The scarf would work with a chunky yarn but I have found that the braille doesn’t stand up as much as doubled DK.


I hope you enjoy it! 


Felicity


  

Pattern:

Yarn: Sirdar snuggly cashmere merino double knitting (use two strands simultaneously).

Needles: 7mm

Abbreviations:

10 row repeat – this is a 10 row repeating unit used multiple times throughout the scarf. The 10 row repeat consists of

Row 1: K35

Row 2: K5, P25, K5

This repeat is knitted 5 times to make up the 10 rows.

 

Using two strands of DK yarn cast on 35 stitches

Row 1-5: Knit all stitches

Row 6-15: 10 row repeat

Row 16: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 17: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 18: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 19: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 20: K35

Row 21: K5, P25, K5

Row 22: K35

Row 23: K5, P25, K5

Row 24: K16, P3, K16

Row 25: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 26: K16, P3, K16

Row 27: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 28-37: 10 row repeat

Row 38: K22, P3, K10

Row 39: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 40: K22, P3, K10

Row 41: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 42- 51: 10 row repeat

Row 52: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 53: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 54: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 55: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 56: K35

Row 57: K5, P25, K5

Row 58: K35

Row 59: K5, P25, K5

Row 60: K22, P3, K10

Row 61: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 62: K22, P3, K10

Row 63: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 64-73: 10 row repeat

Row 74: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 75: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 76: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 77: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 78: K35

Row 79: K5, P25, K5

Row 80: K35

Row 81: K5, P25, K5

Row 82: K22, P3, K10

Row 83: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 84: K22, P3, K10

Row 85: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 86-95: 10 row repeat

Row 96: K10, P3, K9, P3, K10

Row 97: K5, P5, K3, P9, K3, P5, K5

Row 98: K10, P3, K9, P3, K10

Row 99: K5, P5, K3, P9, K3, P5, K5

Row 100: K35

Row 101: K5, P25, K5

Row 102: K35

Row 103: K5, P25, K5

Row 104: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 105: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 106: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 107: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 108-117: 10 row repeat

Row 118: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 119: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 120: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 121: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 122-131: 10 row repeat

Row 123: K16, P3, K16

Row 124: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 125: K16, P3, K16

Row 126: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 127: K35

Row 128: K5, P25, K5

Row 129: K35

Row 130: K5, P25, K5

Row 131: K22, P3, K10

Row 132: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 132: K22, P3, K10

Row 133: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 134-143: 10 row repeat

Row 144: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 145: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 146: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 147: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 148: K35

Row 149: K5, P25, K5

Row 150: K35

Row 151: K5, P25, K5

Row 152: K16, P3, K16

Row 153: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 154: K16, P3, K16

Row 155: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 156-165: 10 row repeat

Row 166: K10, P3, K3, P3, K16

Row 167: K5, P11, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 168: K10, P3, K3, P3, K16

Row 169: K5, P11, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 170: K35

Row 171: K5, P25, K5

Row 172: K35

Row 173: K5, P25, K5

Row 174: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 175: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5,

Row 176: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 177: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5,

Row 178-187: 10 row repeat

Row 188: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 189: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5,

Row 190: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 191: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5,

Row 192: K35

Row 193: K5, P25, K5

Row 194: K35

Row 195: K5, P25, K5

Row 196: K16, P3, K16

Row 197: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 198: K16, P3, K16

Row 199: K5, P11, K3, P11, K5

Row 200-209: 10 row repeat

Row 210: K22, P3, K10

Row 211: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 212: K22, P3, K10

Row 213: K5, P5, K3, P17, K5

Row 214: K35

Row 215: K5, P25, K5

Row 216: K35

Row 217: K5, P25, K5

Row 218: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 219: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 220: K16, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 221: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P11, K5

Row 222-231: 10 row repeat

Row 232: K22, P3, K10

Row 233: K5, P3, K3, P17, K5

Row 234: K22, P3, K10

Row 235: K5, P3, K3, P17, K5

Row 236-245: 10 row repeat

Row 246: K10, P3, K9, P3, K10

Row 247: K5, P5, K3, P9, K3, P5, K5

Row 248: K10, P3, K9, P3, K10

Row 249: K5, P5, K3, P9, K3, P5, K5

Row 250: K35

Row 251: K5, P25, K5

Row 252: K35

Row 253: K5, P25, K5

Row 254: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 255: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 256: K10, P3, K3, P3, K3, P3, K10

Row 257: K5, P5, K3, P3, K3, P3, K3, P5, K5

Row 258-267: 10 row repeat

Row 268: K35

Row 269: K35

Row 270: k35

Row 271: K35

Row 272: K35

Cast off knitwise, weave in all ends and block.

Comments

  1. Kerry WApril 2, 2022 at 9:19 PM

    thank you for sharing this pattern. I have a friend who is blind and I would like to make this for her. Excuse my ignorance, but does the braille effect read as: "Happy Birthday"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. mapitoutAugust 4, 2022 at 9:32 AM

    I am currently making this scarf for a blind person and am trying to figure out how to knit Everyday instead of Birthday. I noticed there are two rows for 132. Can you help me?

    ReplyDelete

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