Here's the story on this scarf. I saw this pattern at Knit Picks and it is a beautiful scarf! It was only 1.99 download so I purchased it, thinking it would look great with the Turqua on top and the blue underneath. After I purchased it, I thought about it and decided that would be too warm a scarf for Louisiana, so I would make just the top section.
As I began I found the pattern to be lovely, but the abbreviations were not known to me and I needed to look up the instructions each time I ran across them. The pattern was a pdf file so I couldn't make changes to it.
After working the Rows 1-9, which was the repeat, I determined I would go crazy if I continued, but I wanted to make this scarf. LOL
So I bit the bullet and typed in the pattern, using my own crazy shorthand. The first row is simple
1) dc (23)
I won't put the whole pattern here, of course. You can download it yourself at the above link. But just to show you what I did, here is my Row 3:
3) ch3, cluster over 2, dc in ea ch, 3dc shell, dc in ea ch,
cluster over 3, dc in ea ch, 3dc shell, dc in ea ch
cluster over 2, dc in last sc
Each instruction is necessary because each row is different. In my abbreviated instructions I changed DTC to DTR which was more intuitive to me as Double Triple Crochet. DDC and TDC became cluster over 2 or cluster over 3. For me, that was clearer. DDI and TDI became 3dc shell or 2 dc shell.
To show you what I mean, see Row 6.
6) ch5, DTR, ch4, sk3, 3sc, ch4, sk3, DTR,You'll notice that I placed my instructions such that the repeated portion is underneath itself. In Row 6, you would think that the DTR should be under the DTR, but in making it I found that I needed to know immediately what came after the chain and skip so I wanted that DTR right there in eyesight. It sounds complex, but it worked for me.
ch4, sk3, 3sc, ch4, sk3, DTR in last 2
Once I did this, I sped through the rest of the scarf quickly. Yay!
If I did it again, and I might, I would make one other change. I found the double trebles poked out. They were too tall for me. If you crochet tightly they would probably be perfect for you. I would use triple crochets when working this a second time, instead of double triples. If you tend to ch-2 as your turning chain for double crochet, you probably should use the triple instead of dtr.
I did 6 pattern repeats, but I did not work Row 9 or I guess you could say Row 1 at the end of the repeats. The reason was because the repeat at that point was for me 9" and I thought that would make it the perfect size as it had to be between 54 and 60". Another 9" would have been too long. If I were making this for another effort, I would do the entire 1-9 so there would be an ending dc row in one color and a beginning dc row in the second color. Of course if you are working it in one color, that's not a consideration.
Anyway, when I measured the completed scarf with a sc edging (as show at the beginning of the post) it was 53". Oh no! An inch short. What to do. I considered sending it as it was, but I appreciate when others follow my rules so I thought I should fix this somehow. What to do? I decided to add a fringe, but what fringe would look good with this pretty pattern? Something different. I remembered the fringe I used on one of the other scarves, the ch 20, sl st in next sc. That's the one I decided to use. What do you think? I hope the recipient will think it looks nice.
The finished size, including the fringe, is 6" x 57". Yes, it is a little cheatsy to include fringe in the size, but because the fringe is fairly thick, it is almost an extension of the scarf, don't you think? *smile*
As an added bit of trivia the designer's brief bio is here. It lists her Ravelry and at Ravelry she lists her Flickr which has more photos of her Pergola. Beautiful, beautiful! I love the way this scarf looks and one day I hope to make one with the cream and multi behind it! Her Twitter is also listed and she comments on how well the Pergola is selling. I'm glad because it truly is a beautiful pattern and it is probably just my brain which won't get the abbreviations settled into it.
Moving on, yesterday I had brunch and crochet time at the library with a friend - much fun! I began a simple V stitch scarf so I could chat and not have to pay too much attention to what I was doing. I wanted to make a thin strip and add a different sort of border since I'd already sent in a V stitch scarf. Here is what I came up with. I finished this in one day, though not at the library.
The end of each row is a single dc. After I finished the middle section, I worked sc all around, then worked a round of (V stitch, skip 2) followed by another round of sc. The finished width was 6" and the length 55". Perfect!This makes 18 Scarves for Special Olympics Louisiana. The goal I have in my head is 20 so I hope to make at least 2 more. The deadline for mailing is approaching at end of February. Then I will move on to other things. I do love the Turqua color and I have a good bit of it left so I can use it for hats or squares and such.
On an added note, check out the Crochet Me (Interweave) blog entries. The last one includes a free leaflet (download) with a number of interesting hat patterns. I got it. Go get yours. You do have to register with me, but it's free.
http://www.crochetme.com/ (click on blog if you don't see the blog entries right there)
That's about it for now.
Happy crocheting!
Lovely. I think that the fringe was a great addition.
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