Thursday, November 13, 2008

Le Petite Scarf


I saw this scarf online at Anthropologie and really liked it. (please don't sue me for using your pictures, Anthropologie. If anyone doesn't want to make this, they should definitely order it immediately.) I don't like long scarves because the tails always seem useless to me. But this little scarf is so cute, and I thought, I think I can make that....

Well, It's not exactly the same by any means, but I think it captures the spirit of the design. Also, I don't enjoy knitting so this little guy is all crochet. Here's some help if you want to make it yourself. :)

I made it in six pieces and it took me two evenings. (I am a slow newbie crocheter.) I used one ball of Bernat alpaca natural blend in persimmon and a size J hook. The scarf is worked sideways.

The 3 small flat pieces which will overlap when the scarf is on are all the same, so make three of these. Chain 14, turn. Single crochet 13, chain one, turn. Repeat until you have 10 rows. This will be approximately 3 inches deep. Finish off and leave a long piece of yarn for weaving the pieces together later.

The long center piece is done with half double crochet in a ribbing pattern. You'll only make one of these. Chain 50, turn. HDC into stitch 2 stitches from the hook and continue down the chain in HDC. Chain 2, turn. Now the ribbing comes in! HDC into the next row, but ONLY into the back loop. Continue as previously described, always placing new stitch into back loop throughout all rows. Complete 13 rows not including initial chain. This should measure approximately 5 inches deep.

The end pieces gave me the most grief and if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them. They didn't turn out as pointy as I wanted them, but I'm OK with that. You'll need two of these pieces.
Chain 14, turn. HDC into stitch 2 chains from the hook. Continue until the end, chain 2, turn. HDC into ONLY the back loops for the ribbing effect. At the end of the row, HDC twice into last stitch. This is the start of the "pointy" end. Chain 2, turn. HDC until the end, ch 2, turn. HDC until the last stitch, then HDC twice into last stitch, ch 2, turn. Keep this up until you have completed 7 rows. Remember to ONLY HDC into the back loop. Then you need to start reducing!
When you get to the 'pointy' end, do a HDC into the last two stitches, creating one stitch. Keep doing that on the pointy end for 6 more rows. Finish end and leave a long tail of yarn. You will need to make two of these and they should measure about 5 inches deep.


Assembly: You have six pieces. Lay two of the single crochet pieces on top of each other to form the little tunnel that the scarf will go through. Lay out all the pieces so you have (from left to right) one pointy piece, two single crochet pieces on top of each other, one long piece, one single crochet piece, and the last pointy piece.


Use the long tails you left on to sew the pieces together. You have to ease the wider pieces to fit against the smaller pieces by scrunching the big pieces a little as you sew them on. This gives more body to the scarf.

You're all done! The finished product will not be as lofty as a knitted piece, but I was happy with it. Let me know if you like it or have any suggestions. I am new at crochet, so often I have only a vague idea of what I'm doing. Here's my finished piece! It looks cute centered over one shoulder too.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I fell hard for this scarf, too, and I only crochet. Here's how I did it: I worked the whole thing lengthwise. Chained 88 st fairly loosely in double-stranded Simply Soft with a J hook, and started right away with my increases, 2 back loop only hdc for the first 2 stitches (third and fourth ch from the end), 6 more blo hdc, then I slip-stitched 10 stitches, blo hdc 50, sl st 10, 6 blo hdc, inc in last 2 ch, ch 2, turn, inc in first and second stitch, and repeat. The first six rows are increases in the two st at each end, the next six are decreases, ditto, until you're back to the 10 stitches on the 'leaf' or 'bow' portion, just like where you started. I did have to add the little sleeve on the back of a sl st section, but I crocheted it on and it looks pretty good -- and besides, you don't see the back anyway. You can also just work a slip stitch piece (ch 11, 10 sl sts, ch 1, turn, repeat until it's wide enough) and sew it on. It's prettiest if you work the first row in the BACK of the chains, through the little hump, because the beginning and finishing row look the same if you do. Takes me just under two hours to make. The dimensions are the same as the ones Anthropologie gives. I can make two scarves with bits left over from two skeins of Simply Soft, so it makes a quick, pretty, inexpensive gift that's machine washable and hypoallergenic, for those wool-sensitive souls (like me).

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the work you have done into this post, it helps clear up some questions I had.