Dr. Seuss Knitted Scarf for Special Olympics

The deadline for sending in the knitted or crocheted scarves for the Special Olympics is fast approaching, so I've been working on this fourth scarf whenever I go somewhere knowing I'll have to sit and wait. I may have to put the wedding gift afghan (which I'll show you soon) on hold and just get this scarf done though.

Anyway, I came across a stitch in a book of needlework (which I'll also show you soon) that I thought would make a fun scarf and I gave it a try with the Red Heart Delft Blue and White yarns of the Special Olympics Scarf project. It is coming out very much like something you would find in a Dr. Seuss book! This is not the look I anticipated, but I really like it and I think someone will enjoy wearing it just because it is so different.


I think I'm about not quite half way finished with it at this point. I don't like scarves to be too short.


Don't you just love the blue and white? Those little rings are a hoot, don't you think?


Here's a close up of one of the blue sections. You can see that the parts between the rings are knit in stockinette stitch. The rings are not actually rings since this is knit flat, but the edges curl up on their own which gives the illusion of rings.


Here's where the white joins the blue. The ring sections are actually knit in reverse stockinette. I'll share the pattern below if you would like to try it.


I've gradually lengthened the stockinette sections as I work towards the middle of the scarf. Once I decide I'm half way finished, I'll start shortening them to match the first half and also alternate the colors to match on each side as well.

So here's the pattern:

Cast on 21 stitches.

Work in stockinette stitch for about an inch ending with a knit row.

*Beginning the reverse stockinette ring section, knit into the front and back of each stitch on next row. Now you have 42 stitches.

Continue in reverse stockinette stitch for about an inch ending with a knit row.

Returning to stockinette stitch, knit 2 together all the way across next row. Now you have 21 stitches again.

Continue in stockinette stitch for as many rows as you like, ending with a knit row. *

Repeating from * to *, alternate between stockinette stitch with 21 stitches and reverse stockinette stitch with 42 stitches until scarf is desired length. Bind off and weave in loose ends.

NOTE:
Stockinette Stitch is made by working the right side row in knit and the wrong side row in purl.

Reverse Stockinette Stitch is made by working the right side row in purl and the wrong side row in knit.

Here are links to videos you may find useful for this pattern:

• Cast on
• Knit
• Purl
• Increase by knitting into front and back of each stitch
  
• Knit 2 together decrease
  
• Bind off

These links and others with useful videos and information can be found on my sidebar under Hooked On Needles Links.

Happy Stitching!

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Election Day Project -- Special Olympics Scarf #3 Complete

We all know that this past Tuesday in the United States was election day, but you might not know this little detail of my professional life. Whenever we have an election here in my precinct, whether it is The Big One like we just had or a local election, I get to spend the day at my local polling place as an Election Inspector. It is actually a fun day with lots of socializing since the precinct is really just a big neighborhood, so I get to visit with lots of people I know and spend the day doing something other than the usual. Not what I'd like to do every day of my life, that is for sure! But once or twice a year, it's different and fun.

It's a long day, from 6:30 in the morning until about 8:30 at night, and it is not always busy so I make sure I bring my own form of entertainment. Take a look at the project I worked on this time around...


This is another scarf for the Special Olympics which I have mentioned here a few times in recent months. I used a fun stitch that makes a wave pattern, the same stitch I demonstrated for Merryknitter from Knittinghelp.com.

I started out with the Red Heart Delft Blue and worked a chain of 230 stitches which was exactly double what Merryknitter's pattern called for. Since it was for a scarf, it had to be much wider than the baby blanket that the pattern was written for. Then I worked the first pattern row in blue, the second in white, and continued alternating until I had worked seven pattern rows.

I didn't even weave in the ends. Instead, I pulled them into the same color fringe at each end of the scarf. Now that's what I call an easy project!

This pattern is very easy to work once you get the first pattern row complete, but as with most crochet projects, the first row is the hardest. I have a hard time holding on to the chain while trying to follow a pattern and count stitches and work multiple stitches into one chain. But once that is done and I have verified that I did it correctly, then the subsequent rows are easy and fun to work.

Is anyone else out there making scarves for the Special Olympics? There is still time! The deadline for sending them in isn't until January 15th and what a nice thing to do for a special someone you don't even know!

Happy Stitching!

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Crocheted Scarves for Special Olympics

I have finished my second crocheted scarf for the Special Olympics and I love the Red Heart Delft Blue and White combination. The scarves are quick to work up too so I got some pretty instant gratification. I'm not usually a fringe kind of person, especially on something like an afghan which will be up around my face, but I thought these scarves would look nice with fringe, so I put some on and discovered something in the process.

Here's how I did it:



After finishing this scarf, crocheted entirely in the half double crochet stitch, I worked a single crochet stitch border around the whole thing, working one stitch into the end of each row along the sides. Across the two short ends, I worked one single crochet then a chain stitch, then worked another single crochet into the second stitch from the hook and then another chain all the way across. This left nice little holes into which I knotted my fringe.

I got my supplies together which included a very large (size N I think) plastic crochet hook, my latch hook which I had never used for fringe before, my scissors, my white yarn and something to wind it around to make the fringe. That happened to be the plastic packaging in which some linen fabric came. It was sturdy and just the right size for the fringe I wanted on this scarf.


I wanted white fringe on this scarf so I wrapped my white yarn around the plastic 4 times, with the beginning and end of the yarn at the bottom. I held all strands together at the bottom then snipped right through all the loops, at the bottom only.


Then I took the 4 lengths of yarn off the plastic from the top which was the middle of the lengths. I folded the yarn at the middle and hooked all 4 pieces with my big crochet hook that I had put from back to front through one of the holes on the end of the scarf.


I pulled the loop through the hole just enough to open it up and draw the ends of the yarn through the loop.


Then I tightened up the loop against the edge of the scarf and one fringe bundle was complete. Pretty easy. And pretty looking too!


I decided to try my latch hook instead of the big crochet hook to see how that would work and I was quite surprised. I grabbed the middle of the yarn with the hook and pulled it through the hole.


Then grabbed the tails of the yarn and pulled them through the loop with no problem at all. In fact it was much easier using the latch hook than the crochet hook mainly because the latch hook has that little latch that closes over the yarn so it doesn't slip out of the hook and goes through the loop very easily. I had heard of others using a latch hook for fringe, but I always thought the many lengths of yarn would be too thick for a latch hook. I was glad I tried it!


So this is a close-up of the scarf I put the long white fringe on. It is worked widthwise in half double crochet stitch throughout and has three 2-row stripes of white towards each end of the scarf. The white and blue yarns were carried up the side of the piece between stripes as shown in this tutorial, so I only had a few ends to work in after I was finished. I also worked a single crochet border around the scarf using the blue yarn. This was mainly to crochet over the yarn ends and the yarn that was carried up the side for the color changes. It just makes the finished product look neater.


This scarf was crocheted lengthwise using the woven stitch, one of my all-time favorites! The colors were carried up the side in this scarf as well so there were only two ends of each color to weave in afterwards. The fringe covered up where the yarn was carried up the side since it was on the short end. The short fringe on this one was worked in blue and white to match the stripes.


These scarves were fun and quick projects to make and I hope the special athletes who receive them will wear them with pride throughout the games and beyond.


Happy Stitching!

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