Sunday, November 10, 2013

Fall Scarf, Tunisian Stitch and Crocodile Stitch

I am so pleased with how this scarf turned out and excited to see my mom's reaction when I give it to her!


My inspiration started with this gorgeous Fleurette Scarf Pattern.  I love the contrast of the simple Tunisian stitch complemented with the fluffy fleurettes on each end of the scarf.  I'm not one to buy crochet patterns so, of course, I decided to re-imagine my own version of it.

To achieve this look, I paired the Tunisian stitch with the crocodile stitch.  You can learn how to do each stitch here:
- Tunisian stitch
- Crocodile stitch

I used a standard afghan hook and one entire skein of Red Heart Super Saver (244 yards) in a beautiful blend of fall colors which was appropriately named "Fall."


Helpful tip:  While practicing the crocodile stitch, I figured out that the foundation chain should be made in increments of six.  Every six chains will give you a pair of double crochet stitches which are called "ladder rungs" in the tutorial.  Each pair of ladder rungs will become one full shell. 

For my scarf, I started with a chain of 18 to create 3 shells in the first row.  The crocodile stitch creates a layered pattern, so the scarf alternates between 3 shells and 2 shells for a total of six rows.


After the six rows of crocodile shells, I switched right to the Tunisian stitch without knotting or cutting the yarn.  Instead of creating another foundation row of double crochet stitches for crocodile shells, I began collecting loops onto the afghan hook.  Altogether, I collected 18 loops-- the same as my foundation chain.  If you're wondering where exactly to stitch,  I made two single crochet stitches into each space (where the double crochet stitches were made earlier in the pattern), plus I made two slip stitches between each of those (making sure to pass through yarn from both layers to help it lay flat). 

Next, I made the Tunisian stitch for the body of the scarf.  Sorry-- I lost track of how many rows I made.  Something I really love about the Tunisian stitch is that the front and back look completely different!

Front

Back

Connecting the second crocodile section proved to be more challenging than I expected.  After a lot of experimenting, here's what I did:

  • After the last Tunisian row, I created a crocodile-style foundation row which involved making five pairs of ladder rungs (two double crochet stitches in the same space, followed by two chains and three empty spaces... repeat until end of row).  At the end of the row, I knotted off and cut the yarn.

  • Next, I made a chain of 18 to begin the second crocodile section and continued like before for a total of 5 rows of crocodile shells.  For the sixth and final row of crocodile shells, I wrapped the stitches around the ladder rungs at the end of the scarf body that I made earlier. 

  • Finally, to make the stitch transition on this end of the scarf look identical to the first one, I finished off with two crochet stitches into each space (the same place as before), along with one slip stitch in between these pairs.  All of these stitches were made from the backside of the scarf which felt very awkward but looked better (I tried it from the front a few times, but it came out too thick and didn't look like the other end of the scarf).

Finished at last!


I hope these notes made sense.  If you're trying to replicate this pattern, please feel free to ask questions.  The scarf came out to be 58 inches long and about 6 inches wide.

Happy stitching!

Jilliane


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