A little tabbed scarf, part II

Back in the dark ages, I posted a pattern for a vintage scarf that I converted from knit to crochet.  It was very simple, primitive even, and I always meant to rework it into something with a little more sass. Twelve years later -- a found ball of hand-painted yarn said to me "I'd like to be a little tabbed scarf but this time with a little personality. Oh, and maybe lose the tab."

This isn't a pattern for the new version, since I used a motif from a Japanese pattern book that I cannot reproduce here.  It is simply a recipe for what I did.  There are tons of patterns for crochet motifs in books or on the web, so substituting your own favorite should be no problem.  I especially like to work from Japanese patterns because they are "written" in symbols -- and for this crocheter that's so much easier  to understand what stitch is used, and where it's placed.

It's worked in three pieces -- two motifs and the connecting neck band.  Could you do it in less? Maybe, but I didn't try. The motifs are only connected to the neck band with a few stitches -- easily done -- especially if you leave a decent length of yarn at the start/finish. So, create two motifs of your choice -- something with points is ideal, because it will create its own slit for wearing when connected to the neck band.  The neck band I made measures 19 3/4" (abt 50 cm) in length and is 3 1/2" (abt 9 cm) high.  For reference, my neck (measured loosely) is 14 1/2" (abt 37 cm), so roughly 5 extra inches (or 12.7 cm) in length above your neck measurement for the length of the band.  I worked it in a pattern of 1 row hdc/1 row dc (US crochet terms).With the yarn/hook I was using that worked out to be a band width of 15 stitches -- your mileage may vary. My kitchen scale tells me I used about 70 gr (abt 2 1/2 oz.) of yarn for this.  I kept the edges nice and straight by using "stacked" sc stitches to begin each row instead of chain stitches. Next post will give a little demo.

Block all your pieces, notice that your motifs are two different sizes, slap your head then say "well, that will add an extra dimension of style" and then sew them to the ends of the band with a few overcast stitches at each end of the neck band -- leaving an opening to pull (either) scarf end through to wear. Easy!

A little pop of color to brighten up a winter sweater, or even to fill in the neckline of your coat.

I used a pattern from this book which is pretty much only written in Japanese, except for "Crochet Patterns Book 300 Motifs Edgings" written on the cover. My star motif was #124.