Handmade Holidays- Solitude Scarf

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There are 12 weekends left until Christmas so I thought it would be a fun to do a little series of projects that could be made as handmade holiday gifts. Several years ago I did 12 Days of Crocheted Stocking Stuffers and it was 12 days straight leading up to Christmas of small crochet projects that could be made as stocking stuffers or small gifts. It was a fun series and I have wanted to do something similar for a while, but change it up a little bit. So this year I have decided to make a new series- 12 Weeks of Handmade Holidays. 

Instead of 12 days in a row I am spreading it out over 12 weeks, that gives me more time, and it gives you more time to make the gifts too. Also, with the stocking stuffers all 12 were crocheted and this time I wanted to mix it up a little. I love to crochet, but I also love to sew, embroider, paint, and make other crafts. So each weekend I will share not 1, but 2, handmade gift ideas. 1 will be a crochet project, and the other will be a different craft, maybe a sewing project, maybe a Cricut or a paper craft, or any kind of craft other than crochet. That means by the time Christmas comes you will have 24 different ideas for handmade gifts. Also, they will not necessarily all be stocking stuffer sized, some will be but that is not a requirement for the gift ideas this time around. Some may be Christmas themed, but most will just be gift ideas, not specific to any season so they can be used any time throughout the year. 

So now on to the first project in this series. For this project I made a scarf. I feel like a scarf is a great project for a gift list like this because it can be made for anyone on the gift list. This pattern is one that could be easily adapted to work with any yarn, and made in any length and width. It is a simple stitch pattern that can be made in any stitch count so it is easy to adapt to the size you need. 

The yarn I used for my scarf is Caron Sugar Cake in the color Midnight Mauve. It is a newer type of Caron Cake and I saw it at Micheals a few weeks ago and thought the color was pretty and I had a project in mind that I thought it would work well for so I picked one up. It was terrible, I absolutely hated it in the pattern I had planned. I knew looking at the yarn caked that it would be busy, but I don't know that I pictured how it would work up, and I was surprised by the amount of solid cream colored sections in the yarn because those did not show up in the cake. It just didn't work for what I had in mind. But I was determined to find something that it would work for so I played with a few different stitch patterns and ideas before landing on this final design. I think using a simple stitch pattern with the busy yarn worked well, but I also think it would look really pretty in a solid color yarn and the stitches would really stand out. 

The stitch pattern that I used was alternating rows of half double crochet stitches with single crochet stitches. But the single crochet rows are not worked into the top of the half double crochet stitches like normal, instead they are worked into what I have always called the third loop. It is an extra bar on the back of the half double crochet stitch. When you are working in rounds and not turning your work this loop stays on the back of your work. I have used this in many of my hat patterns and I have a video showing it from the perspective of working in the round. However in this project you are going to be working in rows. This means turning your work and when you do that, that third loop ends up on the front as you work into it. It is the same loop either way, created by the yarn over when you work your half double. This is a video that explains it well if that sounds confusing, but I promise it is very easy once you know where to work your stitch. 

Working into the third loop of your half double crochet stitches pushes the top of your stitch to the front of your scarf creating raised lines that run the length of the scarf. I think this creates a really pretty texture detail that makes the scarf just a little more unique than a scarf worked with normal half double or single crochet stitches. You are using very basic stitches, but by simply changing up the stitch placement you get a completely different look. 

How to Crochet the Solitude Scarf

Finished size: about 80" long and 5.5" wide

You will need:

• 1 Caron Sugar Cake (Sample made in Midnight Mauve, see note below for how to adjust to different yarn weights and types)
• L (8 mm) crochet hook
• yarn needle

Instructions:

Note: The yarn I used for this pattern was a bulky weight yarn, but you could easily adjust the pattern to work with any yarn you want. It can be done with any stitch count and is worked lengthwise, so you can adjust by starting with the length that you want, then working the pattern rows until you also have the width that you want. Just make sure that you adjust your hook size to a size appropriate for your yarn, and be aware that you may need more or less yarn than the pattern calls for as it is written using a bulky weight Caron Cake. I used most of a full Caron Sugar Cake with very little left over, to make a wider or longer scarf with the same yarn you will need an additional cake. 

Special Stitch

Single Crochet in the 3rd Loop: Work your sc into the third loop of the hdc you are working into, this is the bar or loop just below the front loop on the top of your hdc stitch. 

Solitude Scarf

Row 1: work a foundation sc of 206 stitches (or chain 207, turn, sc in second ch from hook and each ch to the end to get a base of 206 sc stitches)
Row 2: ch 2, turn (turning ch does not count as a st), hdc in first st and each st to the end (206 hdc)

Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in 3rd loop of first st and each st to the end (206 sc)

Repeat rows 2 and 3- 5 more times for a total of 13 rows, or until your scarf is about the width you want and you end with a sc row

Row 14: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each st across (206 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends