I made an infinity scarf with my hand spun alpaca sari silk yarn and my tessellated Möbius pattern! I meant for it to be able to slip over the shoulders, but as the pattern progressed, it tightened up considerably. If I make another I think I will add about 10-20% to the base row. After I wove in the ends, I wetted it down and laid it out to dry (blocking), which opened up and evened out the lovely hole pattern.
I learned that Dinosaur Valley State Park was looking for scarf section donations to bedeck Bronto the brontosaurus sculpture at the park. This was done in conjunction with a toy drive! So I went through my stash and found some yarn that I was using to experiment with making crocheted leaves. I didn’t really have a plan for the leaves or the yarn, so it seemed like a great thing to turn it into a scarf section! I crocheted a 10” wide strip using the double crochet stitch (American notation), then used some metallic gold and silver yarn to attach the leaf motifs.
The scarf made it in time to be stitched in with the other submissions. This was such a popular drive that they had enough sections to give their T Rex a scarf too! My section shows up about six wraps down from the top of Bronto’s neck.
A neighbor had her baby and I wanted to make a couple hats. I only had natural fibers in my stash, and wanted to make something warm but washable (no way would I give something hand-wash or drip-dry to a mom!) So I wandered through the yarn section at a local big box supply store (I know, but I actually needed acrylic). I found a short repeat, super soft, very bright skein of rainbow yarn. I use a double crochet pattern to make beanies, and these I made newborn size with a diameter of 14” and height of 6” (if they don’t fit, I’ll make her new ones, they don’t take long). I think the way the color pooled is interesting; one spiral striped, and one spotted!
In the pursuit of a möbius scarf that has a center line that stretches with the fabric, I have twisted my brain inside out, backwards, and forwards. I finally sat down and drew what I wanted.
I used different colored lines to trace how the crochet stitches should go.
With a little experiment to verify my thought process, I then used crochet symbols over the sketch to solidify the plan.
The foundation chain is not strictly a chain, but a connected series of loops. Most crochet patterns start with “chain x number”, but not this one. I only illustrated a single repeat for the subsequent rows, as that is all you need. Each row is offset from the previous row. I’m not going to give a specific pattern for a specific size or number of rows, but I will attempt to put into words what my drawing shows, for those that may need it.
quadruple double crochet (qdc): yarn over 5 times, insert hook into work, (yarn over, pull through two loops) six times
Treble crochet (tr): yarn over 2 times, insert hook into work, (yarn over, pull through two loops) three times
Foundation chain (row 1): chain 8, *quadruple double crochet (qdc) into the fifth stitch from the hook, chain 11, repeat from * to desired length, qdc, chain 3, join with a slip stitch to beginning chain.
Row 2 (and all subsequent rows): chain 6, mark third chain, slip stich in 5 chain loop, * chain 3, tr into middle of six chain length, chain 5, tr into same stitch, ch 3, repeat from *. Chain 3, tr, chain 5, join with slip stitch at mark, 3 slip stitches to get to next starting point.
To make this Möbius, when you come round to the mark, give the foundation chain a slight twist and crochet on the opposite side. Each round will go on both sides of the work (the magic of Möbius).
Now to make an actual scarf!
I’m looking for a light weight idea for a pattern for my spun alpaca yarn. I keep coming back to lace. Personally I do not consider myself a lace person; I don’t tend to buy clothes with lace trim, and I don’t care for frills. But Texas is hot most of the time, and thick warm clothing is only necessary for a short span. What am I going to do with all this yarn I’m spinning? Which is why I keep coming back to lace. It can be warm when made from insulating fibers, but not too warm.
When looking for lace ideas, I came across the idea of a möbius scarf. This is not a new idea, I have just apparently been hiding under a rock (not entirely metaphorical there). The idea is that the garment is created from the center out, and each row adds to the top and bottom since the edge of a möbius strip is continuous. Really, really cool concept. And it can be done in crochet, knitting, or nälbinding. Sweet. I did have some trouble wrapping my brain around it, so rather than diving in with my good yarn, I tried a pattern with some wool sock yarn from my stash.
I really enjoy the long edge and chance to get each row firmly under my muscle memory. I don’t care for this particular pattern because the center line is not as stretchy as the rest. So now I’m on the hunt for a pattern that stretches uniformly across the fabric (for comfort’s sake). I’ll keep you posted.
Critters and Craft 