Will little ghoulies and gremlins have moonlight for their trick-or-treat trek, or will they be dodging raindrops on Halloween?
Either way, it’s a pretty safe bet that the autumn chill will be on. With that in mind, this week’s Craft Corner features instructions for several quick-to-make scarves that will keep young necks (and adult necks) warm – and protected from any vampires who might be lurking about.
Each scarf is super simple and can be completed in a few hours. Depending on how long you make your scarf, it will require one skein or less (per color) of yarn. Our samples are adult-size, so you’ll need to reduce the size to fit youngsters.
Easy breeze buster
We used one skein each of sparkly black yarn and purple eyelash yarn, knitted together, to make this simple garter-stitch scarf. The size and length are completely up to you, but we used size 13 knitting needles and began by casting on 15 stitches and then worked the piece in garter stitch to the length we desired (about 40 inches). You can add fringe to the ends if you wish, but we left our sample fringeless.
Fuzzy fish tail
We knitted one half of this scarf in black sparkly yarn and one half in orange eyelash yarn. We made the ends wider, giving it a kind of fish tail at each end. Again, the piece was done in simple garter stitch using size 13 needles, and we began by casting on 30 stitches, knitting one row across and then decreasing one stitch at the beginning of the row each time we turned the piece until we were down to 17 stitches. We then knitted in 17-stitch rows to the halfway point of the scarf (this will vary depending on the length you desire, but our finished piece was about 40 inches) with the same color. We changed colors and then knitted a length equal to that of the first color in 17-stitch rows. We then began increasing one stitch at the beginning of the row each time we turned the piece until we were back up to 30 stitches. Then we bound off. Add fringe if you desire, but we left ours plain.
Boo-tiful braids
After completing our first sample using this technique, we liked it so much that we made several more in different colors.
For this design, we used the Knifty Knitter spool loom mentioned in a previous Craft Corner column. The tool has two sides: one for knitting a five-stitch tube and one for an eight-stitch tube. We found ours in the yarn section at Craft Mart in Marysville, but your favorite craft shop may be able to order the loom for you if it’s not already in stock. The looms also are available online.
To make our braided scarf in orange, purple and black eyelash yarn, we knitted one eight-stitch tube in each color and then braided them loosely and secured the ends by tying the yarn tails at the beginning and end of each tube together. We cut additional lengths of yarn to make a tassel fringe and secured it in place with the yarn tails.
For our four-color braid, we used three bold colors of mohair-look yarn to make eight-stitch tubes and added a black five-stitch tube to add a fourth element. To finish, we tied the tubes off, leaving the ends as fringe. We made a cord using a strand of each color to use as our tie.
And to make our autumn-colored braid, we used four skeins of yarn: black-with-orange nubbies, black sparkle (smooth), brown eyelash and orange eyelash. We made three eight-stitch tubes. We made one tube using just the black with nubbies, one tube blending the black sparkle and orange eyelash, and one tube combining the brown and orange eyelash. To finish, we made eight short, five-stitch tubes and added them to the ends of the scarf, using the yarn tails of each mini tube to secure them in place and letting the ends dangle.
Note: The braided scarves are heavier and warmer than most knitted or crocheted scarves, which something to keep in mind when selecting your yarns, as each person is different when it comes to keeping comfortably warm or getting too hot.
Yarn
Knitting needles
Knifty Knitter (tube size)
Hat winners
We held the drawings for our cobweb veil and orange ruffle Halloween hats Monday, and the winners were Denise Butler (cobweb veil) and Georgia Swift (orange ruffle).
Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing, and a very happy Halloween to all our readers.
Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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