When we come across a craft tool or material that we consider a great find, we enjoy passing the word along to our readers, and the item featured in this week’s column fits that category perfectly.
As regular Craft Corner readers know, yarn is one of our favorite materials to work with, and the selection of yarns available in today’s market is so wide that nearly any look desired is just a knit and a purl or a double crochet away.
But for those who have never mastered knitting or crocheting, don’t despair; you can make a way-cool scarf in about three hours using a product called Wright’s Simple Scarf Mesh.
We found the mesh while browsing the Internet for craft gadgets and notions. It’s a strip of lightweight, open weave mesh (approximately 80 inches long and 8 inches wide) that can be used as the foundation for a woven scarf, and it costs less than $5.
All you have to do is cut strands of yarn, run them through the mesh and knot the ends to secure the yarn and form a fringe. The process is so simple that when we told our craft-challenged friend, Carol (whom we once had to direct through a local craft store using a cell phone), about it, she felt quite certain that even she could make a passable scarf.
But while the procedure is pretty much a breeze, in this column we will offer a few tips and suggestions gleaned from having made several scarves.
The mesh comes in a variety of colors, including beige, black, blue and red, and two long plastic needles are included in each package.
To select your yarn, you can follow the package instructions which tell you exactly what kind of yarn and how much to buy or you can wing it.
We decided to cast caution to the wind and go with yarn we had on hand to make our first attempt: the orange scarf shown in our photo illustration.
Using a variety of colors and textures and the khaki mesh as a base, we came up with an interesting combination that made us very happy when completed.
For our second sample, we went shopping and selected yarns in shades of blue with smooth and fuzzy textures, using the blue mesh as our foundation.
And for the third sample scarf, using black mesh as the base, we went with a blend of reds and blacks in sparkles, feathers and eyelashes.
One of the best features of these scarves is the soft and slinky feel. Because the yarns aren’t stiffened by knitting or crocheting, they have an almost fluid feeling and are exceptionally soft, regardless of the texture of the individual yarns used.
The procedure for weaving is the basic over-and-under method, as illustrated in our photo, but there are a few things that may make your scarf-making experience even simpler.
The instructions recommend that you measure and cut all of the yarn strips first, and we agree.
In making our samples, we didn’t follow this advice and left all the skeins of yarn in a plastic bag, pulling out enough of each yarn for each row as we worked. This method saved us the cutting time and was OK in the long run, but we did end up with a few tangles that needed undoing along the way.
Another thing to note is that some yarns – the slick ones, such as the feathers – will work their way through the mesh out of sync with the other yarns. You’ll need to keep an eye on these rogue yarns and go back and pull them into place before knotting the ends, or you’ll end up with large loops that can cause potential problems by hanging up on things when the scarf is worn.
The instructions also recommend sewing the ends of the scarf (where the mesh ends) before knotting the fringe, but we didn’t like the way ours looked when we stitched it and pulled it out. We found that by knotting every two bunches of yarn together, the fringe was secure enough without the additional stitching, and that the ends didn’t pucker in as they did when sewn.
We do recommend that you try both methods to see which makes you comfortable.
If the 80- by 8-inch size is too much for you, you can cut the mesh in half crosswise (to make a shorter scarf), but we don’t recommend cutting it lengthwise (to make it narrower).
Although we haven’t tried it yet, in looking at the construction of the mesh, we’re afraid that there is a risk of unraveling if it’s cut the long way. To make a narrower scarf, just fold the mesh in half and run the yarn through two mesh tunnels at once to hold it in place. The mesh is fine enough that it shouldn’t show through the yarns even when doubled.
We checked out several shops in the Snohomish County area but weren’t able to find the mesh anywhere but online.
Our first batch was ordered through JoAnn Fabrics &Crafts online, but when we went back to order more, several colors were sold out.
Do an online search for Wright’s Simple Scarf Mesh to find an outlet, or check with one of the local craft or fabric stores to see if they can order the product for you.
If you do order online for yourself, be aware of how much you are buying. While the mesh is sold in packages of one piece per package, some outlets sell in six-package boxes only. The price per piece is better when purchased this way, but you may not want that many pieces.
Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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