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Scarf Central: (Ta-DAH!)

I feel a bit like William Carlos Williams any time I use the phrase “This is Just to Say,” but I have to use it in this case.

This is just to say that I’ve finished 30 scarves and one baby blanket in the last six weeks. (For 21 of the scarves, I used the easy pattern I wrote about here.)

Things I’ve learned:

Start Christmas projects earlier. Ha. Hats are on the docket for next year for the guys we work with, so prepare yourselves. I’ll be starting somewhere around September probably.
Pink as a feminine color is an American social construct. My husband offered the first choice of scarves to one of the “leader” asylum seekers at the refugee and asylum seeker housing ministry we work at. He asked for us specifically to reserve a pink scarf for him. Here I had been worried all along that I was using up scraps of pinks and purples in the scarves and that these teenage and young adult boys would balk at the femininity of the scarves. Nope.
Always check your length when making scarves for men. The first scarf I made and we handed out was honestly a little short because this boy wrapped his scarf differently than I was used to wrapping scarves around my kids. He did the neck loop instead of the tie around. (For pictures demonstrating what I mean, see here.)
It’s possible to make a baby blanket in a day.
I need to buy more yarn.

I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and also taking time to reflect how you can make the world a more beautiful place in the coming year. All it takes is small acts with great love, right? Simple steps? Maybe preparing for a more beautiful tomorrow? However you go about it, set about it with intention, and together we can make the world a more beautiful place.

Cheers to 2020!

Easy (and Free!) Crocheted Men’s Scarf Pattern

This is the easiest crocheted men’s scarf pattern out there. I recently made 21 of these scarves for young men, most over 6-foot tall. Because we live in a country where men’s scarves are folded in half and looped through generally instead of tied around the neck, the scarves needed to be plenty long to provide ultimate warmth and comfort.

Project: Crocheted Men’s Scarf (Double-Stranded)

Materials Required

This pattern is designed to use two strands of yarn, held together. I used DK weight. It takes approximately 350 grams of DK-weight yarn.

Size J crochet hook

Project Final Dimensions

80 inches (L) x 10 inches (W)/ 203 cm (L) x 25.5 cm (W)

Gauge: 9 SC stitches x 9 rows produces a 3″ square with yarn held double stranded

Crochet Instructions

Row 1: Begin by chaining 28 with two strands of yarn held together.

Row 2: Double crochet in third chain stitch from hook and continue double crocheting until you get to the end of the row.

Row 3: Chain 3 (this functions as a double crochet) and turn. Double crochet in each stitch in the row.

Rows 4-117: Repeat row 3.

For color changes, see options below, or create your own!

Color Variations

I have several color variations of this project that I like to do.

COLOR VARIATION 1:

Hold Color A and B together for 3/9/13 rows. Follow this with color B and C held together for 3/9/13 rows. Then you will hold color C and D together for 3/9/13 rows. If you use the 3-row repeat, you’ll need 39 color combinations. When using the 9-row color option, you’ll need 13. Finally, if you use the 13-row color option, you’ll need nine blocks of color combinations. (Note, I choose odd-number color variations, so that the color changes don’t all end up on one side of the scarf, as this can create a dimpled look on the edgings…)

COLOR VARIATION 2:

Have approximately 175 grams of color A and use it throughout the entire scarf, adding in color B, C, D, and so on and so forth throughout the scarf. Again, you can use the 3/9/13 row idea, as written above, or you can create your own number.

COLOR VARIATION 3:

For one of your strands, use a solid color pattern, either A/B/C/D/etc. or A/B/C/A/B/C in 3/9/13 row repeats. For your second strand, either make a magic ball of yarn or use up scraps of yarn. Your color changes will likely not occur perfectly at the end or beginning of a row, so you must be okay with a more fluid-looking scarf and the idea that you *may* not be able to make it into a symmetrically designed scarf.

A side by side of solid color running all the way through scarf, 3-row repeat, 9-row repat, and 13-row repeat.

I hope you enjoy making this easy free crocheted men’s scarf pattern. It’s really easy and makes a fantastic (and fast) gift for those hard-to-shop-for guys in life.

Two Finished Scarves

Finished this scarf today. I intentionally made it shorter for this kiddo, because he stretches out his scarves to previously unheard of lengths. I’ve learned a thing or two over the years of parenting.

I also finished this scarf, made from a magic yarn ball I threw together a few nights ago. I have enough left in this magic yarn ball to make at least one, if not two, more scarves. I think I’ll switch up the patterning, though, because I like variety.

Unfortunately, the lighting is such in northern France right now that I can rarely get a “good photo.” Having to be content with poor lighting, and that means that my photo colorations are wonky. Ah well.

I began another scarf in bright oranges, reds, and yellows, because there’s a kiddo in my life that shares my affinity for bright colors. It’s such a joy to knit multi-colored things after a few solid items. This one will be very simple in just a seed stitch. But it will work up really quickly for my little pal.

My Symphony: Dirty Dishes and Copious Amounts of Scarves

To live content with small means.
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion.
To be worthy not respectable,
and wealthy not rich.
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently,
act frankly, to listen to stars, birds, babes,
and sages with open heart, to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing

I’ve been going through all of my social media sites lately and culling quite a bit. You see, I have the unfortunate habit of clicking “save for later” or whatever the equivalent is on each site. So I’ve amassed an insurmountable heap of digital content that I will never get through, nor would I ever want to try. Things that may have interested me five years ago hold less sheen and shimmer now.

But what I do enjoy is that I’m a word hoarder. I have journals filled completely with little scraps of beauty that I find in books or quotes from songs or sermons or what have you. In the culling process for all of these digital articles, I’m finding a treasure trove of words that I’ve collected on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest as well. (Like the poem above.) So I’m working on gathering them all together in one place, so I can read them on days when I need a good word.

Life has been less beauty-filled and more grin and bear it around here. We’ve had plumbing difficulties which lead to a lot of laundry from the sopping up of plumbing messes. And dishes piling up because everything is slow to get a fix for here in France. And I haven’t washed dishes in three days except for a couple of desperation rounds washed in the bathtub. So my cooking is all off-kilter as well because I’m trying to create as little dish disaster as possible.

It’s a hot mess. But it’s real life.

Also, we’ve been trying to evaluate one of our kids for a learning disorder. It appears that he may not have this particular learning disorder but that he struggles immensely and needs extra help in a certain area.

And some of the kids have had just genuinely angry days. My husband worked a Long Week last week; he’s working a shorter week this week. But the kids have not adjusted to the spontaneity of their Daddy’s schedule after years of predictability and availability. And sometimes that comes out in anger.

So I’ve been lax on my projects. But today I managed to pick some up for a few hours while listening to kids reading to each other or watching kids do some independent portions of their homeschool.

I’m nearly finished with this hurdler stitch scarf. I still have the mustard/gold baby blanket on a crochet hook, but as he’s not due till February, I need to prioritize winter and Christmas gifts first.

So I began this linen stitch scarf for one of twenty-odd scarves I’m going to attempt to make in the next two months. (I have ambitions that are overly high sometimes… I’m aware of this.) We work with 13 to 15 teenage boys who have completely heartbreaking stories, and I’d like to make them each a scarf for Christmas if I can. At the very least, the kids are going to be making them a Christmas cookie/goodie care package, but I’d love to include scarves, as many of them are frequently cold due to not being from this climate.

So yes, you’ll be seeing a lot of scarves here. Hopefully some fun color combinations. There are also a few odd family Christmas gifts that I need to make up as well. I don’t think I’m going to get to my own kids’ slippers that I have good intentions about. But as I’ve just made several of them scarves and made large blankets for all of them, I think we’re good for a teensy while. They’ll be getting cardigans for Christmas anyway. (Sadly, not handmade, but at least it’s something.) What’s that old joke about the cobbler’s children never having any shoes?

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