The Times They Are A Changing

Knitted or Crochet Scarf Gift

Some time ago, I took a job at Michaels Arts and Crafts store as their Activities Coordinator. I really needed to so something different and when the job came up I thought it would be perfect for me. Well, I only worked there a year before becoming very ill and landing in the hospital. After a year, I found it was not the perfect job for anyone. With low pay, no, I mean none, benefits and constant badgering about things of which I had no control, I knew it wasn’t a job I wanted to go back to. That said, we get to the good part. During my job there, I also taught classes. And I came up with quite a few patterns of my own. Two were crochet and knitting. I learned to knit when I was 10 and taught myself to crochet from a book.

If you already know how to knit or crochet, great. If you don’t, but have always thought it would be fun to learn, now is a good time to start and make some holiday gifts. If you don’t have a craft or yarn store close by where you can take a beginner’s class, pick up a “how-to” book. Most people can teach themselves with a little practice. One of the first and easiest things to make is a winter scarf.

For this handmade gift idea, the winter scarf, you only need to know the basic “knit” stitch or “single crochet“ stitch. However, I will give you instructions here that will make your hand made scarf look professionally done when you are finished knitting. It will be a gift you can give with pride and accomplishment.

Winter Scarf for Beginners

Winter scarves these days can be very thin or wide and can be very long or shorter in length. It all has to do with your own preference. So, the number of stitches you cast on in a knitted scarf or the number of stitches in your beginning chain of your crochet scarf is up to you. Just remember that once you have knitted or crochet a couple of rows that the scarf will be slightly wider than it first appears on the first row or chain.

If this is your first attempt at knitting, although there are a zillion different and beautiful yarns to choose from, I would suggest a single color, worsted weight yarn that you can get at a craft or yarn store or even in the craft section of Walmart. You will only need one skein of yarn for a scarf of this kind of yarn. It will be 7 or 8 ounces. Caron makes a very nice yarn called Simply Soft, but any of the worsted weight yarns will work.

If you look at the paper wrapping around the yarn you will (on most yarns) notice a picture of knitting needles and another one of a crochet hook. They are sometimes contained within boxes. This will tell you what size hook or needles to use with this particular yarn. For worsted weight yarn it is usually a size 8 pair of knitting needles and a size H crochet hook. It may say 8 US or H - US.

Winter Scarf for Advanced-Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced

To make a really unique winter scarf, try mixing two yarns together. Pick a worsted weight yarn and a fancy yarn that has a different texture and one or more complimentary colors to the original worsted weight yarn. You will need larger needles or hook and the size will depend on the thickness of the two yarns together. Experiment a bit until you find a size you feel comfortable with. If you are feeling really adventuresome try using three different yarns with really large needles or hook. Just make sure the textures and colors compliment each other.

Finishing the Winter Scarf

After you have knitted or crochet your scarf to the length you want, finish it off and weave in the ends on both sides.

Blocking your scarf to make it look professional is very easy. You will need to get your ironing board and steam iron out and you will also need some straight pins.

Don’t try to block the whole scarf at once, just do a section at a time starting at one end. Square up the edge and sides of the first section and hold them in place by sticking straight pins through the scarf and into the ironing board padding. Now, with your iron on steam, place it about an inch above the scarf and hit the steam button. Move the iron around the section without ever touching the scarf. After putting down the iron, use your finger tips to dab at the top of the scarf, especially at any bumps or lumps. Leave the scarf until it is dry (about 5 minutes). Then, remove the pins and move the scarf up to the next section and repeat the procedure. By the time you get done you will have a beautiful scarf to give as a gift.

Watch this site for more handmade gift ideas in the future.

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