New Project Spotlight: One Skein Scarf

In today’s New Project Spotlight, we’re shining the light on The One Skein Scarf pattern created by Tanya over at LittleThingsBlogged.com The link to her pattern is in the supply list below. I’m about 5’2” and was concerned the scarf wouldn’t be long enough or even wide enough, but the pattern pics intrigued me enough to give it a shot. And it did not disappoint.

The beauty of this pattern is that is takes ONE, that’s right, one skein of Lion Brand Mandala or Cupcake yarn which are 590 yards per skein. Do you have any single skeins of a Mandala yarn? And you know that you can’t make much with it unless you combine it with non-matching skeins or other solids? So it continues to sit on the shelf? Today’s scarf is just the project.

Tanya made her scarf in the Mandala colorway Genie. I tried mine in a different brand of yarn….Hobby Lobby’s Yarn Bee Dee-lish Boutique yarn in the colorway Pinwheel Cookie. This yarn was exactly 590 yards, was a 3-weight just like the Mandala and Cupcake yarns, and really the only difference was that it was 90% acrylic and 10% alpaca whereas the Mandala and Cupcake yarns are usually 100% acrylic.

And really, you could use any 3-weight yarn, or even a thin 4-weight, or a regular 4-weight (you just might not work as many rows.

This was another skein of yarn I picked up in a clearance bin. And just for sharing sake, it was $1.74!!!  The colorway has a bit of a tie-dyed shirt appearance to it, don’t you think?

The pattern also calls for a 5mm (US size H-8) hook. I went down a hook size to a G, because I felt like my yarn might be just a smidge thinner than the yarn called for in the pattern, despite it still being a 3-weight.  And I do juggle between a G and an H hook when using 3-weight yarns.

What You’ll Need

• Yarn – 1 skein of 3-weight yarn: Lion Brand Mandala, or Lion Brand Cupcake, or Hobby Lobby’s Yarn Bee Dee-lish Boutique yarn (590 yards/skein)
• US Hook size G-6
• Yarn needle
• Scissors
• Tanya’s pattern here

The pattern is a really simple series of double crochets with a few chains thrown in.  It’s worked from the neck down into a v-shape.

The pattern calls for completing 41 rows of the pattern…. 5 rows and then 1 alternate row for a 6 row repeat. Once I made it through Row 41, I still had some yarn leftover, and wanted to essentially use it all up. So I continued on through row 47 (just continuing to repeat the pattern).  Technically I also attempted to complete row 48, but lost at yarn chicken. Do you know what a pain in the neck it is to frog yarn with alpaca in it!?!?!? Love alpacas, hate frogging their yarn.  Anyway, I restitched row 48 as a row of single crochets and was able to use up most of the yarn.

This patten is a great one to work on if you’re in a group setting, in the car, or in front of the TV. It is very repetitive but the simplicity of it is part of the draw. Every so often I find that I need a project that I don’t need to read every single row of instructions or pay attention to where I’m at in the pattern. This was a good one to relax with.

Final Thoughts on The One Skein Scarf

As far as ‘fit’, this one skein scarf was long enough to tie in the back, but wasn’t quite long enough to wrap around to the front and tie in front….which is usually how I wear my scarves, for a couple reasons.  One, most of them are too big for my frame anyway and that’s how I hide the fact, and two, I prefer tying it to hold it in place. However, it was still long enough to wrap around and tie in the back, or to pull the ends far enough to the front to ‘hold’ it in place.

“Ta-da! Crocheting is a bit like being a magician….you mumble to yourself and waggle a stick around and no one else has a clue how you did it!” — www.crochetnow.co.uk

These 1-skein wonders are intriguing. What other 1-skein wonders have you tried? Share in the comments below.