Japanese Flower Scarf

I have had a really lovely weekend this weekend, being a bit of a tourist in Buckinghamshire with a friend of mine. Lots to write about there, but right now I really wanted to write about my current crochet WiP before I finish it. I know I am pretty behind the curve with this one as it was doing the rounds a while ago, but I still really like it, and this one only has a small few hours' work left to do.

I first saw the Japanese flower scarf over at Attic24, and another at (the sadly now ended blog) Crochet with Raymond. A few Google image searches and I had many more sources of inspiration – but no clue where to start!

Then I stumbled over this fantastic step-by-step photo tutorial at Revlie. The pictures are ideal for me, I seem to be much better at looking at how something is done (plus just a smidge of guidance) and working things out from that, rather than from wordy explanations.

My first attempt involved using just one ball of leftover wool, as I hadn’t really gotten the hang of crocheting from a circle yet and I didn't want to waste a whole new batch of yarn. My spare ball of wool only stretched to 6 flowers (and then I had to adapt the last flower slightly as there wasn’t quite enough yarn for all of the stitches) but I was too chuffed with the end result to not keep it, so now it sits under the fruit bowl :)

Next up was a full scarf (no pictures of this one I’m afraid as it was pre-blog and given as a gift once it was finished). It was made using various combinations of two colours, and I was very pleased with how it turned out. So now I’m on my third go, and this one is destined as a present too. I’m using a self-patterning yarn this time around, simply because I saw the colours and knew they would be perfect for my mum. I was also excited to see how the colour change would come out in crochet – and I really like the effect. (I also like having fewer ends to sew in – is that really bad?)

The yarn I’m using is James C Brett Monsoon in colour S3. It’s a wool / acrylic blend, and although it is a little difficult to crochet with as it splits a little, and occasionally I’ve had to carefully remove a random lump of wool, it does feel beautifully soft and silky. I wanted to go for long and luxurious with this scarf for my mum, as I felt this would suit both her and the lovely silky feel of the yarn. I did go slightly overboard though on the length unfortunately, and ran out of yarn - frustrating! 

Look at all those books behind there - I think I might have a problem!

I haven’t found a good yarn shop near to me yet, so I had to order extra balls from the internet. I really need to work on figuring out how much yarn a project will use, as obviously this is not the best approach to take! The new yarn has just arrived though, so progress can continue and I can crack on with hooking up these delicious big, soft flowers. Fingers crossed the colours will match up well and my mistake won't matter...

 

That ripple in the background was my first ever project - I looooove it!

There is not much left to do at all, just a few big smooshy flowers to fill up the final row: 

Then I will have to crack on with something else from my overly-full WiP basket (I love this basket - my husband bought it for picnicking, but when we had such a wash-out of a summer last year I decided that I had a much better use for it. I'm looking forward to getting a sewing machine and making a lovely new lining for it...) 

I'm loving this current scarf and I can't wait to give it to my mum and see what she thinks of it. Might even have to make one for myself after that...