Scarf Tales (Take 3)

Part of the reason that I frogged this project so many times was that I was hung up on my "vision" for this scarf. I had gone to a pediatric oncology seminar last spring, and fell in love with the long, skinny scarf that the woman presenter was wearing. During breaks, my mind kept wandering to thoughts of what it would take to loom that scarf. It looked like it was made from a bright metallic ribbon yarn, it had a pretty fringe on each end, and it moved softly as she moved.

LB Incredible looked like the right yarn, but I never got around to buying it because $6 a ball was a little much to just "play around with." I finally got my chance last week when Michael's put it on sale for $2, and I snatched up several balls (note: never yarn shop with kids who loom — they are yarn magnets and you will walk out of the store with waaay more yarn than you intended to buy).

I loomed and frogged my first scarf nearly a dozen times, yet I still wasn't satisfied. Oh, it is pretty and I'll wear it, but it wasn't the scarf I remembered. So back to the looms for more experimenting. Another half-dozen frogs later, I finally hit on it — a combination of stitches that was working for me, and I was starting to create the scarf I envisioned.


This scarf was loomed as a three-row pattern, with the same three rows repeated for the entire length. I was still using an ITA loom as a rake, but I switched to a smaller one that would be easier to handle in my lap. Row one was cast on as an e-wrap around eight pegs. Then I e-wrapped again and knit off that row. The second row was done as a purl stitch. These two rows became my "anchor" stitches for the pattern, and by repeating them throughout I ended up with a nice flat scarf.
Okay, row number three. I really do wish I had a video camera to take pictures of how I'm doing this, because explaining it in words makes it much more complicated than it really is. Bear with me —

You are working an eight-peg panel. For row three, you are doing a variation of a simple e-wrap.

— Take your working yarn (it's on the inside of your loom) and wrap it from behind peg 1 around peg 2 (inside to outside), then bring it back around peg 1.

— Knit off peg 1, then put your finger on the working yarn still looped on peg 1 to ANCHOR it.

— GENTLY lift the loose upper loop off peg 2. (You now have a big loop of yarn on the inside of the loom that extends behind peg 1.)

— CONTINUE TO ANCHOR that loop on peg 1, and make your next wrap from behind peg 2 around peg 3 (again, inside to outside).

— Knit off PEG 2, then move your anchoring finger to PEG 2.

— GENTLY lift the loose upper loop off peg 3. (Your second big loop of yarn now extends behind peg 2.)

— Wrap around pegs 3 and 4. Knit off peg 3, anchor peg 3's loop, and lift the loose loop off peg 4.

— Continue to wrap your pegs this way (double-wide) until you are past peg 8. At peg 8 you will be wrapping 8 and 9, but will be removing the loop from peg 9.

— To begin the next row, e-wrap all of the pegs back from 8 to 1. When I do this, I wrap the first two pegs and knit them off as I wrap them, which helps anchor those very loose stitches. When all of your pegs are e-wrapped, knit them off. THIS IS THE FIRST ROW OF YOUR SECOND SET. Now do a row of purl stitches back to the other end.

— Continue with your double-wide wrap back, and repeat these three rows until you have the length you want.

If you can follow these directions for a double-wide stitch, then you'll find variation #3 a piece of cake.