Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday Neckercheif

©Morgan Forrester, 2009

Materials:
Paton's Grace
1 ball Red
1 ball White

3.25mm crochet hook

Darning needle or small crochet hook for weaving in tails.

Please Note: This Pattern uses North American crochet terminology.

Gauge:
6 stitches and 5 rows = 1 inch over Single Crochet ground.


Colour Pattern:
Work 2 rows Red, 2 rows White
Repeat 2 row stripe throughout.

Striping Technique:
Change Colours in last stitch of each row.
Work sc as follows: insert hook into stitch, wrap with live colour and pull through (2 loops on hook). Yarn over with new colour and pull through both loops. Ch 1 with new colour working around old colour, trapping it vertically.



Decrease:
sc next 2 sts tog: About.com has a good tutorial.


Pattern:

With Red
ch 3

Working into both loops,

3sc in 2nd stitch from hook

*ch1, turn
sc in each stitch to last sc, 2 sc*

Repeat from *to* for 10 complete stripes
First Triangle Point completed.

ch1, turn
With Red, sc in each stitch to last sc, 2sc in last stitch (23 stitches across)
ch 1, turn
Working into back loop only:
%
sc 11
**With next colour
ch 1, turn
sc 5**
Work **to** for 5 complete stripes, ending with White.
Cut yarn, and thread through loop, leaving nice long tails for weaving in.

Turn Work.

Reattach yarn at far corner of triangle with Red.
Repeat from %
Finish last white yarn in the same manner.
Keyhole completed.

Choose most attractive side to be new RS
With Red, reattach yarn and ch 1
5sc, ch 1, 5 sc
ch 1, turn
sc in each sc and middle ch 1 (be sure to get under 2 threads in this stitch to make it secure)
Resume striping sequence, working in back loops only.
Work until piece measures 20" from beg.point ending with a White stripe (fudge if necessary)

Middle Section completed.

Working into both loops for Second Triangle:
With Red, sc in each sc across, ch 6
sc in 2nd ch from hook, and each ch and sc across (work under 2 loops of each ch) ch 5
With white, ch 1 turn
sc in 2nd ch from hook, and each ch and sc across (work under 2 loops of each ch)
***With next colour
ch 1 turn
sc in each sc to last 2 sts, decrease***
Repeat ***to*** until 1ish stitch remains.
Cut yarn and thread through loop. (We are about to clean this up some.)


Edging:
Beginning at middle of work, sl st in each st across. Work a ch 1 at corners. Use this step to clean up or disguise any messy joins and wraps.

Block and pin stiffly.

Inspiration:

I love knitted bowtie/keyhole scarves.

Here I've channelled some 50s flair to create a crocheted version.

Crisper, angular and more graphic than it's knitted counterpart, I think this neckerchief reflects the key differences between the two crafts.

I explored what the limited crochet rib can do for a person, and let sc's stiffness, rather than knitting's elasticity lock the bow in place.