I always knew what I was going to get for Christmas from Great Aunt Mae. From year to year, the design might differ, the colors of yarn would change, but the item stayed the same. If it hadn’t been for Aunt Mae, I’m not sure what I’d have worn for slippers while growing up. Fortunately, I didn’t have to decide, because each year her nimble fingers would craft new slippers for my feet. She bestowed her gift on me lovingly, and I was always delighted to receive so thoughtful a gift.
It wasn’t until I grew up that I began to view handmade Christmas gifts as cheap, maybe even sub-par items, made because you couldn’t afford to purchase ‘real’ gifts. This attitude couldn’t be more backwards, as I’ve come to learn. Isn’t it funny how we return to the truths we knew as a child?
Love certainly does not equal money. Why should I pretend it does? Besides, store-bought gifts are often poorly crafted for the money.
Sometimes a lavish gift is just what’s needed, but usually not. Who am I really thinking of when I purchase them? Am I using them to show off, to placate a critical relative, or because I’m putting on a front?
What’s wrong with not spending more money than I can afford on Christmas, anyway? There’s no shame in living within your means. In fact, the opposite is true.
When it comes to thoughtfulness, homemade Christmas gifts usually have store-bought ones beat. With this in mind, I’m making more homemade Christmas gifts this year than ever before. I’ll post about what I make here at the blog. I hope you enjoy my crochet circle scarf design, and if you missed it, here’s the Old Bohemian homestead recipe for homemade vanilla extract.
Crochet Circle Scarf Design
Except when I was four, I’ve never been fond of counting. I say this as a classically-trained vocalist whose teacher wouldn’t let me listen to a song until I’d laboriously sight-read it. I just wanted to create, but she was determined to instill certain disciplines in me, among them the ability to count while simultaneously forming words. Developing this skill is a lot like walking and chewing gum, but I managed. What does this have to do with crocheting a circle scarf, you should be asking by now. Actually, more than you would at first think.
You see, crochet patterns make you slow down and count. There is a time and place for that, but while you are trying to make homemade Christmas presents within a few months of the holiday may not be the best time for a slower project. Enter my crochet circle scarf design, which lets you relax and create without worrying so much about counting.
How do I accomplish this feat? By making the scarf from rows of single crochet with a triple crochet row thrown in now and again. Okay, it wasn’t quite that random. I did try to match the width of the single crochet sections but didn’t worry about counting to make it exact. It’s my opinion that having everything in exact geometric patterns can seem harsh, and in the Bohemian mode, I wanted to relax the rules and just have fun.
I made the scarf 20 stitches wide and used two three-ounce skeins of four-ply worsted weight acrylic yarn in a variegated pattern to keep things interesting. I used bright colors with white, in keeping with the Bohemian tradition. Joining the ends by crocheting them off so there will be more flexibility in the scarf at the seam is nice, but you could slip stitch or join in another way if you wanted.
What do you think of the results? If you make this scarf, I’d love to see a picture. You can reach me by email through the contact form.
