Tunisian Simple Stitch Patchwork Scarf
In looking for some scrap busting projects - something I've not had to do before - I ran across a video on Youtube by TL Yarn Crafts that promised one could learn a tunisian simple stitch that would allow you to join as you go. The pattern appeared extremely flexible, so I broke out my scraps, modified the chain length and got to work.
I thought I'd practice using leftover yarn from a patchwork blanket (still in progress). Because the leftover yarn came from mini skeins, I didn't have a lot left over from each skein, but I did have 58 colors. Her pattern called for 11 stitches across in rows of 9 per block, but I increased mine to 18 stitches and decreased to 5 rows.
One problem I noticed with the yarn in the sample package, is that even though all of the squares I crafted for my patchwork blanket came out the same size, I got a different number of rows for each color in this scarf. The average number of rows I got was 5, but for some colors I got 7, and others I got 3. It feels as if the length was not equivalent in each skein and I have since run into a similar issue on their full size skeins.
Instead of making a nice even block scarf, I determined to just make another patchwork look and focused on the gradient flow, not the number of rows per color.
I loved how easy the stitch was to learn, especially for a novice such as myself and how simple it was to join the colors. Some notes for others who may be trying this for the first time:
Firstly, I noticed as I was working that the stitch seemed to curl up from the bottom. After scouring videos and tips, I came to find this is normal and can be fixed by adding a border or doing some blocking.
Secondly, I noticed my tension was a bit tight causing a pull on the left side. I didn't find much about that, but along with the curling, assumed it could be fixed with some blocking. In addition, I worked on pulling the left side loops a bit taller to reduce tension.
As I had already determined to do both border and blocking, I didn't worry so much about the curls as I worked my way through the projects, though I did constantly check my left side tension.
The final project was not as long as I hoped, but I did dial in on the technique and then put it to use crafting a scarf for my husband.
His scarf was done with a 5mm tunisian crochet hook with 27 stitches across. It was a four color gradient using the same yarn Scheepjes yarn, but in full size skeins, one skein for each color.