Cool trend for Autumn 2021 - Crochet an Eyelet Stitch Scarf

 

My daughter is really keen on fashion design and regularly picks up her copy of Vogue (!) every month. Me, being the nosy parker that I am, I always have a flick through to see what's going on with knitwear fashion-wise, and in the Autumn season, it's definitely all about chunky open-work knits and crochet items, with top fashion houses such as Miu Miu and Dolce & Gabanna all leaping on the knitwear trend. 

Obviously very few people can afford to splurge on a £480 Miu Miu acrylic scarf to drape around their expensive coat, but with a very simple repeating pattern you can crochet an Eyelet scarf (using Eyelet Stitch - more commonly known as Filet Crochet) very easily! In fact the whole thing just uses two crochet methods, crocheting a chain and double crochet stitches. How simple is that?

So here's the free pattern. Again, bear in mind that I'm still a bit of a novice so hopefully my pattern description and chart will make sense. All terminology here is US Crochet (so bear this in mind when using the Double Crochet stitches you'll need for this one!)

Miaow Miaow Eyelet Stitch Scarf (My daughter insisted I called it this!)

Yarn: Anything really, but works best with Chunky / Super Chunky with a soft feel (acrylic or wool mix)

Hook size: I used a 6.5mm hook to try and keep the stitches relatively loose and open

Stitches used: Chain Stitch, Double Crochet Stitch

Chart: 

The above chart basically shows a foundation chain of 39 (along the bottom of the work) with the O shaped symbols meaning "chain" and the | shaped symbols meaning "Double Crochet")

1) Begin with the foundation chain of 39 stitches as described above. (39 sts)

2) Row 2 is where the first open-work row will begin. Double Crochet a stitch into the next chain stitch after the loop on your hook. Next, chain 2 stitches, miss two stitches on your foundation chain and double crochet into the next stitch on your foundation chain. Repeat to the last 2 stitches and add an extra double crochet stitch at the end (to match the one at the beginning of the row). Chain 3 to form the first stitch for the next row (39 sts)

3) For the next row, just add double crochet stitches all the way along the row. Chain 3 at the end (39 sts)

4) Repeat rows 2 and 3 to your desired scarf length

A couple of things to watch out for: 

• Always try to make sure that your openwork 'holes' line up with each other for the neatest effect. If you follow the chart exactly, you should do just fine but it's always worth unpicking any rows where things go askew (in my first attempt I somehow would end up with 8 'holes' on one row, then 7 on the next so I obviously didn't keep a close enough eye on what I was doing!!)
• With the 'solid' rows, always try to avoid doubling up your stitches for the double crochet stitches. This will cause your work to warp / twist more easily so try to ensure you only Double Crochet into a stitch below, not into the same as a preceding DC stitch. 

Lastly, once you've achieved the desired length, you might want to go round the outer edges of the scarf with some neater stitches (the edges do look pretty ragged once complete but I actually think this adds to the look of the scarf anyway - Entirely up to you!)

Enjoy, and happy hooking!