Scarf Request / Crochet Book Review

The great thing about Facebook, Twitter and the like is the banter with friends you seldom see. I updates my Facebook status yesterday to something alog the lines of "Louise is planning her next wool project." A little later I checked my status to see "can you make me a scarf please." Yes, I thought, yes I can, and remembered I had this book which has scarf patterns in that I have never used. I'm really not sure why I bought this book, I'd seen it on amazon and was just starting with crochet, I guess I liked the cover which is NEVER a good way to buy a book.

Don't get me wrong, it's got some interesting patterns and ideas in it and the how to do stitches and what yarn is what section is very good but I don't like the way all the pictures are in the middle of the book. You have to keep flicking around to see if the creation you've made looks anything like the one the designer had in mind.

I finished the Market Bag project a few days ago, unfortunately in my wisdom I used acrylic yarn instead of cotton, the result is a market bag which stretches to look like a badminton case whenever you put anything even slightly weighty in it. But, as I found the project easy enough to follow I thought I'd have a go at the preppy/hippy scarf.

The preppy/hippy scarf is a very easy pattern, so easy in fact it beggars belief anyone bothered to write it down. To summarise: make long chain leave long tail at each end hdc every row with different colour leaving long tail at each end for fringing. Then when it's wide enough add some more fringing for good measure.

I'm small (UK size 10/12 to be precise) but make everything medium just in case, the shrug was very narrow and pretty uncomfortable to wear. I frogged it. I think the author must be a size Zero as when making the scarf I immediately found it was nowehere near long enough in the pattern so made my foundation chain at least 20 chains longer, even now I wish it was longer. I've got two more leave a tail hdc along leave a tail rows to do tonight and then it's done and I can send it to my Facebook friend.

Maybe all my projects should be based on "please can you make me a" as I've actually had fun with this. All in all I prefer to get my patterns online, some of the free stuff out there is amazing. I'm not sure I'll bother getting any more crochet books. The only other crafts books I have are a 1980s Elle knitting pattern book, a 70s crafts book with knitting, crochet, macrame and a whole load of other crafts in and finally 'Two Balls or Less' a book which i admit i bought for the amusing name more than anything!