Crocheted Floral Freeform Scarf

My crocheted floral scarf was created as a freeform 3D piece from individual motifs that were joined to form the finished piece.The original inspiration was a Lacy Floral Scarf featured in Noro Knitting Magazine #4  (2022).It was crocheted with a single skein of Noro Sock Yarn that's a #2 weight in bright jewel tones.  

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While I applied the process to create my scarf, I changed just about everything else.  I incorporated muted hues in worsted weight yarns.  The original scarf was 5 inches wide and 44 inches long.  I needed amore substantial piece as I am taller, ands I needed enough flowers to fill in a 7 inch wide  scarf that would be 57 in ches long.

Creating the scarf starts with crocheting the individual flower motifs in bud, small, medium ,and large sizes. I started with the number of flowers recommended in the original scarf, and added flowers as I constructed mown..  I ended up with 20 large flowers, 7 large open work flowers, 6 medium flowers, 16 small flowers,and 22 tiny buds.  Surprisingly, my local Dollar store has added a yarn section.  The selections of Premier Just Yarn worked well with my project.  I used about 3 linen and 3 taupe.  Then I added lavender Impecable yarn from Michaels that I had in my stash.  I worked with a G+ (#7) hook to create my floral motifs.

 In the beginning I followed directions for the flowers suggested in the magazine, but I found that I preferred to work with my favorite flowers that I have used for many projects through the years.  My flowers yielded different textures so that the scarf had a 3D aspect.  Since I crocheted from memory, I had to look for flower patterns that would provide my readers with simple accurate directions. The large and medium flowers were similar those found on Pinterest:  Free Crochet Flower Pattern at stitching-together.com. As these flowers can be made in one, two, or three layers they worked well in my design and enabled me to use more than one color in some of the individual flowers. I also created a large flat motif that allowed changes in texture and design.  The bud was similar to Easy Puff Flower Free Crochet  Pattern also found on Pinterest. 

Now I had a pile of flowers that I would combine to create my scarf.  I lay the pieces out on my kitchen table as I combined sizes, textures, and colors.  I started with the larger layered and flat pieces and filled in with the medium and small.  When there were holes, I added buds to fill in the area.  When I reached the original 45 inch length, I calculated that I would needed more flowers to add 6 inches to each side.  That meant I would crochet about 8-10 more large flowers, 4-6 more medium blossoms, 4-6 more small bits, and about 10 more buds.Building the freeform scarf was an evolving process, and I moved pieces to develop contrast and balance. Since I wanted to remember the location of each flower if I had put the work aside before I finished sttching the flowers together, I took several photos to ensure that I would get the exact placement. 

To connect the flowers, I sewed with an overhand stitch with yarn from the flowers.  When possible I sewed with yarn that was used in the specific flower.  As the colors were all muted, and there was ample texture, most of the stitches seemed to disappear in the work. The finished piece measured 5 inches below my waist.  The scarf had a lot of body to it and hung straight.  I used a simple shawl pin to close the scarf with style.

Still I was not finished.  The muted colors needed some pizzaz. I dug into my extensive button collection and obtained many different gold tone, natural shell, and other different buttons.. I extended the scarf to its full length and sorted the buttons by color, size, texture, and interesting features.  This was another part of the freeform process. I felt as though I was painting as I placed the buttons on the flowers.  Since it would be difficult to pick up the scarf and buttons if I had cleen up before I finished, I alloted about 2 hours for this process.  However, I took photos of my button placement since I had to lift my working edge as I secured the individual buttons.  I was thrilled that I had so many different buttons in my stash.  They were just the right accent to the scarf add light and dimension to my creation.

When winter comes I will be  ready with my sculptured f scarf. I enjoyed the challenge and process of creating this piece without a specific pattern in a freeform design. It was a process rather than a definite set of directions. I seem to be entering a new stage of my crocheting and knitting career. In subsequent articles I will be featuring freeform sweaters that I created for my granddaughters. 

As always, I appreciate your reflections and feedback on my work and the creative process.  I welcome you to join my stitching journey.  If you decide to make your own freeform floral scarf,  i would love to  see photos of your work.