Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Super Easy Crochet Infinity Scarf

I have to admit that I have a long-term love affair with infinity scarves. It all started a little over a year ago when my sister brought me a beautiful gift from the US when she came to Madrid for my wedding. I pulled out a gorgeous slate grey and turquoise piece of material, smiled, and said "Please tell me this isn't a dress."

It was my first infinity scarf, and I was hooked (pardon the pun). In fact, I'm wearing that very scarf as I write this post!

Crochet infinity scarves are all over the place. Just look at these beautiful examples found on Pinterest:



Although I've made more than a few crochet infinity scarves, I wanted to develop a super easy infinity scarf that isn't worked in the round. This scarf is easy for beginners and experienced crocheters, and it doesn't require you to work in the round to get that a beautiful looped scarf!

Here are a few photo ops of the easiest infinity scarf ever!

Wound three times around the neck!

Wound twice!

Up close and personal

Ok, here's the pattern! It's super easy. You can use any yarn and hook size you like and repeat as many beginning chains as you like to achieve the length you want. Just be sure to add an extra 2ch at the end of the beginning chain to account for the turn (so you will always start your first dc on the 3rd chain from the hook!).

Yarn: Katia Alaska (bulky)
Hook: 7.00mm
Number of skeins: 2 (200g total)

Ch 182.
Round 1: Dc in 3rd chain from hook and across (180dc). Ch 2 and turn.
Round 2: Hdc in each st across (180hdc). Ch 2 and turn.
Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until the scarf is the desired width.
When final round is complete, ch 1, turn and loosely slip stitch across the entire row. Then line up the two ends of the scarf and stitch them together with slip stitches (this will be an inside seam that you won't see later!). Slip stitch around the length of the other row.
Tie off and weave in ends.

There you go! You've made a long scarf with a very easy, yet beautiful, pattern. The slip stitch around the edges gives it a nice finish, and stitching the ends together with slip stitches gives you an infinity scarf with a seam that will be on the inside of the scarf, so you will never see it!

Super simple and super gorgeous! Enjoy, and happy holidays from MadridMetroMod!


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Super easy unisex scarf!

One of my favorite crochet gifts to give and receive is a scarf! They are so easy to make, they have that zen-calming effect, and they add pizazz to any wardrobe (not to mention the wonderful warmth you get from a scarf in Madrid's chilly season!).

To me, a really great scarf pattern has to have three characteristics:

  • easily resizable pattern
  • very few, uncomplicated stitches but with some texture
  • can be finished in less than one month of once-a-week leisure crocheting or one week of intense crocheting
A few weeks ago, my husband and I visited Lanas Sixto since he reminded me that the last scarf that I made for him was over 2.5 years ago. (Check out my post on Lanas Sixto in Madrid here!) He picked out a dark grey Alaska Katia yarn (colorway 10) and I started looking for patterns that night! I used a 7.00mm hook with this yarn and was really satisfied with the results (I would have tightened the chain just a touch in retrospect). After practically two years of being solely dedicated to our wedding and my doctoral thesis, I was so excited to get some yarn in my hands again!

I found this great pattern on Ravelry called the Easy-Wear Scarf by Lion Brands Yarn. I loved the fact that it was simple but had a nice unisex texture. I started hooking in my downtime - 1 or 2 hours per week - and two weeks later, I have a beautiful finished scarf that I'll gift to Jorge this afternoon at our family lunch!

Of course, I made some adjustments to the pattern:
  • I repeated the chain stitch until Jorge liked where it fell when looped around his neck one time (more like 180 ch stitches plus the 1ch for the turn).
  • I completed about 18 rows rather than 14 to make the scarf a bit thicker.
  • I slip stitched loosely all the way around the scarf (2 sl st in each corner!) when finished, and I love the look that it gave the final product.
You can check out all the details in my Ravelry notebook, and here are some images of the finished scarf:




Monday, January 20, 2014

Wedding Pictures of My Crochet Bridal Bouquet!

Hello, everyone! Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated three months of wedded bliss! These months have been a bit crazy - honeymoon in Paris!, lots and lots of immigration paperwork, and more hours of our "real jobs" - so our blogging time has been minimal. Rest assured that we are healthy and happy in Madrid, and that MadridMetroMod will be re-opening on Etsy soon! And perhaps with a new surprise!

Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite shots of my crochet bridal bouquet. You might remember from this post that I spent about 100 hours crocheting and arranging my bridal bouquet, and after seeing these pictures, I can definitely say that it was worth every minute.

So many people stopped me on my wedding day to admire my bouquet. It appears in almost every guest's photos, and even the wedding coordinators said that they had never seen such a beautiful and unique bouquet!

Please enjoy these photos! Also, if you (or someone you know) is looking for a crochet bridal bouquet, please contact me at madridmetromod @ gmail . com for ideas and a free price quote!







I would also like to thank Alberto Desna Photography for these amazing photos!