Monochrome Crochet Scarves

 

I didn't get a lot of crocheting done over the summer, but now I have found my crojo again just in time to participate in the October Sustainable Craft Challenge Blog Hop. This month's theme is Monochrome, and as a crocheter with a large stash of yarn, I knew exactly what yarn I wanted to use for this theme. Caron Simply Soft Freckle Stripes (Stone) is a black, gray, and white yarn that I fell in love with and bought just because I liked it, which seems to happen a lot. When I bought it, I did not have a project in mind for it. I just wanted it. This is a sustainable craft challenge, and usually I say my crochet projects are slow fashion, which they are. However, this time, I want to bring up a different topic...  overconsumption. 

As I mentioned before, I have a large stash of yarn. I've been crocheting for over 20 years, but I started buying more and more yarn once I opened my Etsy shop. And when I see pretty yarn all over Instagram and Facebook and in my email and all the ads that pop up on my phone and magazines in the mail, I get the urge to buy all the pretty yarn whether I have a project in mind or not. And when I go to the craft store, and they're having an awesome sale, or they have a great coupon on their app, I usually buy more yarn because who passes up a good sale!? So I have ended up with all this yarn, and when I look at some of it, I think to myself, "Why the heck did I buy that?!" It's very common for crafters to end up with big stashes of supplies whether it's yarn, fabric, buttons, stickers, paints, scrapbook paper, etc.  I see crafters posting about destashing all the time. Now, I have reached a point where, I'd like to use up this stash of yarn and not buy anymore. 

So one great way to use up a yarn stash is by crocheting for charities, and that's what I'm doing. I previously used up a lot of my blue yarn by crocheting blue hats for the Hat Not Hate anti-bullying campaign. And now, I'm participating in Operation Gratitude's Clear Your Stash Challenge.  For this charity challenge, knitters, crocheters, and loomers are making hats and scarves using any color yarn from their stash, and these handmade hats and scarves will be given to deployed troops and veterans during the holiday season. As an Army brat and Navy wife, I'm all for making things for the troops. AND....  Last deployment, my sailor husband came home with a crochet hat that I did NOT recognize. 😕 And when I asked him about it, he said it was donated by Operation Gratitude. He said some guys got scarves too, but they didn't have enough for everyone, so he was only able to get a hat.  (I always make hats for my husband to wear during deployments, but it didn't occur to me to make him a scarf.😆) So now, I'm making scarves for Operation Gratitude. 😊 And the first three scarves I crocheted were made with monochrome yarn.

SUPPLIES:

Simply Soft Freckle Stripes (Stone)

4.5mm crochet hook

yarn needle

scissors

I started with three skeins of the Caron Simply Soft Freckle Stripes Stone, but I ended up finding another one in my stash. I decided to crochet the scarves with the C2C (corner to corner) crochet stitch because it works up really fast! (If you aren't familiar with this stitch, there are many tutorial videos for it on YouTube. One that I've referred to is How to Crochet Corner to Corner on the Lion Brand Yarn YouTube channel.) I wanted my scarves to be about 4.5 inches wide, so I started by crocheting in the c2c stitch until the bottom row had 8 blocks. Then I kept working to increase the length.

I had to use my black and white composition notebook yarn bowl this project. 

Once the scarf reached the desired length of about 50 inches, I started decreasing to finish off the scarf. 

I considered making a scarf with a different stitch, but it was taking to long, so I unraveled it and went back to corner to corner crochet. 😆

So I was able to make three scarves that are 4.5 inches x 50 inches. Operation Gratitude asks that the scarves measure 4 to 5 inches wide and 48 to 50 inches long.

Here are the three monochrome scarves.  I'm really excited about making more scarves to donate to Operation Gratitude for the troops. I'm also excited to see my yarn stash decrease. 

Scarf #1

Scarf #2

Scarf #3

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my Monochrome Crochet Scarves, which I'm sharing for the October Sustainable Craft Challenge Blog Hop! The purpose of the Sustainable Craft Challenge Blog Hop (hosted by Julie @ Sum of Their Stories) is to create a sustainable/eco-friendly craft project. This month's theme is Monochrome, so I decided to crochet scarves using monochrome yarn that was already in my yarn stash. Anyhoo, I hope you'll visit the other participant's eco-friendly Monochrome creations below! ↓

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OCTOBER SUSTAINABLE CRAFT CHALLENGE COHOSTS:

 Sum of their Stories  | Monochrome Patchwork Bag DIY

Old Rock Farmhouse | Simple Silhouette Greeting Cards

Purple Hues and Me | Monochrome Soda Bottle Goody Bag

Southern Sunflowers | Easy DIY Button Art on Canvas - Tutorial for Adults

Sew Crafty Crochet | Monochrome Crochet Scarves

Our Good Life | Monochrome Watercolor Painting

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OCTOBER SUSTAINABLE CRAFT CHALLENGE PROJECTS:

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