Granny Square Scarf

     Today we have a special guest blogger, my mom, Julia Hathaway.  Here's a little bit about her:

I'm Amber's mom, the one who introduced her to crafts at a very early age.  I'm primarily a wordsmith.  I maintain a book review blog Julia's Journey and  write poetry that I perform at open mics and am working to get  published.  As for handcrafts, I most fancy fabric arts, especially counted cross stitch.  Soon I plan to start stitching some of my favorite quotes and poetry with motifs that compliment the words.  I love photography.  I'm vice chair of my town's school committee.  I volunteer with Orono Public Library and Orono Community Garden.  I prefer being outside in nature to being inside, think must see tv is an oxymoron, and treasure time spent with family and friends.

     This week my mom is going to explain how she makes granny square scarves.  This is a great project if you have lots of scrap yarn you want to use up.

I craft the opposite of a lot of people.  Instead of deciding on a project and buying materials, I see what I have and what I can use it for.  People give me yarn they don't need and don't want to throw out:  scraps from their finished projects, projects they know they won't finish...even an afghan that had a close encounter of the Rottweiler kind.  This project will let you make use of small balls of yarn while creating a really nice gift for a friend or family member.

You'll need:
14 small balls of medium weight yarn
A large ball of white, cream, or a unifying color
Size K crochet hook
Yarn needle

Stitch abbreviations
Chain: ch
Double crochet: dc

Directions:
Start with one of the small balls.  Ch 6, join with 1st stitch, ch 3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc, ch 2, 3dc, ch2, 3dc, ch2, join with 1st stitch;
Ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc, ch1, 3dc, ch2, repeat 3 times, join to first stitch,
End off.
Make 13 more small squares.
Take the large ball of yarn.  Join in the corner of one of the small balls.
ch3, 2dc, ch2, 3dc, ch1, 3dc, ch1, 3dc, ch2, repeat 3 times, join to first stitch, end off.
Repeat with other 13 squares.
Arrange the 14 squares in the order in which you want them and sew them together.
Now, using the large ball, you want to make one more row around the whole scarf.  Corner spaces will require 2 3dc cluster separated by ch2.  Noncorner spaces will require 1 3dc cluster separated by 1 dc.
When you have gone all the way around end off.
Fringes at the end are a nice option.
I routinely make small squares out of yarn scraps and put them in a pretty box.  Then when I need to whip up a scarf quickly (like today for Amber's blog) it takes me a minute to pick my 14 small squares and unifying color and go from there.