Elemental Scarf

Way back in September, a friend suggested making a scarf to represent the four elements: earth, air, fire, water. I instantly fell in love with the idea and came up with a pattern to go along with the representative colors. Spirit was included as the fifth element tying everything together. After some writing, experimenting, testing, blocking, and photographing, I'm finally ready to share my typed up pattern for the Elemental Scarf!

The pattern is written in sections which are approxiamately the same length and width. Dimensions will vary somewhat with your crochet style and blocking/stretching technique. You can arrange the sections however you please or repeat a section as you would like. Colors are my personal representations of the elements, so change them to whatever fits well with you. As always, feel free to ask questions and leave comments.

Abbreviations
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - doule crochet
fpdc - front post double crochet
bpdc - back post double crochet
tch - turning chain
cluster - group of stitches closed at all once together
shell - group of stitches worked into same space or stitch

Materials:
Hook, I/9 5.5mm (or hook recommended for yarn)
Approximately 100 yards each color of worsted weight yarn
Yarn needle recommended for sewing in ends
 

Earth:
green, solid stitches
1: ch 16, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc across (15 sc)
2: turn, ch 1, 15 hdc
3: turn, ch 1, 15 dc
4: turn, ch 1, 15 sc
5-36: Repeat rows 2-4, ending with row 3
36 rows = 12 sets

Air:
white, clusters & shells
1: ch 3, dc across (15 dc)
2: ch 5, cluster in first 3 dc, *ch 2, cluster next 3 dc.* Repeat * to * to end; ch 2, dc in last sc (5 clusters + 2 dc ends)
3: ch 3, *3dc shell in top of cluster, repeat from * across. dc in 3rd ch of previous tch.
4-23: Repeat rows 2&3
Final row: ch 3, dc across
24 rows = 11 pairs + dc rows

Fire:
red, post stitches
1-3: ch 3, dc across (15 dc)
4: ch 3, 3 bpdc, 7 fpdc, 3 bpdc, dc in tch
5: ch 3, 4 fpdc, 5 bpdc, 4 fpdc,  dc in tch
6: 5 bpdc, 3 fpdc, 5 bpdc, dc in tch
7: 6 fpdc, 1 bpdc, 6 fpdc, dc in tch
8-21: repeat rows 1-7.
22-24: ch 3, dc across (15 dc)
24 rows = 3 sets + final 3 rows

Water:
blue, ribbed & wavy
1: 15 sc
2: hdc, hdc, sc, sc, hdc, dc, dc, hdc, sc, sc, hdc, dc, dc, hdc, hdc - all front loop only
3-35: repeat row 2
36: 15 sc
36 rows = 12 sets + sc rows

Spirit:
purple border
Single crochet around evenly. Following this general guidline for help placing stitches into the sides of rows: 1 sc into sc row, 3 sc in 2 hdc rows, 2 sc in dc row

May Day Barefoot Sandals

Summer is upon us here in Florida and fast approaching in many other parts of the USA. To help celebrate May Day (aka Beltaine), I've crafted a pair of barefoot sandals. They're fun for wearing around the yard or house on these warm days.

Sandals are shown tied two different ways and on two different toes to show the different ways of wearing them.

Materials:
Cotton yarn, approxiamately 20 yards.
Hook 4.5mm

Abbreviations:
ch - chain
ss - slipstitch
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
ch-sp - chain space (space in work form by chain stitch, sometimes forms an arch)

Directions:
1. Ch 12, ss into a ring
2. Ch 4, sc 3 into 2nd ch from hook, turn
3. Ch 7, ss into 2nd sc from step 2, ch 4, dc into last of previous row, turn
4. Ch 1, sc 3 into ch-sp, ch 5, sc 3 into next ch-sp, turn
5. Ch 5, sc into ch-sp, ch 4, sc into last stitch of previous row, turn
6. Ch 1, sc 2 into ch-sp, ch 1, sc 2 into same ch-sp, ch 2, sc 2 into next ch-sp, ch 1, sc 2 into same ch-sp, turn
7. Ch 2, sc 2 in ch-sp, ch 1, (sc 2, ch 1, sc 2) into big chain-sp, ch 1, sc 2 in ch-sp, ch 1, sc into last stitch of previous row, turn
8. Ch 5, sc in ch-sp, ch 2, sc in ch-sp, ch 2, sc in ch-sp, ch 5, sc into last stitch of previous row, turn
9. Ch 5, [sc in ch-sp, ch 3] three times, sc in ch-sp, ch 5, ss into last stitch of previous row.
10. Ch 30 for tie (or make it as long as you'd like). Finish off.
11. Attach yarn to opposite side of sandal, ch 30 for tie (or as long as you like, matching length with previous tie). Finish off and weave in all ends.
Note: When finishing off ties, you can choose not to weave them in (such as in the picture below). This gives you a slightly longer pair of ties, and make it look more delicate.

As always, please feel free to ask questions and leave comments.