Saga of Big Red, the Great Red Scarf

The saga of Big Red began in the middle of the summer, surely an odd time to think of woolen scarves.  The idea of making up a scarf from skeins of matching yarn has always sent me out of the room, looking for something more interesting to do with my time.  Red is an exciting color, however, and there are all sorts of textures of red yarns available.  Texture is the operative word here.

The scarf is 104 inches long and roughly about 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide.  It is made of blocks of crochet from yarns both well-bred and those with no pedigree whatsoever.  Additionally, it was meant to be embroidered, beaded, and embellished without restraint, which saves me a bit of embarrassment when I have to account for the shape of some of the blocks.  In addition, I had a particular person in mind when I began this work, and I wished to see her smile when she opened the package.  Please understand that I will leave the scarf quite peacefully rolled into a bumpy wheel for weeks at a time, then suddenly unfurl it and in an absolute flurry of activity add some embroidery or beads or buttons, maybe crochet an edge or a short fringe somewhere.  The fate of Big Red is that it be in a state of constant change as long as it is in my possession.

As all of the crochet projects have begun, my sister's seven large bins of yarn was the catalyst, along with my less impressive small drawers of yarn.  Add to that mix the yarn that called to me from the shelves of shops I visit.  As lovely as novelty thread can be, I feel it needs to be anchored with a worsted or DK weight, something of such a standard composition that I can poke around with a crochet hook and find the next loop for a stitch!  This makes a bulky, highly textured fabric.

And there is that age-old problem of mixing weights of yarn.  Super-chunky and sock weights have different gauges, right?  Hence the occasional bulge.  Well, all right, the constant bulging.  But I rather like the wavy edges, and you can see where I have added even more crochet to the waves and bumps to make them more pronounced.

Here are some photos of The Great Red Scarf for you to enjoy.  I can't think of a way to show the entire 104 inches in one photo, and it is not finished, so the full portrait would be wasted.  It will not be finished until about an hour before it is given away.  Can't help it; one idea leads to another, and . . .

These felt balls had the beginnings of beading when I found them in a yarn shop, so I just went a tiny bit bonkers and added the prickly "stems" of seed beads to the mix.  They reside in little crocheted cushions:

This small bird's nest contains a vintage button whose crystals are quartz with chunky leaves dangling outside the main line of the scarf):

The fringe sewn here is in DMC perle cotton (this to fill in a"dip" in the line where I switched weights of yarn):

This is a little tab of felted sweater wool that I curled over and beaded.  It adds a nice texture to the novelty thread base:

Vintage button, short streamers of an especially soft eyelash, and tags of polka-dot cotton strips:

These beads break up a boring block of merino:

And the coral glass leaf beads have little seed beads dotting the ends.  They swing when the scarf is moved about:

So many more ideas to go with it!  But, you can see why I think of it as "Big Red!" can't you?