Free pattern and tutorial: the 'check-mate' scarf
It was an exciting day when Hobbii reached out to ask if I wanted to take part in their ‘my favourite Hobbii friends’ challenge. Their new range of mix-and-match yarns, aptly named ‘friends’ as you can match exact shades with different fibres, sparked so much inspiration for me. I had a mountain of ideas.
The brief was to make an item for yourself and another for a ‘friend’ (could have also been a sister, partner, pet, kid etc.) that was appropriate for the season. Seeing as it was October at the time, I decided to make a scarf for myself and Floyd (my other half) in two contrasting, but complementing colourways - which I went on to name ‘spring’ and ‘autumn’.
I’d be wanting to try out a checkerboard crochet pattern for a while. I’d been seeing it everywhere and, although I’m not usually one to jump straight on a trend, this one was irresistible. Also, the perfect way to showcase some of the new colours available in both their Extra Fine Merino and Kids Silk range.
This project was so much fun to make. The colour changes kept things interesting for me, whilst also being not too challenging as just one stitch was used throughout.
If you can colour change in treble crochet (UK) / double crochet (US) then this is a simple make for you too. The only little bit of extra complication came when crocheting the edges, making sure the colour was transported up to the next line neatly (as there is no right and wrong side with this project). For this I’ve put together a little video to explain how to do this, as well as the checkerboard stitch pattern in general.
basic pattern notes
Once you’ve watched the tutorial it’s pretty simple to make this scarf; you just need to continue the pattern, in however many colour changes you like, until it reaches your desired length. However, I will give you some notes to get you started and some ideas of colourways you could try…
To begin, I make a foundation chain of 34 (32 + 2), then make the first treble (UK terms) in the 3rd stitch from the hook.
I used a 4.5mm hook.
Following the checkerboard stitch pattern, I did 8 rows of two colours before switching to the next two colours. I repeated this all the way through the work, but you can do whatever you like!
I ended up with 20 blocks of 8 rows (160 rows in total).
Here is a chart view of both scarves and the colour changes I used (see below for full list of yarn details).
Spring scarf colours:
Off white (02)
Cream (04)
Dune (07)
Cognac (17)
Mustard (28)
Pink (47)
Lilac (63)
Olive (109)
Autumn scarf colours:
Grey (119)
Anthracite (122)
Dune (07)
Cappuccino (10)
Cognac (17)
Mustard (28)
Olive (109)
Bottle Green (112)
Midnight Blue (87)
Turkish Blue (88)
They both turned out to be a soft, warm and colourful addition to our wardrobes. A great project for your bestie and you; and the perfect way to practice your colour changes in crochet!
This is a simple pattern/tutorial, but if anything is unclear or you have any questions at all about the project, yarns etc. then please send me a message over on Instagram, or feel free to email me via the contact page below.
I hope you enjoy this project if you decide to give it a go, and if you do then please don’t forget to share some pictures, tag me (@logiilo) and use the hashtag #checkmatescarf
Big love, Lois x
