How to Crochet a Scarf

Start with a slipknot. Loop the yarn over itself, flip it over so you can see a bar on top and a strand underneath, then grab the strand attached to the skein and pull it through the loop. Tighten gently against the hook.

The slipknot is what every pattern starts with - it is the easiest way to get an adjustable loop on your hook. If you have never done one, take your time. The loop should slide along the yarn when you tug the tail and grip the hook when you pull it snug.

This is your foundation chain - the row that sets the width of the scarf. Yarn over the hook from back to front and pull the yarn through the loop already on the hook. That is one chain. Repeat 14 more times for a total of 15 chains.

Count out loud as you go. The loop currently on the hook does not count as a chain - only the completed stitches below it do. You should end up with a row of small V-shapes (with a bar running along the back).

Skip the loop on your hook and work into the second chain from the hook. Insert the hook under the back bar (the strand on the back of the chain - using the back bar instead of the front V gives the first row a cleaner look that matches the last row). Yarn over, pull a loop back through the chain. You now have two loops on the hook. Yarn over again, pull through both loops. That is one single crochet.

Work a single crochet into each remaining chain across the row. You should finish with 14 single crochets.

Chain 1 and turn the work over so the wrong side faces you. The chain 1 does not count as a stitch for half double crochet - it just gets the hook into position for the next row.

Yarn over first (this is what makes a half double different from a single), then insert the hook into the first stitch of the row below. Yarn over, pull a loop through the stitch - you have three loops on the hook. Yarn over once more and pull through all three loops at once. That is one half double crochet. Work one in each of the 14 stitches across.

Chain 3 and turn. Those three chains count as your first double crochet, so the first real stitch will be worked into the second stitch of the row, not the first.

For a double crochet: yarn over, insert the hook into the back loop of the stitch (just the back loop, not both loops), yarn over, pull a loop through. You have three loops on the hook. Yarn over, pull through two loops. Yarn over again, pull through the remaining two loops. Work a double crochet into the back loop of every stitch across. Working in the back loop only leaves the unworked front loop sitting like a horizontal ridge - that ridge is what gives the scarf its texture.

Chain 3 and turn again. The chain 3 counts as the first double crochet. Work into the second stitch of the row below.

This row is a standard double crochet through both loops: yarn over, insert the hook under both loops of the stitch, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. Work one in each stitch across. The last stitch of the row goes into the top of the chain 3 from the previous row (the third chain up).

The rest of the scarf is the same four rows over and over: single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet in the back loop, double crochet in both loops. Memorize the sequence and you will not need to look at the pattern again.

A typical adult scarf is 60 to 70 inches long - measure with a tape measure every few inches once you get going. Stop when the scarf is the length you want, ending after a Row 4 (double crochet in both loops) so the two ends look symmetrical.

Cut the working yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail. Yarn over the hook one last time and pull that tail all the way through the loop on the hook. Pull snug. The scarf is now locked - it cannot unravel.

Thread the tail onto a yarn needle and weave it back and forth through the back of three or four stitches at the edge of the scarf. Reverse direction and weave it through one or two more. Trim the leftover close to the fabric. Do the same with the tail at the starting end. The scarf is done.