For those of you that are not from Kentucky, you may have heard how crazy University of Kentucky fans are. Burning couches, keying Louisville fan cars, storming the streets in Lexington… I am here to tell you that it is all true.
Although growing up in Kentucky, my mind has always been immersed in the arts, so I was just aware of the dedication UK fans have but not anything more. From the outside looking in I never quite understood all of the obsession with this color blue.
Years later after dating one of these fanatics and “broadening my horizons,” I have found a piece of my heart has ironically been lost to the Big Blue Nation. Perhaps there is a reason that involves some kind of syndrome where I fall in love with something, just by sheerly watching it countless times. Every chance Cody has ever gotten to watch UK play on the biggest screen possible, he has made me watch it with him. Regardless, I am now actually excited to sit down and watch the Cats play. I even have been to a couple of UK football games! Here is a post about my first football game experience, as told through the eyes of an artsy person from my previous blog, A Brush of Southern.
Since becoming a UK fan, I am not necessarily going to set a couch on fire, but my closet wardrobe has gotten considerably blue. During one of the snow days last week I sat down to add a blue accessory to my collection.
This scarf was made with bulky, size 5 weight yarn, a perfect material for going out in the snow. Because of how chunky the yarn was, it worked up pretty quickly.
Although it may not look simple, the up down stitch is actually a great stitch for beginners to use to create a textured, slightly bubbly project. All it is is alternating single and double crochet! Know how to do those and you will be just fine!
Although you don’t necessarily have to use the same colors as I did, here is the pattern for what I am calling my BBN Fan Cowl.
BBN Fan Cowl
Materials
2 100y skeins of bulky weight yarn of royal blue
1/2 skein of cream colored yarn
As I said before, you don’t have to necessarily use blue for this pattern, but its the best color of course!
This pattern works in a round with no seam, so once you start there are no direction changes. The white edges are just for a nice touch. This pattern is not difficult but can be tricky if you don’t pay attention to which stitch you are on. For example if you DC twice in a row, it could mess up the rest of the pattern.
Ch 125. This creates a thick cowl around the neck once it is double looped. Slip stitch into the first chain.
Rows 1-10: Ch 1. *DC, 1 SC, 1 DC, 1 SC,* Repeat from * to *. Your stitches should alternate from row to row. For example, you should be crocheting a double crochet on top of a single crochet. This creates a slightly puffy stitch throughout all the rows. (125 stitches)
Tie off the last stitch and weave in the tail.
Row 11: Change to cream yarn. Finding a SC from Row 10, start with a DC then alternate to a SC. You will be repeating around the whole scarf, counting carefully to make sure your stitches are aligning with opposite stitches from the row below.
Turn your project upside-down and repeat Row 11 on the other side of the cowl.
The cream yarn looks beautiful like lace against the blue, or whatever color you decide to pick. You should also take a moment to admire my bed head that was a result of staying in the house during the snow days.
AND my photographer, my grumpy little sister tried to take a decent picture of me standing out in the snow until she couldn’t take it anymore. Kudos to Kelsee!
Finally I have a blue scarf to add to the growing blue in my closet. I’m glad this snow day was spent doing something productive, even with wild hair and a sister that is complaining about something as trivial as snow…pshh.
Does anyone enjoy the up down stitch in other patterns? I would love to know what projects you make with it.
Leave a Reply