Alchemist Shibori Scarf by Gina Wilde

Alchemist Shibori Scarf

Crochet
March 2015
Sport (12 wpi) ?
16 stitches = 4 inches
in Single Crochet
4.0 mm (G)
561 yards (513 m)
72” length x 7” width (post-felted measurements) 68” length x 6” width (pre-felted measurements)
English
This pattern is available for $6.00 USD buy it now

Finally…its here.
For years, we have been besieged with requests to take the concept of
our top-selling New Magician shibori scarf knitwear design & adapt it to crochet.
The Alchemist shibori scarf is a delightful piece to make, simple as can be – and yet elegant and unusual, just like its knit cousin! Using mostly single crochet and a lovely shell stitch for the borders, the scarf combines three of our most sensational yarns ~ Silken Straw, Sparky, and Sanctuary ~to a magnificent effect. Dazzling & dramatic, this is a scarf you will want to make again & again…and again!!

A Word about the Special Technique of Shibori Crochet
While the Japanese word “shibori” cannot be directly translated into English, it basically denotes a “shape resist textile.” Most people are familiar with the concept of Tie Dye (originally called “tie and dye”), which is the most popular understanding of shibori. Ties such as rubber bands or strings are secured on a piece of fabric, and then that fabric is dyed; the fabric resists the dye where it has been bound.

Gina Wilde’s shibori design is an exploration of manipulating knit & crochet fabric, harnessing the effects of working differing types of yarns together (combing felting and non-felting fibers in one piece). In this scarf, the silk yarns (A and C) act as a resist to the wool/silk felting yarn (yarn B). When felted in a washing machine, the silk yarns actually grow in the process, while the wool/silk blend shrinks and felts (or fulls). The result produces a textured and dramatic crocheted fabric, one that is light and airy, rather than the heavy dense fabric achieved when using traditional felting methods and yarns.