Dust off your long-stashed ruffle yarns, kiddies. It’s time for something DIFFERENT! It’s more than a scarf but not quite a shawl.

!!!WELCOME TO THE AFTER PARTY!!!

I designed this piece with the intent of creating something much more unique and interesting than the simple garter stitch patterns issued by the yarn companies which accompanied the ruffle yarns. I acknowledge that “interesting” is a matter of opinion, but in my opinion, I’d say I succeeded!

I don’t know about the cat, but I sure am enjoyin’ it!

-Cousin Eddie (Christmas Vacation)

The title of the pattern is a playful acknowledgement that my splash into the ruffle-yarn scene has been made well after the yarns have (mostly, if not completely) been discontinued.

Techniques
I discovered a great many ways of working with the ruffle yarns while swatching for this pattern. I then invented terms and symbols to represent them. All of the terms are explained in the pattern with photos, and there is a ~25 minute video demonstration available as well.

The piece starts on the narrow scarf portion which is worked in garter stitch using two colors. The colors alternate every row, so half the rows slide the stitches (or otherwise transfer them back to the non-working needle), and the other half of the rows turn at the end.

Bobbles are interspersed throughout the first half (or so) of the work. Increases and decreases create shaping. Garter stitch shifts to stockinette stitch and back again when stitches are picked up along one edge and rows of garter stitch are worked to create a corner. Finally, stitches are caston-worked-bound off 3 times to create tendrils.

Instructions are included for an optional keyhole.

Yarns
This pattern requires the use of both a tape-style yarn (such as Red Heart’s Ribbons) and a net-style yarn (such as Red Heart’s Sashay).

Pink sample-- 80” L x 13.5” D/203cm L x 34cm D

• 2 skeins (200g = ~84yds / 76m) Red Heart Boutique Ribbons
• 1 skein (100g = 24yds / 22m) Loops & Threads Radiant

Green Sample-- 60”L x 9.5” D/152cm L x 24cm D

• 1 skein (100g = ~42yds / 38m) Red Heart Boutique Ribbons
• 1 skein (100g = ~24yds / 22m) Loops & Threads Radiant

Brown Sample-- 60”L x 8.5” D/152cmL x 22cm D

• 1 skein (100g = ~42yds / 38m) Red Heart Boutique Ribbons
• 1 skein (100g = ~23yds / 21m) Red Heart Boutique Sashay Boho

Needles & Notions
Gauge is not affected by needle size with these yarns. I recommend nothing larger than:
5mm needle
Circular needles are recommended to prevent loss of stitches when the project is set down.

The project may be worked on straight needles, but just a heads up: might get a little tedious through the increase and bias sections when the stitch count grows and stitches are transferred after every other row.

2 markers are strongly recommended.

More About the Pattern Document

The pattern contains much information about the (as far as I know) unique ways of using the yarn. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the “Yarn Anatomy and Usage” section before beginning, or else the pattern instructions may indeed make no sense.

There are worksheet pages to help you calculate how many stitches to pickup along the left-hand side for the Edging and yardage for the Tendrils section. I have provided fill-in-the-blank math equations for both metric and imperial units.

Also, there’s an explanation as to why it may be a good idea to measure the length of a single loop on both your yarns before you begin.

There are several pages of modeled photos for styling inspiration (I found a great many ways to wear the piece), and also just for fun because I got a little carried away having SO much fun with my video shoot (from which I captured still-shots for the modeled pattern photos) and photo editing.

Instructions are written and charted with best intentions to make everything clear for non-english speaking people, and there are two pages each of chart symbol key and stitch definitions. All this adds up to roughly a 30 page document!

The document is made more easily navigated by the use of hyperlinks throughout. More on that on p. 2 of the pattern. However, when testing it out on my mobile with the .pdf document reading app that I use, the hyperlinks do not work, yet they do on my computer. So hyperlinks may not be supported by all document-reading applications!