The concept is based on the appearance of the Global Temperature 6 Colour Climate scarf (see image) showing 100 years of global climate (1920-2019), but uses gradient or variegated dyed yarn to minimise yarn changes and difficulty. The whole idea is to combine beauty, ease of construction, practicality and activism. For an accurate Global Climate scarf see Common Grace’s Knit for Climate Action scarf or 6 Colour Climate scarf .

Scarf dimensions

22cmx160cm (9x64in) using 8ply yarn - 200g per scarf - when using 30 sts and 4 rows per year.

Material:

1 50g cake OZI DK - Gradient dyed 8ply/light worsted/DK knitting yarn - Sunburnt Country or similar from a local producer
1 50g (about 15-20 g needed) cake OZI DK - Gradient dyed 8ply/light worsted/DK caramel coloured knitting yarn. Butterscotch or other neutral shade from a local producer
1 50g cake OZI DK -Gradient dyed 8ply/light worsted/DK aqua to purple knitting yarn. Parrot or similar from a local producer

It also looks great if you can get gradient yarns of greens and yellow/orange/brown toning to represent drought as a result of Climate change. Just use the green instead of blue and the brown instead of red. Fire and drought are colourways that represent common effects that I am familiar with. Please share colourways that represent the effect on climate change on your region: Cat 5 cyclones/hurricanes, or severe blizzards or flooding or….

For the simplest scarf, buy gradient yarn as pictured; Start with the hottest; Change to neutral then to cool; switch back to neutral for WW2 and then back to cool until the end. More experienced knitters are encouraged to add greater accuracy in proportions and an extra fire colour for the first 10cm. If ordering custom yarn, ensure that the lightest shade of the warm colour is the same as the darkest shade of the neutral to even yarn changeover. A mid-blue gradient to royal blue would probably work better than the royal to navy used in the first scarf. Starting from the hot end allows for the scarf to end when the full cake of cool yarn is used up.

If you are using variegated wool that does not have the gradient across the full length of the yarn, then use the following measurements for the various shadings for greater accuracy. Given that this is an Impressionist scarf, the level of accuracy vs artistry is a personal choice.

Hottest: 10cm (4in) black or combine 4ply black cashmere /4ply orange for fire
Hot: 21cm (8in) burgundy or brown
warm 23cm (9in) red or orange
neutral: 20cm (8in) beige or cream etc
cool: 55cm (21.5in) mid blue or mid green to match intensity of chosen warm colour
WW2:10cm (4in) chosen neutral colour
cool: 16cm (6in) mid blue or mid green
cold: 16cm (6in) navy or forest green

Join with others in groups to share yarn if you are wanting to create multiple accurate scarves.

If posting images on social media please use #showyourstripes