My friend (and expert knitter) Lynn saved some leftover sock yarn I had admired when she was working it up. There was just enough for a small and narrow neck-scarf.

The scarf was started at the bottom point by tightly casting on 3 sts with THE smallest needles I own.

Thereafter, the point was increased by one stitch on one side only, every other row. This makes the pleasant looking “candle flame” curve at the bottom of the pointed end. The increases stopped when there were 30-something stitches on the needle.

The edge 3 stitches on each side are held in stocking stitch, to create a rolled edge, the outside (edge) stitches are a slipped selvedge.

The main body of the scarf is single seed stitch.

Just before the narrow neck part, two sets of short rows (once, every 4 stitches, once, every 6 stitches) were worked to make the scarf curve. In seed stitch, the wrap-and-turn part of a w-a-t short row can be left right in the work--the bump simply does not show.

Several stitches were then decreased away on both edges,--just before the narrow neck--to make a “shoulder.” I believe I probably cast off 4 stitches total, each edge. The decreases were a k2- or P2-tog, with the innermost selvedge stitch “eating” the adjoining seed stitch.

The ribbed neck part was actually worked in stocking stitch: there were two sets of short rows, worked in 4 stitch increments, evenly spaced a bit before and after the center point of the scarf. This made the scarf curve even more. After the stocking stitch was finished, it was transformed to ribbing by dropping the columns, then hooking them up into ribbing. Anywhere I ran into a wrap-and-turn from the short rows, I simply unwrapped that st and drew the next ladder through both sts. Working the narrow part in stocking stitch and then transforming it made working the short rows easier (no ribbing to account for) and also, I like transformed ribbing better than as-you-go ribbing (it is tighter, IMHO).

Once I had transformed all the ribbing, it was reverse course: I went back to seed stitch, I added back all the stitches on the edges, to make a “shoulder” corresponding to the first, then worked the two sets of short rows corresponding to the curves on the first (longer) part of the scarf-ette. I then worked on the corrected stitch count until I was almost out of yarn.

To prepare for the swallow-tail split coming up at the bottom of the second half of the scarf-ette, at exactly the split point, but before the split occurred, I transformed a 5-column-wide “arrow” of seed stitch into stocking stitch with a crochet hook. This “arrow” (the middle column longest, the side columns each one stitch less high than its inner neighbor) formed an anchor for the stocking stitches which were then knit to frame the inner edges of each swallow-tail.

The very bottom part of the second half of the shawl is worked as a swallow-tail, with the decreases on the inside edge of each tail. There is actually one decrease on the outside edge of each tail, near the end, to make for a pleasant “inward” curve at the end of each tail.

The two tails were then fastened together with a few crochet sitches, using the tail ends hanging there.

The scarf is worn by inserting the longer end through the opening created by attaching the swallow-tails together.

Thank you Lynn, for the lovely yarn, it was super fun to work up!

PS: Yes, I would work this pattern again: it is good for leftover yarn because the swallow-tails can appear in a pretty long range as compared to the longer end, so when you’re running out of yarn, you just stop and work the swallow-tails, they take hardly any yarn.

PPS: When you get right down to it, I’ve realized this is simply a smaller and somewhat more shaped variation of my Mustard-Colored Scarf, only worked in seed stitch instead of garter!