Today I’ll show you how to do the first cable-like stitch pattern.

I hope you have gotten used to the basic stitch pattern? It is presented in the CAL #0 - The Introduction and briefly repeated in part #1 of the CAL. All the following stitch patterns are built on top of the basic one.

Btw. It is great to see your photos in the Facebook Group StoneGnome Crochet. Thank you ❤️

The 'Little Flames'

The stitch pattern looks like vertical waves or maybe flames. I am not a knitter, but as far as I can see, knitters have a similar-looking stitch pattern that is called candle flames. So, I'll call this stitch pattern 'Little Flames'.

Making Columns Sway

The basic stitch pattern has very visible stripes in columns. These columns will now be forced to sway. For some of you, it might be easier to totally forget about columns.

All the waistcoat stitches (ws) will still be placed on top of other waistcoat stitches, but by adding and removing stitches between them, they will sway and look like little flames.

The Flame Stitch Pattern

Well-formed Chains

As part of the pattern, 2 chains are made after each other quite often. It needs a little attention. Especially in regards to the second chain. Be careful not to pull a stitch tighter after a loop has left the hook. The front loop of a chain will mostly make a horizontal bar, but maybe not if the chain is misshaped.

Control Your Gauge

When you make fewer chains between two WS than you did in the previous round, then it is easy to accidentally make bigger chains than usual. Push the WS together, so you get the same gauge throughout the work.

Written Flame Stitch Pattern

ALWAYS place a ws in a ws (or in a sc) and NEVER in a chain. Skip chains if necessary, even if it doesn't say SKIP. This makes the instructions a lot simpler.

Part 1:2

1. *ws, chain 2, (skip), ws, (no chain), skip*. Repeat ** all the way.
   Remember to make your chains well-formed.
2. Repeat 1. Remember to make every ws in a ws and ignore SKIPs.
3. Repeat 1.
4. Basic stitch pattern. *ws, chain, (skip 2), ws, chain*. Repeat ** all the way.

Part 2:2

5. *ws, (skip), ws, chain 2, (skip)*. Repeat ** all the way.
6. Repeat 5.
7. Repeat 5.
8. Basic stitch pattern. *ws, chain, ws, chain, (skip 2)*. Repeat ** all the way.

Repeat part 1 and 2 until this section of the scarf is 9-10cm (3.5-4in). You can stop after doing any round of the basic stitch pattern. That is after round 4 or 8.

The amount of rounds you make depends on your gauge in height. So instead of counting rounds, it is easier to use a measuring tape to decide when to end the Flame Stitch Pattern.

The Middle Part

Use the basic stitch pattern in the middle of the scarf. Check the current width of the scarf frequently. When it is 15cm / 6in (medium size scarf: 12.5cm / 5 inch), you have reached the middle of the scarf:

Basic stitch pattern. *ws, chain,*. Repeat ** all the way. (Skip chains)

Do a sanity check. If you consider to make the scarf wider - or you are short on yarn, check if you have at the least half of your yarn left. Use a scale. Weigh your work (remove the hook and heavy stitch markers) and weigh the leftover yarn too.

Frog or make extra rounds until you are satisfied. Attach an extra stitch marker here, so you can always find the middle of the scarf.

Continue doing the basic stitch pattern. Count the rounds already made in this stitch pattern. Then you know how many more you need for the middle part to be complete.

The FULL Video

You can watch the full video here and wind/rewind through the parts, you would like to re-visit.

Extras

Adding a New Yarn

At some point, you might run out of yarn and need to join a new yarn ball. These stitch patterns are not easy to sew and hide yarn ends in. I suggest a Russian join. Crochet a little tighter while using the joined parts of the yarn and it will be close to invisible.

Changing Colors

The best place to change color is while making the first waistcoat stitch in a new round. It should also be at a time when there is at least one chain between the first WS and the next WS. Start the stitch in the old color and when you do the last yarn-over this should be in the new color.


I prefer to do a Russian join here too. I crochet all the way to the point, where I want the color to change. Then I hold on very tight to that exact point (on the old color yarn) while frogging a few stitches. Now I know exactly where to insert the tip of my sewing needle, to get the color change placed right.


It sounds like a little bit of fiddling and it can be. The good part is that you don’t have any ends to secure later on.

Next

Next time I’ll show you the second cable-like stitch pattern. :)

Problems and Sharing

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