Hello Kitty Granny Squares Scarf

A project from a few weeks ago, for a sweet young girl on her fifth birthday:

I’d seen the idea on Ravelry: a scarf (and a bag) made of granny squares and Hello Kitty squares. But when I tried the pattern for the HK part, I couldn’t get the face to look right, especially those ears.

So I tried my hand at making up my own pattern, using the photos I’d seen as a jumping off point. And I actually figured it out! (Though I lost track of how many times I started over and how many bound-off white faces got tossed in the reject pile.)

BTW: I love using paperclip stitch markers (green one visible in bottom left of photo). Idea – and superb shape-tweaking instructions – came from futuregirl.com.

Some close-ups:

front “right” side with flower… and a face
that my perfectionism embroidered and ripped out
about twelve times before my rational side said
“It’s good enough already. Stop it!”

back “wrong” side without flower,
but with intact face which is one reason for the dozen do-overs –
I wanted BOTH sides to look nice…

granny square #1

and granny square #2

BTW: I loved joining the squares as I made them. Idea – and superb photo-illustrated instructions – came from attic24.typepad.com.

* * *

12/6/09: I’ve written up the pattern and posted it here. Warning: it’s really long – I’m not sure how best to shorten it. Brevity: not one of my strengths! But so many who’ve been requesting the pattern are fairly new to crocheting, so I wanted to include the kind of stuff I wish someone had told me when I was first learning… But seriously, it’s really long!

At the end of it is a link to a shorter, less information-packed but hopefully helpful pdf of the pattern.