Colorplay Scarf, knitted version
Colorplay Scarf, crocheted version

A note from Kathleen: I'm so thrilled to announce a new challenge! We've partnered with Tahki Yarns to bring you the Colorplay Reader Challenge. We invite you to take part in our challenge by knitting or crocheting a scarf (use one of our patterns or make up your own!) using at least four colors of Tahki Cotton Classic or Tahki Cotton Classic Lite. The color choices are so amazing, though, we're pretty sure you'll want to use more than four!

Our two free scarf designs, one knitted and one crocheted, are both showstoppers. I asked designer Kristin Omdahl to tell you a little about her design process, so here she is!

A Designer's Process
By Kristin Omdahl

While at The National Needlearts Association Convention, Interweave Yarn Group Editorial Director Karin Strom and I spent time in Tahki Stacy Charles booth choosing yarns for the Colorplay Challenge. We chose nine colors per scarf because we wanted a rainbow-like ombré (colors or tones that shade into each other) within the blue and pink stripes, an ombré within the neutral stripe (albeit smaller stripe) and a bold black

Because of the large amount of color changes, it occurred to me that a lengthwise scarf would have ends that could be hidden with fringe. When I thought about how cotton classic would behave as fringe, I realized it would be perfect! Mercerized cotton cuts well, lays smoothly, and doesn't fray much over time. I thought mimicking the color stripes in the fringe would be pretty, but a solid black framing of fringe would be neat, too. You'll need sharp scissors to get a bold, blunt fringe.

The scarves are fifty-four inches long and each color sequence block plus its coordinating fringe takes one skein of yarn. I designed the scarves this way so you can easily convert this beautiful scarf into a shawl or wrap by adding one more skein of yarn for every stripe you add!

The scarf is nine inches wide, which is a great width for a scarf, but if you doubled the amount of yarn, you could have a sixteen-inch-wide wrap, or if you tripled the amount of yarn, you could have a twenty-four-inch wide wrap. The largest size would be beautiful pinned as a cape.

Both scarves are reversible. In my opinion, scarves are easier to style and wear if the fabric is reversible (not necessarily identical on both sides, but that is always interesting and pretty, too). Because the crochet version is a three-row repeat (two rows of double crochet and one row of single crochet) each color will always have a right and wrong side facing row on the right and wrong side of the fabric. For a project that will be seen on both sides, this makes both sides similar.

	Try all pinks!
	Or all blues! The sky's the limit, just choose four or more colors to be eligible for the challenge

The knitted scarf is worked in garter stitch, which as we all know is reversible. However, changing colors in garter stitch means you have some little bumps that show reversed on the back side where the colors change. Interestingly, in this pattern those little bumps only show on the decrease section and not the increase section of the waves. I thought it was subtle enough that the scarf is still mostly identical on both sides, and subtle enough that I would call both sides pretty enough to be a reversible scarf.

The color options with a scarf like this are endless! Cotton Classic and Cotton Classic Lite come in a huge variety of colors. I am drawn to ocean blues and hot pinks, so when I thought of my rainbow ombré palette, it was easy for me to pick slight variations of my favorite colors, and add two neutrals to balance the brights. Look in your closet and think about the colors you are most drawn to-pick the two most dominate colors; choose three variations of each in the yarn's color palette, and you'll have your own custom color ombré palette.

This is an easy scarf to style, too. Wear it with any color in the scarf to pick up and focus on that shade. Or, wear it with a neutral (shades of gray, black, brown or white) for a bold accessory. The length of the scarf and weight of the fringe will allow for this scarf to be worn in many ways and it will drape easily however you wrap it. Folded in half and looped through the loop is one of my favorites for a cold winter's day. Wrapped front to back at the neck, with the opposite ends brought back to the front is pretty, too. A loose drape around the shoulders, secured with a shiny black pin would be really pretty, too.

All of the info you'll need is on our challenge page, so come on, join in the fun!

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