Curly Tutorial

Making cute curlies is fun, and so easy, once you know how. You really only need to know basic stitches, and you too can make corkscrew curls. To make a basic curl you make a chain and then go back adding 2 or 3 stitches in each chain stitch. I like to only add 2 cause I like the curls to be more “relaxed”. You can use single crochet, double crochet, or any stitch you like. It depends on how big you want the curl. For the Unicorn Scarf tail (pattern @ <a href=”http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/unicorn-scarf” title=”Unicorn @ Ravelry” target=”_blank”>Ravelry</a>. I used single crochet.

I will show you how to add a curl as you do your work, and I will show you how to add a curl after you are done. Both ways will have you crochet the curl on. No sew (except darning in your ends).

First will be how to crochet it in while you do your work.

Here I have made a square in hdc stitches. Stop where you need your curly to be placed.

Make a chain. Remember it will curl up, so if you make it 15 stitches it will actually show as much shorter. I made my chain 15 stitches.

Since we are doing these curls in single crochet, you will start in the second stitch from the hook. Make 2 single crochets. Now make 2 single crochets in each chain ALL the way down your chain.

Now that you are back down you will start crocheting your row again. Just continue in the next stitch. No skipping.

Be careful you do not do any skipping, as you will need to have the correct amount of stitches, or it will become too tight or too loose.

Continue to the end of the row and turn (or add more curls in the same row). Now in the next row you can crochet right over it like you normally would. Count your stitches to make sure you didn’t add or skip stitches.

If you turn over your work you should barely be able to see where your curly was added.

When you use this technique you can add as many curls you like and you can add them close or far apart. I used this technique for my Octopus pattern.

For the Unicorn Scarf tail you can use the above technique. But since I decided to add curls as an afterthought, I use the next technique.

It does look best if you use the same colors, but for you to better see what I am doing I used a lighter color for the curls.

Start by deciding where you want to start (for the unicorn tail I started at the very edge of the row).

Poke your hook through as shown in the below photo.

Hook your yarn.

Pull through.

Yarn over.

Pull through.

Repeat.

Continue until you have as many stitches as you want. For the unicorn scarf I started with only 2 stitches in the beginning of the row and 3 single crochet between curls.

To start your curl make a chain. Make it as long as you like. For the unicorn scarf I made 21 chain stitches.

To make the curl put 2 single crochet in the second chain stitch from the hook. Continue down to the end by doing 2 single crochet in each chain stitch.

Continue by going into the next stitch.

Yarn over and pull through.

Yarn through and continue until you have the amount of stitches you need between your curls. As I said for the unicorn scarf I did 3 stitches between each curl.

You can read more about the Unicorn Scarf (Curly Instructions) <a href=”http://www.wersoto.com/unicorn-scarf-curly-instructions/” title=”Unicorn Scarf (Curly Instructions)” target=”_blank”>HERE</a>

Unicorn Scarf (curly instructions)

You can find the pattern for this Unicorn pattern at both <a href=”http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/unicorn-scarf” title=”Unicorn Scarf @ Ravelry” target=”_blank”>Ravelry</a>. It is a pattern for the basic unicorn scarf. Everything you need to know to make the basic scarf is in this pattern.

This is how the basic scarf looks, however this one has a white body (scarf), where the one in the pattern has a striped body (scarf):

Now, if you would like to turn this scarf into this:

you will need to add curlies to the tail. It is actually very simple. You know from the pattern how to make these little curlies, but how do we add them.

Here is how:

I added a row of curlies to each stripe on my tail. I added the row just a bit above the middle of the stripe. Using Single Crochet stitches hold the tail so the tip is pointing away from you. Start on the stripe closest to you. As far to the right side start adding 1sc, then another. Now start your curly. Mine are 20 stitches long. Follow instructions from the pattern on how to do these cute curlies. Once you finish the first curly, then do 3 sc. Make another curly. Do this all the way across the stripe. You can make your curlies longer or shorter.

A row of curlies will look like this:

If the curlies are long enough you wont need to worry about being too neat, I do try to keep my row nice and straight. Just makes a better quality scarf.

In the last stripe (the tip) I tried to make it look a little better with first 2 curlies in the row, then I sc’ed around and did another curly below.

Like this:

The tail should now look like this:

I make the curlies for this pattern by chaining 21. Then I start by making 2sc in the second chain from the hook. Then 2sc in each chain all the way back to the end.

I feel that if you make 3sc or 3dc in each it curls too much and it doesn’t look “natural”.

If you have any trouble figuring this out please do not hesitate to ask me. You can find my email address in the pattern, or you can post a comment here.