"Blackwork" head scarf

Here's the pattern for a project I've been working on sporadically for the last few weeks. The pattern is adapted from a photo of a tray cloth embroidered by Olive Prior shown in Blackwork embroidery: Design and technique by Margaret Pascoe (London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1986). The pomegranate motif is a symbol of Catherine of Aragon, who is credited with introducing blackwork to England.

Although I am obviously deviating from the traditional colour scheme by working with purple floss on pink gingham, I will be making the design fully reversible in the best blackwork tradition. (I find Paula Kate Marmor's explanation of how to analyze patterns to render them in Holbein stitch most helpful.)

How to crochet a lace head-scarf

I just learned to crochet and discovered it is surprisingly easy to create a fancy-looking piece such as this—and cheap too: this head covering used only a tiny fraction of a $7 ball of Circulo Cléa crochet cotton, which I bought at Mary Maxim at Yonge and Eglinton.

Here's how you can design your own.

1. Measure over your head from ear to ear to determine the width of your scarf.
   
2. Work up a swatch of filet crochet to determine your guage. I did 4DC filet mesh with a 2.5 mm hook (although after I was well into the project I realized that the Cléa label says to use a 1.25 mm hook; I was so distracted by the Portuguese labelling that I didn't notice that in the store and just guessed what size to use.)
   
3. Figure out how many squares across you should make to get a scarf of the correct size. Choose the nearest odd number.
   
4. On graph paper, work out a design. Mine (49 squares across) is shown at the right. Click to see a larger version. (I see that in drawing it on Adobe Illustrator I made a mistake, but you get the idea. If you have a larger head or smaller squares you could make a more interesting pattern.)
   
5. For a scarf x squares wide, work a foundation chain of 3x + 1 (for 4DC filet mesh) or 2x + 1 (for 3DC filet mesh).
   
6. Crochet following the chart you made. End off.
   
7. Starting at one of the "side" corners, work the lace edging of your choice around the two short edges. I used the free pattern provided on the Cléa label, shown at left (click to enlarge). End off.
   
8. For the ties, crochet two chains the desired length (mine are about 30 cm) and slip stitch to the side corners of the scarf. Then work a row of double crochet starting at the end of one tie, across the tie, across the scarf, and across the other tie. End off. Work in all ends.