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Time for The Red Scarf Project Again

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I’ve been a follower of the Red Scarf Project for years. This program, a part of Foster Care to Success, sends care packages that include red scarves to college students who have been in the foster care system on Valentine’s Day. It’s a sweet little reminder that someone cares about them and is thinking about them.

red scarf projectWhen I first heard about it, the project was pretty small. But it’s so big now that they only accept scarves for part of the year, and the time has come to start sending in your scarves if you want to take part in the program next year.

The project requirements are for knit or crocheted scarves that measure about 60 inches long and 5 to 8 inches wide. They’re for young adults of both genders, so keep that in mind when designing. They also should have red in them in some way, but you can choose the shade.

Scarves are only accepted between now and December 15, so get to knitting if you’re moved to.

One of my patterns, the Basketweave Scarf, is featured in their suggested patterns, but I actually knit a similar one, the 4×4 woven scarf, which I sent in to the project many years ago.

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Krampus Sweater Knitting Pattern

Santa and Saint Nicholas generally get all the good press, but Central European kids know you don’t want to just be good so you get presents from St. Nicholas; you also want to avoid the ire of Krampus. (He’s depicted as a human-like figure with horns and usually hairy or furry who gives birch rods instead of gifts to kids who are bad.)

If you’re the type to embrace the naughty side (or you just want to scare the children into good behavior over the holidays), maybe you’ll want to knit a Krampus sweater.  

This one, from Sofie Amalie Laulund, is a top down circular yoke sweater with Krampus faces at the top and cavorting Krampuses further down the body, with some traditional Scandinavian snowflakes thrown in for fun. 

Because of the large motifs there’s not a lot of room for adjusting the fit, but it is available in five sizes (the Ravelry page doesn’t say what the sizing is, and it says its worked with no ease but the photo looks like the sweater has a bit of positive ease, so if you decide to make this one just check the measurements and your own comfort level for ease when picking a size). 

It also uses five colors, but there’s very little red and brown so you can probably use scrap yarn for those parts. It calls for DK weight yarn. You’ll want a background color that helps the creatures stand out. You could also work the snowflake bands in different colors if you want to mix it up. 

The pattern is available in both English and Danish, and you can find it on Ravelry. This is the designer’s first pattern, which kudos to them because it’s such an ambitious (and fun!) project I’m happy to add to my collection of whimsy-filled knits. 

[Photo: Sofie Amalie Laulund]