My goal was to make lavish, extravagant use of one skein of lace weight pure undyed cashmere yarn. I normally avoid using a lot of picot stitches when I crochet for fun, yet the yarn looked and felt like it wanted to be crocheted into picots. It became a personal challenge: what if I packed in the maximum amount of picots I could muster? The result is an exquisite gift.

Pattern includes a special foundation stitch that has the picots built in. This gives the scarf a more professional drape and makes it feel even more elegant to wear. (One of my pet peeves is feeling the tight foundation chain row where one shouldn’t.)

I’ve heard many crocheters say that they don’t like the look of their picots. No matter how many picots one has under their belt, the next one may look clumsy or unsatisfying for a number of reasons that are easy to fix. Pattern includes tips for making picots to love.

Skill Level: Easy-intermediate.

There are many wonderful laceweight yarns available nowadays in all price ranges in yarn shops, but I don’t know of a comparable yarn in a craft chain store, unless you try a cotton crochet thread. In 2009, I paid $30 for one skein of Ecco Cashmere at a yarn shop.

(For some reason, a few of the Plymouth Ecco Cashmere skeins I purchased did not fully weigh 1.75oz/50g, so I recommend that you confirm the weight if you choose this yarn!)

Yarn Swatches shown from left to right across the top of photo:

1. Dark blue=Malabrigo laceweight (highly recommend, soft, drapey, pretty)

2. Aqua=Red Heart Lustersheen (stiff; you could try a larger crochet hook like a G-4mm or G-4.5mm)

3. Cream=Coats Royale crochet thread, Size #3 (stiff, pretty; try a larger hook)

4. Pink=America’s Best Perle Cotton #5 (soft, lacy in a stringy way, summery.)