Convertible Travel Scarf and Shrug.

I travel a lot and I like to travel light. So I invented this convertible shrug/scarf which is great if you are traveling to a summer place in September or October. It is very easy to make.
I used Knit picks Stroll Glimmer yarn, in fingering weight. Its a nice yarn, but I would have liked more sparkle in it. Any fingering weight would work great I imagine.
US11 needles so that it looks lacier and fits almost anyone because it stretches a lot.
Cast on 40 stitches. (or any multiple of 6 +4 so that you begin and end with the 4 knit stitches)
The pattern is Knit 4, Purl 2.(wrong side rows will be purl 4, knit 2).
Continue in pattern until the entire skein is used up. Bind off in pattern.

Then hand sew on the edging, what I call 'dingle balls'. I got mine at JoAnn's Fabrics. Make sure that you get ones that are delicate. If you get the ones made for upholstry, they will be too heavy for the scarf. The idea was for them to look like those rows of a million buttons with tiny button holes that you see on wedding dresses and things. Once you sew them on, you instantly have a scarf, ready to wear. If you want to convert it to a shrug you simply fold the scarf in half and moving about an inch out from the center line and start 'buttoning' the pompoms thru the knit holes. Use tinier knit holes rather than the larger ones and it will stay buttoned. Then you can take it apart again, when you need a scarf.

Voila! The perfect travel item or one skein birthday gift!

(Excuse the not-so-great photos.)

If I knew how to crochet well, I would have crocheted a thin scalloped border along the sides of the scarf. I think that would look nice and be even better for button holes. It would also be nice to try some interesting color combinations, but since I am making this first one as a gift I wanted it to be easy to wear, so...black it is!