It’s really warm and really sunny here in Edinburgh. By ‘really warm’ I mean about 17 degrees C. In my little suntrap garden my thermometer has been up past 30: this is rare! And very welcome! But the downside is that my pale, pale Scottish skin can’t really cope. I’ve just burnt my neck by sitting out without suncream for an hour. Oops. (Actually, that is me not coping: I know I burn within an hour, I just somehow can’t accept it…I’ve slapped on some factor 50 now.)

I like to/have to wear a voluminous cotton scarf in summer, basically to keep from frying in the sunlight, if we’re lucky enough to get any. This year, however, those scarves seem to be made mostly of viscose or polyester, and I’m far more crunchy and natural than that. I read that the price of cotton has soared, so this is why it’s actually pretty hard to find clothes which haven’t got some modal or viscose in the mix, but sadly the fact is that I don’t much like the creasing they bring, or the strange, thin, cold feel of the fabric. Anyway you need a scarf with a bit of heft to it, otherwise it just flubs around your neck like a limp rag.

So I bought myself a bit of cotton fabric in a cheery stripe with all the blues in it, and a bit of cream and taupe. It’ll basically go with everything I own. As you can see, I’ve been very conscientious and pre-washed the fabric. I then cut the piece in two, perpendicular to the selvages. One of the selvages is noticeably dodgier than the other: I put the pieces together (no right-side/wrong-side issues with this fabric), pinned, and then sewed a French seam to encase that rough-ish edge. Next time I’ll definitely do a flat fell seam, but my sewing machine’s in storage so I was skimping on the amount of hand-sewing I might have to do.

Then I tackled the raw edges down the sides. Some time ago, when we worked together in a yarn shop, Kristen made a fabulous scarf by taking some fabric and giving it a crochet edging. My crochet skills are not fabulous, but I can manage an edging with no shaping or complication. I used some old Yarn Yard cotton/tencel blend, poked through the forgiving fabric with a 2mm hook, then switched to a 3mm for the row which made the ‘ladder’. Kristen’s instructions have a third row, which gives a good scallop to the edge, but I really liked how the ladder and the stripes worked together, so I left it there. It’s so simple, as many of the best things are. I really like it, in a summery, Toast sort of a way.

It still took aaaages to work all along the two sides. Not that I’m complaining, the result is worth it, but man that first row where you’re rolling the edge of the fabric and poking through…not fast. Fiddly but satisfying when done. I’ve bought more fabric (some plain linen in…ta dah! Teal, like nearly everything I’ve bought this year) so I obviously wasn’t put off the thought of ever doing it again, but it’s kind of a box-set commitment. Link to Kristen’s instructions here. Highly recommended (she has a good blog, too)!

Next up will be my Agnes sweater. Since I began writing this post (a couple of days ago) the weather has, predictably, turned. Go Scotland. I’m going camping very soon and I have a feeling I will need a crunchy, chunky, woolly jumper with pockets, since all self-respecting Scottish people need one pretty much all the time, just in case. (I’m a bit wibbly about camping. First time since I was 22. Hmm.)