Creating The Lenny Chevy Scarf

This blog was originally written in fall of 2023. 

Hello friends! It certainly has been a hot minute since I've felt I've had my mojo about me - anyone else feel that? The inevitable slump. For me, that seems to be happening more and more lately and I don't know how to prevent it. On the other hand, when my mojo does come back, it comes back relentless and in full force. At this given moment, I think I have about 5-7 pattern ideas in my head. My greatest weakness is sticking to one project in times like this instead of getting 4 started just to get the idea out of my head and made into physical form. 

The Lenny Chevy Scarf presented a different problem all together. You see, because my mojo had left town for so long, so had my impulses to shop yarn on the regular like I once would. When the scarf design came to me I knew I wanted to use Lion Brand's Wool Ease Roving yarn that I had been holding onto for years. The problem is, of course it's discontinued now. There are a few Etsy sellers with it kicking around and I'm sure Facebook Marketplace won't disappoint either. From my trials, the closest match to Wool Ease Roving is We Are Knitters - The Wool, and Wool and the Gang's Crazy Sexy Wool. I am not saying there are not other reasonable substitutes out there as well, this is simply what I had on hand at the time of testing.

I would never want to set anyone making my patterns up for a fail so I have made it my mission to find yarn substitutes. I find that this pattern looks best with single ply spun yarns however any other option will work and the scarf will still work up gorgeous. The yarn used is super bulky weight 6 yarn, and if you've played around with this weight before, then you know there are many varying weights to a super bulky across brands. For example Lion Brand Wool Ease Roving is a weight 6 and Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick is also a weight 6, but there is a noticeable difference in the weight of these yarns. Actually if you throw in Malabrigo Rasta, also a weight 6, you will find another variation. 

Take a look at the photo below of the swatches I made using the three yarns mentioned above.

All three of the yarns used here were all described as a weight 6 super bulky on their labels. In order for these swatches to come out the same the beginning chains and hook sizes had to be adjusted.

Here is how the swatches compared to the original design

The only logical conclusion I could come to was to modify the pattern to include directions for 3 variations of weight 6 yarns; wool ease quick & thick, rasta, and the wool.

Then we got into testing and it seemed there was a demand for a weight 4 option. I couldn't add a weight 4 without a weight 5 so back to the drawing board I went. We came up with multiples and guidelines so that you can use any yarn you like. 

The pattern itself is a pretty easy repeat and it's very easy to go on and on. Which was kind of the point, as the inspiration came from Mr Lenny Kravtiz himself and his infamous oversized scarf.