I first became acquainted with crochet designs and tutorials of Alice Merlino (aka futuregirl) last November when I was in the middle of a stash down that had been necessitated by a major stash acquisition.

I was particularly enamored of her Starling Bag. I started by making the medium size bag from a worsted weight yarn that had been a part of my then recent acquisition:

Next, I decided to make the large Starling Bag using carpet yarn that was also part of the acquisition. As can be seen from this photo:

I have yet to finish it.

This month I have been focusing my crochet energy on the intention I set for the new year which was to finish more projects than I start. My definition of this goal is fairly broad, so when I came across Alice Merlino’s crochet heart scarf, seen here:

I was able to work it into my crochet schedule because I wanted to use this yarn:

a silk blend from Manos del Uruguay that I bought with another project in mind. It did not work well for the project I originally envisioned, and the yarn has been languishing in my empire for several months now. When I saw Ms. Merlino’s awesome scarf at ravelry this morning, I had a suspicion that it might be just the thing for this previously recalcitrant yarn, and this afternoon, I got out my 3.75 mm hook and set out to learn whether this was the project for this yarn.

After I completed the first motif, it was clear to me that this was the perfect project for this yarn. While it would be easier to see had I thought to photograph it against a color that would provide better contrast, here is an overview of the scarf:

and here is a detail:

The pattern does require a substantial bit of attention initially, but it is well worth the effort, and I expect that this scarf will become a St. Valentine’s Day classic.