Freedom caterpillar (chenille) scarf

A leisurely trip through Redwood National Park in Northern California led to many wonderful new sights, surprisingly not only of flora but of fauna. The three huge elks surprised at the end of a fire road were a highlight. But I also appreciated some of the smaller inhabitants of the redwood groves: large fuzzy caterpillars. I wanted a scarf to remind me of them, and their strong coloring, with a fluorescent stripe of acid yellow down the middle of the back. They seemed to call for chenille, a natural verbal/textural pun since chenille means 'caterpillar' in French... The resulting scarf is as fluffy as the fur ones that are in this Fall, very warm and soft but not too heavy.

Level of difficulty

Beginners.

Measurements

Small version: 40" x 8" (85cm x 20cm).
Long version: 60" x 8" (150cm x 20cm).

Materials

1 ball Crystal Palace Iceland (100g, 110yd), color 7250 (jaguar), 100% Australian merino wool.
1 skein Crystal Palace chenille, color 6150 (dijon), 100% cotton. (2 for the long version)
1 ball Crystal Palace Tingle, color 9509 (bark), 100% polyester. (2 for the long version)
1 Crystal Palace bamboo crochet size L (8mm)

There is some latitude in the Iceland color. The original caterpillars were close to true black, so you could just use that stark color, 9598 for maximum realism. I chose for mine the jaguar 7250 to soften the contrast a bit, and this gives a 50s feel to the resulting colors. If you were trying for a more 70s theme, you could instead use bark 3433.

Gauge

Working pattern sc with Iceland wool, 8 st/4 inches(10cm).

Stitches used

US: Chain st(ch). Slip st (sl st). Single crochet (sc).
Britain: Chain st(ch). Single crochet (sl st). Double crochet (sc).

Directions

Using the Iceland alone, chain 80.
*Turn. ch 1, 80sc.* Repeat for a total of 3 row of sc.
Switch to the Tingle. Turn. ch 1, 80sc.
Switch to 2 strands of the chenille held together. *Turn. ch 1, 80sc.* Repeat for a total of 4 rows of doubled chenille.
Switch to the Tingle. Turn. ch 1, 80sc.
Switch to the Iceland. Turn. ch 1, 20sc. Ch 8, and sc in the stitch below, 8sc farther (ie you're chaining this section so it'll be separated from the section below, forming a large buttonhole. Sc to the end of the row.
*Turn. ch 1, 80sc.* Repeat for a total of 3 row of Iceland.
Pick up or attach the Tingle, and sc all around the outside edge. Break off yarn and work ends in.
For the larger version, proceed as above but the initial chain should have 150 stitches. You'll work it all exactly the same, but add a row of central chenille (if you have enough yarn), and skip the buttonhole.
Note that I didn't break the yarns off between sections, just chained up along the narrow side to the next place they were needed. I'm not fond of working ends in, and the Tingle effectively hides all that, so nobody will be the wiser if you decide to do that too.