Unbaked #6 - The Shell Scarf

I saw this scarf pattern in a craft store and wouldn't you know they had free copies hanging right next to the example scarf!  I thought I'd try it out & share.  Well, my first run was a bust!  So I searched for the shell stitch as the pattern suggested, and to no avail I just couldn't seem to find what I was looking for... but since my dear friend Google rarely leads me astray, I eventually found this Front Post Stitch link that looked like the scarf I saw hanging in the aisle!  Hooray!  So here it goes...  I changed it around a bit to make it work for me.  I used a large wooden crochet hook that was my great-grandmother's, and some "country blue" yarn that cost a whopping $2.97 (+tax) at Wally World.

If you take the instructions one step at a time with patience, you will be happy with the outcome.  I pulled out my scarf at least 5 times before getting it right!  Once you get it down, it's a piece of cake!

In the first three steps, every time you seen chain, it is referring to the beginning chain of 20.

SECTION ONE:

Getting Started:

1. Chain 20 stitches loosely
2. Going backwards down the chain from where your hook is, in 4th chain from the hook, create 2 double crochets, chain 2, and 3 more double crochets in same stitch (or 4th chain).
3. Continuing down the chain, skip 3 chains.  In 4th chain, create 3 double crochets, chain 2, and 3 more double crochet in same stitch (or 4th chain. 

REPEAT STEP 3, 3 TIMES.  You should be at the end of your original 20 chains.  

SECTION TWO:

For the remainder of the scarf:

From here on, you will continue to repeat the following instructions until the scarf gets to your desired length.

1. Chain 3, turn.   Create a front post double crochet in the next 2 double crochets of the previous row.  (This is where is gets tricky & you might need to glance at the link if you don't already know this stitch)  Chain 2, then 3 double crochets in the chain 2 of the previous row.
2. Skip the next 3 double crochets and skip that next chain 2 also.
3. In the NEXT set of double crochets, create a front post double crochet in each of the three double crochets, chain 2, and then 3 double crochets in the chain 2 of the previous row.  

REPEAT STEP 3, 3 TIMES.

REPEAT SECTION TWO UNTIL YOUR SCARF IS AS LONG AS YOU WANT IT TO BE!

Good luck and have fun!