Truer colors in this photo.

Stitch pattern: 1 stitch at each edge in garter, which folded under very nicely, leaving a clean edge, then between these garter edge stitches, 3 repeats of 15 stitches (cast on 47 st):

Row 1 (RS): *K2tog, K5, YO, K1, YO, K5, Sl1, K1, psso*

Row 2: Purl

Repeat these 2 rows for pattern.

I used a cable cast-on and used a size 6 needle for binding off. There are two rows of stockinette after the cast-on before starting the pattern and two rows before binding off, both in the burgundy yarn. Easy peasy and nice and pointy.

The scarf was just glad to finally get to meet the coat of its dreams, my “black coffee” brown, wide-wale corduroy peacoat:

Finally, doll face, we’re together! The perfect harmony of chevron merino and black coffee corduroy.–Chevron Scarf.
Who are you?–Coffee Peacoat.
I’m your destiny. We are meant to be together for all time.–CS
Well, I hope you don’t think this is an exclusive deal. I happen to know there’s going to be a lot more scarf knitting going on at chez Molecular Knitting. And if you think I’m going to stick only with you when I know there’s a red sportweight alpaca scarf on the horizon, you need your head examined.–CP
You wound me, angel! I don’t match any of her other jackets or coats! I need you to be true.–CS
If I had a dime for every two-bit merino scarf that sang that sad song, I’d have a diamond stick pin in my lapel.–CP

Perhaps it’s best if we leave this sad little scene. I’ll try to find something else that I can also wear with the chevron scarf. I had no idea my peacoat was such heartless coat about town! It must get very bored with just me to wear her.

Well, I’m off to work on the pink cabled-rib sock. Time’s running out on my self-imposed deadline.

Happy knitting, everyone!

ETA:  M ran a daiquiri experiment on Sunday.  You can read about it on Cocktails with M.   It was very tasty!

“Block me, baby!”–Chevron Scarf.
“What’s to become of us?!”–Aran Pocket Shawl.
“We’re gonna be blocked, straightened out, my YOs opened up, your welts flattened out.”–CS
“Oh, Mr. Chevron, I have such palpitations when I think of the blocking! Will you be with me and protect me, Mr. Chevron, dear?”–APS
“Look, Doll, you’re a shawl and I’m a scarf. No one wears a shawl and a scarf at the same time, not even on the pages of VK. I’ve got a date with a coffee-colored, wide wale corduroy pea coat. We’re kismet. We’re destiny. We coordinate. You need to find yourself a nice shell or blouse in a nice navy blue or plum.”–CS
“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”–APS

While my handknits prepared for blocking, M whipped up the quintessential Tiki drink: the Mai Tai.

M as usual did a stupendous job on the bartending front, however, I was not fond of the Mai Tai. It was very sweet, and the orgeat (almond) syrup was over-powering in my opinion. M liked it better, considering it the “ultimate” Tiki drink, but agreed with me that the Mojito and Hemingway Daiquiri were tastier. I guess they can’t all be winners. We’ll just have to try again next weekend!

I hope all of you had a great weekend!

I was happy to see that I can still make wrapped wire loops that I’m not embarrassed to wear out into the world, so this little aquamarine colored ensemble graced my neck and ears today. The pearls are actually a pale aquamarine, too. It felt good to wear a new bauble. Now I feel ready to pick up the pointy stickes again, as I didn’t have nightmares last night of round-nosed pliers coming after me or being stoned with giant Czech glass and Austrian crystal beads.

The pink sock looks good, but I had it on my foot for a while, so it’s a little stretched out and wants a soak and block before it’s photo shoot. As I mentioned the chevron scarf grows longer, and until about 20 minutes ago, I’d completely forgotten that I need to block the Aran Pocket Shawl. But so as not to post without any knitterly pictures, I did splurge last week when I found the 150 g (600 m) skeins of Sea Silk at Colorsong Yarn.

This is Blackberry Sea Silk. We’re in love.

May your knitting dreams be blissful!

First up, the pink braided cable rib sock is almost to the toe! It looks a little goofy in the photo below as the instep needle did not care to be photogenic today.

Astute readers will notice that I stopped doing the cabling once I finished the gusset decreases. This braided cable doesn’t stretch out as flat as a simple cable, and I thought for comfort, switching to the rib was a good idea. It was a compromise between not wanting to have the cabling only on the leg, but also wanting a comfortable sock. I think it will work for me.

Next up we have an very disappointed chevron scarf posing (but not willingly) on the couch-o-meter. The scarf rather clashes with the threadbare ruby red couch cushions, and it resents be photographed thusly. But it is one couch cushion long! As I want a short scarf, it won’t even make it to a full two cushions before the bind off. I plan to knit to about 44 inches (2 couch cushions=48+ inches) and then block.

She better not take my FO picture with me lying on this %#^&*@# couch!–Chevron Scarf.

Third up has no picture, but I am teaching myself to carry and tension the yarn differently. My way of carrying the yarn is becoming more and more awkward and annoying. It is hard to get an even tension without constantly dropping and picking up the yarn again, and my tension gets looser and looser the faster I knit. So, I am trying to finish my current projects in the old method while training myself in the new method behind the scenes so to speak.

Finally, the chevron scarf did not grow any longer than one couch cushion today for two reasons. The first is that I have a new baking pan for uber-cool individual bundt cakes. I tried it out today on Amaretto Cakes from a Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel. The pan worked! It was so cool!

Fleur-de-Lis, Bavarian, and Cathedral little bundt cakes!

The second reason for lack of chevron scarf progress this afternoon: a Hemingway Daiquiri:

Not your frozen limeade daiquiri by a long shot

I had two such daiquiris today, but since M used my calcium-fortified grapefruit juice, I built strong bones while I drank. BTW, the recipe M used is from the book and a Bottle of Rum by Wayne Curtis. M enjoyed the book immensely.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Three couch-cushions and your scarf is complete! 3.5 cushions makes a shawl!

Almost 2 complete sofa cushions of Aran Pocket Shawl knit! The chevron scarf isn’t so far along, but it is much narrower, so it may catch up. Can we stand the suspense?! Has putting in 12 hours of work today made me silly?! Is the damage permanent?! Can I relearn ending a sentence with only one punctuation mark?!

Tune in later this week…!

As it was, this weekend when I wanted to get started, M, my swift, was off running errands. This left Option 1. Now, I don’t own Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and my LYS doesn’t really sell books, and my local bookstore didn’t have a copy. I had seen the stitch pattern on blogs, and I have knit Feather and Fan, so I pretty much understood the game plan. But I decided to mess around on the web and see what other sorts of chevron stitch patterns I could find. At Yarnover I found a chevron edging from nineteenth century Denmark that I liked (really pointy). I charted the pattern, changing a few decreases so they would be directional (all were K2tog in the original), added 2 edge stitches to my chart in garter stitch and cast on 47 stitches. At least, 47 stitches was the goal. Since I made 2 set up rows where I didn’t have to count, it wasn’t until the first pattern row that I realized I had miscounted the cast on as I cast on and when I recounted after casting on. I ripped and cast on again. Then after counting wrong again, I ripped a second time. The third time was the charm, and I was able to count to 47 twice and start my scarf. Whew!

The colors are better in real life!

I got home from lab too late to take pictures outside, so the colors are much richer and better in real life. Trust me, these yarns look great together. Although I can tell I am going to want to knit a burgundy tweed sweater to “go with.” Ever since seeing Neither Hip nor Funky’s sensational Sunrise Circle sweater in glorious orange tweed, I have been coveting tweedy yarn.

It was not a happy weekend for sock knitting. Two pairs were ripped due to fit issues and pattern frustration. I do have a successful sock in the works, which no one but Elsie (who doesn’t blog) has seen. I think I will wait until the first sock is done (I’m on the foot) before showing a picture. I’m feeling a little jinxed at the moment.

I leave you with a picture of the delicious dinner M made (well I made the rice and vegetable–they were easy) on Sunday. It was a lovely evening for our first outdoor meal of the year. He made Cedar Plank Cooked Salmon from The Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cookbook: Wine and Recipes to Celebrate Every Season’s Harvest.

Thanks, M!

Don’t they look sweet and innocent? Innocent like Brigitte’s Gandalf! Deep within their flowery hearts lurks an insidious evil. I speak of pollen. Actually, I don’t know what these flowers are, and if in fact their pollen causes seasonal allergies, but somebody’s pollen does. I am not the only sufferer. We gather at work in the morning to compare symptoms. Since I don’t wear contacts, my itchy eyes weren’t the worst in lab, but the fact that I had to blow my nose six times before getting out of bed gave me most active nose honors. The lovely breeze today just spread all those plant male gametes around, and with 315 cash crops in California, there is a lot of variety. It will be a couple of days before my new anti-allergy prescription will be effective. Until then, the outside and I do not get along. But you came for knitting content.

And the knitting content leads to indecision today. In my last post I was all set to make a chevron scarf as many of you figured out. I am very busy with science work for the next several weeks, so I want happy, pretty, easy therapy knitting. As I said I was all set, then I perused my sock stash looking for my STR Henpecked to give to Elsie for her birthday (if your birthday is on the Ides of March, you deserve STR), and then indecision struck. So which option do I choose?

Options 1 and 2

Originally, I chose the burgundy with the Woodland (bottom yarn), but then I found the Claudia Hand Paints in Walk in the Woods (upper left), which also looked good with the burgundy. But if that wasn’t enough to consider, I found these:

Option 3: Cherry Tree Hill in Gypsy Rose and Martha’s Vineyard

I am at a complete impasse. Any thoughts?