Original Pattern:
butnet scarf
row 1 (rs): *k1, p2tog tbl, yo, p2tog, repeat from * 2 sts.
rows 2, 4, 6, and 8: p1 tbl, yo, p2, *p2tog, incl, p3, repeat from * to last st, p1 tbl.
row 2: sl1 wyib, k2, *yo, ssk, repeat from * to last st, k1.
row 5: k2, p2, *sl1-k2-psso, yo, p3, repeat from * to last 2 sts, k2.“

Debugged and re-written pattern:
Cast on 45 sts.
Row 1 (RS): *k1, p2tog tbl, yo, p2tog. Repeat from * to end of row (36 sts, decreased 9sts)
Rows 2, 4, 6: p1 tbl, yo, p2, *p2tog, incL-p, p3. Repeat from * to last 3sts, then p2tog, p1 tbl. (36sts)
Row 3 (RS): sl1 wyib, k2, *yo, ssk. Repeat from * to last st, k1. (36sts)
Row 5 (RS): k2, p2, *sl1-k2-psso, yo, p3. Repeat from * to last 2 sts, k2. (36sts)
Row 7 (RS): Knit across (36sts)
Row 8: p1 tbl, yo, p2, *p2tog, incL-p, p3. Repeat from * to last 3sts. Then p2tog, incL-p (one stitch remaining). In to the last stitch, repeat *p1tbl, p1* 4 times total, then p1tbl to finish row. (9 stitches increased, 45sts).

NOTE on the IncL-P in WS/even rows: There will be times when you cannot knit in to the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle, because the next stitch is a yarn over (which, by definition, has no stitch below it because it was created on the previous row without anchoring it to an existing stitch). This section of the pattern is always “IncL-P, P3”. When it is not possible to perform the IncL-P at a yarn over, do it one stitch later, keeping in pattern: “P1, IncL-P, P2”.

21-22 March: It’s completely knit-able and only required a little de-bugging. It works (unbelievably) at 36-stitch wide for all but the first row, which is a decrease row. Bonus fries, this gives something roughly scarf-width in light fingering weight. Good job, Skyknit! This is an 8-row repeating pattern.

1) Cast on (a multiple of) 45 sts. Row 1 (RS) will decrease perfectly down to 36 sts. Remaining rows all work at (a multiple of) 36 sts.
2) The separately listed ‘row 2’ (starts ‘sl1 wyib’) is treated as Row 3, because there’s already a Row 2 specified in the WS rows.
3) For missing Row 7, knit across. Your brain will thank you for the break.
4) Even numbered rows 2, 4, 6, 8 are WS. Odd rows are RS.
5) A little creative fudging was needed on the ‘incl’ increases in the even (WS) rows. Keeping in pattern, I did IncL-P, an increase left purl. However, it’s not physically possible to knit in to the stitch below the next stitch whenever that next stitch is a yarn over. But since those are “invisible increases”, and immediately followed by P3, I just shuffled them one stitch over when necessary. I could have done a different increase, but Skyknit specified an IncL, so I went with it.
6) At Row 8, we need to increase back to 45 stitches again somehow, in order to do Row 1 again. I chose to do this all at the end of the row, which gives a unique scalloped edge along one side. Specifically, I did one more IncL-P (as in pattern) and then purled into the front and back of the last stitch until I had the correct count. It ends up with a neat scalloped edge. (In deference to the pattern’s preference for the IncL increase, trying to do 8 IncL-Ps in to a single stitch is against the law of physics, or at least it should be).
7) There was a magic moment in the debugging process when I realized that when a pattern says “repeat from * (to last Xsts)”, it doesn’t mean you have to complete a repeat of that starred section. Once that clicked in, the debugging was easy, AND row 2-4-6-8 worked out, because at 36 sts, you actually end those repeats on a p2tog, making the stitch count work out (because of that yo at the beginning of the row, you need a final decrease to match it).

Some final thoughts. There are plenty of ways this pattern could be interpreted differently for a different finished product:

• Spreading the increases in Row 8 (which were entirely my interpretation) across the row will result in no scalloped edge, but instead you’d get a wide-then-narrow bit every 8 rows, which might be cool looking.
• Or, you could just not increase in row 8, and make a short thing that eventually decreases to nothing. Or remove one of the decreases in row 1 and keep the whole thing at a consistent stitch count. You do you.
• Knitting across the ‘missing’ row 7 comes from the old pattern writing convention of only writing out rows that deviated from ‘knit/purl across in pattern,’ but that is a something SkyKnit has no way of knowing. Other things could be done instead. Make it a 7-row pattern, maybe?
• I completely ignored the ‘2 sts’ note at the end of SkyKnit’s row 1, if anyone figures out what those could be, let me know.
• IncL was done as IncL-P because it was on a “wrong side” (usually purl) row, but that’s just my human brain trying to make human sense of things. WS rows don’t have to be purl stitches, and RS rows don’t have to be knit stitches.
• There are probably other solutions for the issue of needing to increase in to a yarn over on the row below that would look different.
• It might even work with a different stitch count; 45-->36 sts is just what my very human yarn math brain hit on first. I did the debugging in my head and never tried to chart it out.

Above all, remember: You might be knitting a pattern that could someday communicate to an AI that you want to play a game of Global Thermonuclear War, but at least you’ll have a scarf at the end of it.