Okay, this monster is blocked. I suggest blocking this scarf as wet as you can possibly stand, because weaving in the blocking wires alone took the better part of an hour. And while the two-stitch garter selvage works well with the overall pattern, it’s strictly for the birds. Very hard to see what I was doing, and no leeway. That said, I’m totally a novice.

Now I can see where the mistakes happened. I’m strangely calm about them. It’s because I know that once the scarf is on, they’ll be invisible again.
I like how the “checkerboard” pattern is contains rounded squares: concave and convex. It provides a lovely undulating rhythm across the surface.

I shouldn’t say “finished”…still have to weave in the ends.

So anyway, chronological project notes below.

07-01-11 Cast on 48 instead of 58, which will block out to 10” wide, according to given stitch gauge. Pattern calls for ssk. Using skp instead.

07-06-11 Finished Row 31 last night, so halfway through the second repeat. I had originally hoped that 20 rows/1 pattern repeat constituted 10%. Now I suspect it’s closer to 5%. Looks like I’m facing 20 x 20 repeats. Oh well. It’s actually a great pattern. Nice having that purl-row break every odd row. Also got the hang of ssk, which takes much less time.

07-06-11 Completed 40 rows and measured to cast-on edge: 6”. Final pre-blocked measurement is supposed to be 60” so I was right about the 400+ rows of pattern required.

07-25-11 Finished 99 rows. Scarf is a little over a foot long, roughly. 25% done!

08-05-11 As of yesterday, 125 rows completed (little over 30%)

08-27-11 Daytime power outage = 4 hours uninterrupted knitting. 197 rows complete. Or, just about 50%

10-07-11 Making a note while I’m thinking about it. Somewhere in the 280s, row-wise. Which puts me around 70% complete. Blew past the initial deadline (birthday). New deadline: December 1.

10-18-11 300 Rows = 75% done!! (Based on a 400-row projection. We might be scaling more towards 365 rows.) Considering I came up on 200 while a hurricane raged outside, the climate is much better now.

12-05-11 1:12am Bound off loosely. Completed 365 pattern rows, two garter ridges at each end. Blocking tomorrow. Photos after that.