caution: knitting surgery ahead!
Before I show you pictures of knitting surgery, I'd like to show you my latest FO: the Cherry Bomb scarf. I specifically chose the red color so that it would go with my pink coat. Not very subtle, and it's possible that a black scarf would have looked more sleek and dignified, but have you ever tried to knit with black yarn?!
(Sorry, the flash startled me. I don't think my eyebrows are *that* arched. And I don't think I'm crossed-eyed).
Specs:
Yarn: Dive' Teseo (is it italian? is Dive' the name of the yarn or the company?), purchased at Knit A Way in Brooklyn. I got 3 skeins, it was all they had! I was afraid that 3x 98 yds might not be enough... But Cherry Bomb measures at 6" x 66". Perfect for a scarf you're going to tuck inside your coat.
Pattern: stitch pattern from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge, page 137. She calls it "Palm Tree Puff". I cast on 24 st, and did 30 repeats.
And now, on to the scary stuff!
It's Rapunzel, of course. This pattern is so beautiful, and yet, every single step of the way has been giving me trouble... Now, I know you can't see it in the picture that I'm linking to, but there is a cable in the middle of the back. The diagonal ribbing meets in the middle and forms a kind of upside-down "V", right at the cable. I originally thought that this cable in the middle of the back was not quite right: should it twist to the left? or to the right? I order to avoid this, I simply omitted the cable and made a column of 4 knit st in the middle, thinking it would create a nice vertical line. Well, it looked like a really crappy vertical line. See? Ugh. All that puckering...
I took my scisoors to it. (Scissors courtesy of Ms Gleek, who brought them back from Japan!).
I cut the yarn (ouch!) and unraveled 4 st. I put the top 4 st on a fancy stitch holder (aka bobby pin). 
Then, I unraveled these 4 st all the way down to the 2nd row.
I then used a crochet hook and a cable needle to create a cable.
Ta da!!
(And now, I have to go back to the lab, to do more surgeries. Well, dissections really).
