Get ready….

 

Sit down….

 

Take a deep breath…

 

 

I have acquired a random wound on one of my fingers.

Okay, that’s not actually the thing I have to report. But I DID get a random wound yesterday whilst making bread. (I can’t even find it now. It wasn’t gushing blood and I wasn’t dizzy with pain, so I ignored it. The bread dough probably sealed it shut, or something like that.)

Okay. Here we go.

I HAVE DESIGNED A KNITTING PATTERN AND IT ACTUALLY PROPERLY WORKS AND IT HAS BEEN APPROVED AND IT IS DONE.

AND IT IS RIDICULOUSLY GEEKY.

 

 

So, remember the post I wrote a while ago where I confessed to being a silly fan fiction writer? A fan fiction writer, no less, of stories set in a role play universe? It kind of escalated. I decided to design patterns for the characters. And one of them has moved beyond a sketch and a vague idea of how it will all go together. Here it is, folks. For people out there in internetland looking for an easy pattern. (I feel so gloriously spiffy about it all! First pattern, yay!!)

I give you:

the Steve McAllister scarf

 

Welcome, folks, to the 23rd century: a time of advanced technology, space adventures, and implausible science. A couple explanations are going to be needed for the name, before we go on to the actual pattern. So sit back and relax. 😀

Ahem:

Out of the mists of time, in the games, jokes and fun section of an online chicken-centered message board, four lonely, friendless, homeschooled teenagers with too much time on their hands came together, thrown in each others’ paths by a shared interest in space travel, role play games, and frankly impossible science. Thus the Space Travel Role Play game was born. The role play died a few years ago, unfortunately, but the characters lived on, fueled by the players’ attachment to them and the fan fiction, of which there is a great abundance. The creator’s character was a wisecracking smartship, and the four other main player’s characters were a short pink-haired alien, a talking cat whose color is still not yet determined, a paranoid supersoldier, and a wolf by the name of Steve McAllister.

Since there have been more than five different stories written by five different people, Steve McAllister’s history is a jumbled one, but basically, he used to work as a SPACE PIRATE, plundering rich starships and building up a grand fleet. (All while wearing a fabulous hat of course) After that, according to various opinions he either settled down with his mercenary friend David Archer “Q9” and became a semi-law-abiding person, generically gave up piracy, or was captured and forced to participate in a horrible government experiment. Either way, at some point he gave up piracy, became good friends with Q9, and was forced to participate in said government experiment, wherein his brain was put inside a wolf’s body, and the wolf’s brain was placed in his body, in an attempt to create a ruthless killer with the instincts of a wolf, and a wolf-soldier with the intelligence of a human. But part of the experiment went wrong, and the Steve-body-with-a-wolf-brain thing died, forcing Steve to remain a wolf. It’s not really clear what happened after that, but eventually, Steve and Q9 joined the crew of a smartship named Kooshie, along with a girl named Eenie and a cat named Crazy. As they say, the rest is history.

 

And there you are. Explanations done. Or maybe you’ve skimmed to the bottom, because it’s a common and well-established fact that people do that when faced with large blocks of text. 🙂 Anyway, the Steve McAllister scarf is a fairly simple pattern, knit with a garter stitch border around the edges, and a diamond-y/rhombus-y pattern within. A good pattern for someone just beginning to learn lace knitting.

Materials:

For lighter-weight scarf:
US size 3 needles
About 396 yards of fingering/sock weight yarn
For heavier scarf:
US size 7 needles
About 396 yards of worsted weight yarn

Tapestry needle

There’s no specific type of yarn I would recommend for this. Basically use whatever type you want.

Cast on 41 stitches
Knit four rows in garter stitch.
On the next row you will start working the lace pattern, knitting a garter stitch border as you go along like so: Knit 4, follow chart as written to last four stitches, knit four.
All wrong side rows, or all even-numbered rows, will be knit as follows: Knit 4, purl to last four stitches, knit 4.

 

NOTE: It is very important to make sure you have fully read and understood the above. The numbering on the instructions does not apply to the whole project. It is there in that way merely as a way to help you keep track of where you are in the pattern. EVERY SINGLE WRONG-SIDE ROW should be followed by a row knitted as I instructed above: Knit 4, purl to last four stitches, knit 4.

Steve lace pattern:

Row 1: K 4, (K2tog, YO, K1) X3, K2tog, YO, K3, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K4

Row 2: K3, (K2tog, YO, K1) X3, K2tog, YO, K5, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K3

Row 3: K2, (K2tog, YO, K1) X3, K2tog, YO, K7, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K2

Row 4: K1, (K2tog, YO, K1) X3, K2tog, YO, K9, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K1

Row 5: (K2tog, YO, K1) X3, K2tog, YO, K11, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK

Row 6: K2, (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K13, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K2

Row 7: K1, (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K15, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K1

Row 8: (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K17, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK

Row 9: K2, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K19, YO, SSK, K1 YO, SSK, K2

Row 10: K1, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K21, YO, SSK, K1 YO, SSK, K1

Row 11: K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K23, YO, SSK, K1 YO, SSK,

Row 12: K2, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K25, YO, SSK, K1 YO, SSK, K2

Row 13: K1, K2tog, YO, K27, YO, SSK, K1

Row 14: K2tog, YO, K29, YO, SSK

Row 15: K2, YO, SSK, K25, K2tog, YO, K2

Row 16: YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K23, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO

Row 17: K1, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K21, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K1

Row 18: K2, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K19, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K2

Row 19: (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K17, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2

Row 20: K1, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K15, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2, K1

Row 21: K2, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K13, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2, K2

Row 22: (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K11, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3

Row 23: K1, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K9, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K1

Row 24: K2, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K7, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K2

Row 25: K3, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K5, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K3

Row 26: K4, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K4

Row 27: K5, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K5

Row 28: K6, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, K5, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K6

Row 29: K7, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2, K7

Row 30: K8, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2, K8

Row 31: K9, (YO, SSK, K1) X2, YO, SSK, K5, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X2, K9

Row 32: K10, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K10

Row 33: K11, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K11

Row 34: K12, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K5, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K12

Row 35: K13, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K3, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K13

Row 36: K14, (YO, SSK, K1) X3, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, (K1, K2tog, YO) X3, K14

Row 37: K13, K2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, K13

Row 38: K12, K2tog, YO, K5, YO, SSK, K12

Row 39: K11, K2tog, YO, K7, YO, SSK, K11

Row 40: K10, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K10

Row 41: K9, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K5, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K9

Row 42: K8, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, K7, YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK, K8

Row 43: K7, (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, (K1, YO, SSK) X2, K7

Row 44: K6, (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K5, YO, SSK, (K1, YO, SSK) X2, K6

Row 45: K5, (K2tog, YO, K1) X2, K2tog, YO, K7, YO, SSK, (K1, YO, SSK) X2, K5

 

Work lace pattern six times in total, or until the scarf measures roughly 59 1/2 inches to 59 3/4 inches.
Knit four rows in garter stitch, and bind off loosely. Weave in the ends with the tapestry needle, and block to open up the lace. You might find that the lace is open enough though, so only do it if you actually want an extra wide/long scarf, because otherwise you could end up with a scarf that looks like it came straight out of the ’70s.

Enjoy your scarf!

Eleanor