Work in Progress: Khair-ish

The "something new" mentioned briefly at the end of my last post is a modified version of Khair.  For some reason--perhaps because of the way the scarf is arranged in the photographs in the pattern description--I thought that the pattern was asymmetrical, with a cable on only one side of the scarf.  However, the pattern as written is symmetrical, with a large panel of a repeating stitch in the middle, and a cable flanked by another pretty stitch on each edge of the scarf.

There's nothing wrong with the pattern as written, but when I found that my first attempt at an unmodified Khair was too tight on the suggested 4.0 mm needle, I decided to rip back, size up my needle to a 4.5 and switch things up to match the asymmetric scarf I had stuck in my head.

I'm now working three cables on one side, with the centre panel of stitching from the original pattern on the other side, making for a roughly 1/3 and 2/3 split.

It's not that I didn't like the pattern--I still think it's very pretty--but I do like it better this way.  Also, one of the stitches called for in the pattern involves purling three stitches together, and I wasn't a big fan working this on the back side, so I adapted the stitch to a k3tog thing to be worked from the front.  It's close enough to the right look, and sooooo much easier to knit.

Knitter in the dark?

The biggest challenge to this pattern has definitely been the yarn itself.  I love the Cascade 220 Sport--it isn't super-soft but it's appealingly springy and sturdy, and the stitch definition is good--but knitting with navy blue yarn in the darkest months of the year in a cabin that's generally ill-lit requires a little creativity.

I have been meaning to make a lampshade for this thing for ages, but mostly it just gets pulled out whenever I need extra illumination for animating or whatever.  I was too lazy to figure out how to hang it from the ceiling, so I slung it over the bookshelf instead.

It's being propped away from the wall with an old Dawson City Music Fest program, and held in place with a trashy romance novel I bought at the Salvation Army in Homer, AK (which is about all that book is good for).  Not exactly home decorating at its finest--and it's certainly not doing any favours to my art collection--but it is keeping me from going blind.