Stepping It Up and Interrupting Cables

So today is all about the writing and the knitting...I have to get my crap together because I have to work tonight. And the next five after it.  That's right...six nights in a row...78 hours on the schedule in one calendar week.  If I fall over, then all i can hope for is someone friendly puts a ball of yarn under my pillow.

But today, I finished the review on Vickie Howell's new book, Step It Up Knits.  The book is worth every penny for not only yourself, but any knitter in your life...Vickie did a great job at capturing the simplicity of each technique through every pattern.  Here it is:

http://www.examiner.com/review/step-it-up-knits-book-review?cid=db_articles

I also finished the pattern from Seattle and posted it to Ravelry.com.  Here is the text of it, and the photos can be found on the Ravelry page...hope you like it!

Interrupted Cable Cowl

I spent the entire year making scarves for my subscribers enrolled in my Scarf of the Month Club, and then after fourteen prototypes, I went to Seattle and forgot a scarf.  Or rather, I forgot all of them.  I made a bee-line to the nearest local yarn shop and whipped something up in a few hours.  It’s only a ten-row pattern, and you can get any cute buttons you would like to jazz it up!  Not bad for an afternoon walking around Seattle.

Difficulty:  ●●○○○ (If you can knit, purl, and do cables, you can do it)

Size: 

Approx. 6” x 29” (one size)

Materials:  

Malabrigo Rasta (90yd/150g skein), color 96 Sunset, one skein

Size 15 (10.00mm) straight knitting needles

Large-eye tapestry needle

Cable needle

3 cute buttons

Stitches:

K – knit

P – purl

C8L – Place next four stitches on a cable needle and hold in FRONT of work, (K1, P1) 2x next 4 sts, then (K1, P1) 2x stitches from cable needle

Gauge: 

10 stitches = 4 inches in garter stitch

Pattern:

Cast on 16 stitches.

Rows 1-3:  Knit all sts.

Rows 4-6:  K4, (K1, P1) 4x, K4

Row 7:  K4, C8L, K4

Rows 8-10:  K4, (K1, P1) 4x, K4

Repeat a total of eleven times, or until you are almost out of yarn.  Bind off after Row 3.

Finishing:

Weave in ends. Sew three buttons, evenly spaced, on one end.  Buttons should be small enough to fit through stitches, but not so small that they can’t catch on the stitches.

If you look for me, I'll be trying to sleep, trying to knit, trying to write, trying to catch up...