Is it almost August already?  I’d wonder where the summer has gone, but I’m too busy counting down days until Fall.  It’s been weeks since my last update — a summer-long silence that has been brought on by a very, very busy couple of months.  Rest assured, I’ve been toiling away on a large creative project that I’m not yet at a point to share.  But I’m getting closer.

There’s been a lot of knitting going on here throughout these hot, humid weeks, though — with sights set to Fall (this always seems to be the case, at least in my life).  As we cross the halfway point of summer, many of the larger yarn companies have started releasing their pattern previews for new Fall collections.  Last winter I designed a scarf for Classic Elite using the luxurious, heathery Ariosa in my favorite shade of icy grey.  I figure I already have a sweater made out of this yarn that feels like a big cashmere hug, so why not a scarf as well?

It’s a big, wavy, sculptural thing that feels great spiraling around your neck.  I love a good piece of texture to throw into just about any Fall or Winter wardrobe combo — Cinder can be just that.  Ariosa is a very lightly spun singles yarn composed of 90% merino & 10% cashmere, which means that despite its bulk, it remains light.  Not to mention cashmere-soft.

The reversibility of fabric in scarves is a common issue, because  after all who has the time and energy to make sure their scarf is always facing RS out? (Well, some of us try, but realistically that doesn’t always pan out)  Reversible stitch patterns are great for scarves and look good almost any way you toss them on, hence the brawny entourage of ribbed cables.  A reversible cable is generally not much different than a regular cable: the principle is the same, with one set of stitches crossing over the other, just imposed over a ground of ribbing instead of stockinette stitch.  Each side then features visible columns of knit stitches, effectively “popping” the cable.

That being said, this scarf is much, much simpler to knit than it might first appear — which is always nice when trying to impress your non-knitting friends, isn’t it? Although you will need a larger cable needle than usual, it is more or less regular 2×2 ribbing with a small percentage of rows employing a cable cross (or two). I think ribbed cables of this nature look quite good in almost any gauge — and although I made mine up in a heavier weight of yarn, a simple waltz with your calculator can easily allow you to adapt this to just about any yarn you want to wrap around your neck.

Cinder is available in Alley — one of Classic Elite’s yarn-themed pattern booklets for Fall 2010. (Find it on Ravelry here)

I’m preparing for some international travel in August — two weeks on the road overseas generally means about two weeks of planning for proper projects so as to harness the full power of away-from-home knitting time.  Then again, since I will be spending time in Shetland (knitter’s Mecca!), I’m sure I’ll find something to keep my hands busy if the need should arise…