Sihnon Cable Scarf Pattern

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Just a quickie post for now because the whole house is sick. First DD, then me, then DH. I think it's a side effect of DD going to daycare and bringing home lots of goodies. She's been spewing cooties all week.

Il y a toujours du bon dans la folie humaine.
There is always some good in human craziness.
-Auguste Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, L'Ève future, livre I, 3

Copyright © Smariek Knits 2005-2008. All full copyright rights are reserved by Smariek Knits.

Pattern: Sihnon Cable Scarf (scroll down for download)
Yarn: Elann Luxury Merino Superwash DK, Merlot, 5 balls
Needles: 5mm (US8)

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Sihnon is cable scarf #13 in my series of cable scarves. I used my current favorite Elann yarn, Luxury Merino Superwash. Are you guys sick of me mentioning this particular yarn? Sorry, I can't help it. I love working with this yarn. Including this scarf, I have made 8 scarves using this yarn (the others were: Bernadette, 2 Regina, Winterbourne, Hera, Triumph and Ezra). I just hope Elann doesn't decide to discontinue the yarn!!

The color is called Merlot and it is a red wine color, although I could have sworn it had a rust red look to it at times while I was knitting with it. I think it had to do with the lighting. Anyhow, the scarf color is a bit "off" in these photos, it's actually more like the color in the photo of the balls of yarn.

I think the cables are interesting to look at. While they are crossing, there is a center section that weaves over and under. After finishing the scarf, I decided that I liked the way it look unblocked.

Elann Luxury Merino Superwash, Merlot color

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THE EVOLUTION OF A SCARF

I thought you might be interested to see how I arrived at the final design for the scarf. It all started with the Chain Link Cables in BW4. There are actually 4 variations: Left Cross Chain (LCC), Right Cross Chain (RCC), Left Wave Chain (LWC), and Right Wave Chain (RWC). At cursory glance, the LWC and RWC look exactly the same as the as the LCC and RCC with the exception of an 8 row offset. It's true that the cable crossings appear at an 8 row offset, however the cables themselves are actually quite different. In the LCC, the front part of the cable always crosses to the left. Similarly with RCC where the front part of the cable always crosses to the right. The Wave Chain cable crosses differ in that the front part of the cable alternates between left crossing and right crossing, this results in the same 3 stitches passing over in front in all the cable crossings. I know this probably doesn't make much sense unless you actually see all four cables side-by-side, and even then the difference is so subtle that it is easily overlooked until you look more closely at the cable crossing instructions.

Despite requiring 2 cable needles, these four cable panels are really not that difficult once you grasp what is really going on. The cable is 9 stitch wide. The center 3 cables weave over or under. You have 3 stitches on the left and 3 stitches on the right. These 2 sets of 3-stitches will cross over each other in either a right crossing fashion or a left crossing fashion. So all you're really doing is combining these two things. You will either work a right cross or a left cross, and then you throw in the center 3-stitch section which goes over or under the cable crossing. Once you understand what is going on, then it becomes quite logical how you manoeuvre your 2 cable needles.

Barbara Walker refers to the various cable crossings as Chain Crossings A, B, C, and D. I find it easier to refer to them as LC-OVER (left cross over), LC-UNDER (left cross under), RC-OVER (right cross over), and RC-UNDER (left cross under). The LC and RC refers to how you orient the left 3 stitches and the right 3 stitches. The over and under refers to how the center 3 stitches will weave relative to the crossing cables. Once you understand which way things are going, you will automatically know what you need to do for the cable crosses in the next cable crossing row.

VERSION ONE:

I started out by choosing the LCC and RCC cables. Looking at the cables from left-to-right, they are: LCC, RCC, LCC, RCC. They are separated by a K1-B. I originally thought of doing P K P, but then changed it to P K1-B P after I cast on for this.

Version 1

It's hard to distinguish the cable crossing where the center 3 stitches pass over the cable crossing. In these two cables, LCC and RCC, the cables are left-crossing and right-crossing respectively. (In the photo below, the panel on the left is RCC and the panel on the right is LCC)

Version 1

After knitting over 80 rows, I looked at what I had so far and decided I did not like the K1-B between cables or the border design I chose.

The advantage of starting with this cable panel combination is that I became intimate friends with all 4 variations of doing the cable crossings: LC-OVER, LC-UNDER, RC-OVER, and RC-UNDER. It was great practice! ... or, I must admit, frustration at times...

VERSION TWO:

Version 2 is pretty much the same as Version 1. Can you spot the differences?

The only difference is that I used K instead of K1-B between the cable panels and I used a garter stitch border on the sides. I definitely prefer the knit stitch over the knit through back loop. One advantage to doing this is that it is much faster for me to knit & purl than to k1-b (on the RS) and p1-b (on the WS).

Version 2

Version 2

VERSION THREE:

I changed cables for version 3, using only the LCC and using an offset in adjacent panels. I decided I didn't like how the center 3 stitch over and under sections lined up across rows in the previous two versions. I definitely liked the results of the offset cable panels. And the beauty of this combination of cables is that only two different cable crossings are used: LC-OVER and LC-UNDER. So this was definitely easier after having done versions 1 & 2! :-)

I guess I should explain why I chose the left-crossing cable. For whatever reason, I always find it easier to do left-crossing (or front-crossing) cables. This is why the cables in my 3AM Cable Hat are left-crossing.

Version 3

Remember what I mentioned above about the LCC and LWC? In this version, the cable crossings are always left crossing regardless of whether the center 3 stitches are weaving over or under. If one of these panels were LWC (instead of LCC), then those left & right 3 stitch sections would have been right crossing whenever the center 3 stitches are weaving over. It's a subtle difference though and I think most people wouldn't pick up on it.

Version 3, close up

Version 3, close up

For those of you who feel "uneven" by doing left-crossing cables only, then you may like my Londinium Scarf which may appeal to the "equal opportunity" cabler.

SCARF PATTERN DOWNLOAD

Sihnon Cable Scarf Pattern:
Sihnon Scarf Pattern from Box.com (no registration required, just click on link & save file)

My series of cable scarves...

Persephone Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2006/12/persephone.html
Ariel Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/04/ariel.html
Miranda Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/06/miranda-scarf.html
Osiris Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/09/osiris.html
Bernadette Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/bernadette.html
Regina Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/12/regina.html
Paquin Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/03/paquin.html
Beaumonde Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/04/beaumonde.html
Shadow Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/04/shadow.html
Hera Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/08/hera-scarf-pattern.html
Triumph Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/08/triumph-cable-scarf-pattern.html
Ezra Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/09/ezra-cable-scarf-pattern.html
Sihnon Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/10/sihnon.html
Londinium Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/10/londinium.html
St. Albans Valentine Cable Scarf:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/11/scarf-15.html

elann.com Peruvian Luxury Merino Superwash
100% Machine Washable Fine Merino Wool
21-22 st/4 inches 3.75-4.0 mm (US 5-6)
112 m (122 yards) per 50g (1.75 oz) ball
$3.98 USD per ball

Stitches used in the Sihnon Cable Scarf include:
Garter Stitch, BW1 pg 10
Left Cross Chain, BW4 pg 213

Copyright © Smariek Knits 2005-2008. All full copyright rights are reserved by Smariek Knits.
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