Why, here's a scarf!

Pattern: Drooping Elm Leaf, taken from Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns
Yarn: TLC Cara Mia (50% acrylic, 19% nylon, 18% rayon, 13% angora; 3.5 oz; approximately 210 yd) in #2205 Melon
Needles: US8

I love one-ball patterns. This knitted up so quickly with the soft yarn, and blocked successfully. I calculated how much yarn I would need for the pattern and so I knew I had enough to make this scarf. Here's how I did it:

1. Knit up a swatch of the selected pattern (2 pattern repeats plus garter borders) of just one length repeat.
2. Measure its length in inches (x).
3. Frog the swatch and measured how many inches of yarn were used. I used inches, not yards, because I wanted to use up as much of the yarn as possible.
4. Divide that by 36 to figure out how many yards total were used (y).
5. Divide the yarn's total yardage by total yards used, y. This is the number of pattern row repeats you'll end up knitting.
6. Multiply that by the swatch length, x.
7. The result is the total length of the scarf, minus any top and bottom edging, in inches.
8. To figure out the total length of the scarf, minus any top and bottom edging, in feet, divide by the number by 12.
9. To factor in garter edging, I did one less repeat of the pattern.

Reading: I promised a review on Toby Faber's book on Stradivari: it was a good, informational read on the master violin maker and his instruments. It was not like Le Violon Rouge at all, but if you're interested in the man or the magic of his instruments, it's an engaging read. No time to talk, it's busy around here!