Sometimes pattern language is succinct and elegant: a huge amount of information can be conveyed in just a few lines. But sometimes it makes something that is easy seem rather confusing and difficult. I've had a few queries about the construction of Unleaving (Knitty.com First Fall 2012), so I hope this "plain English" gloss will help anybody who is having trouble with the directions. It really is easier to knit than it is to write about!
Here’s how the scarf works: You cast on your 18 sts, 16 of which are for the edging, and 2 of which will “grow” to form the body of the scarf. You work one whole repeat (rows 1-16) of the lace edging before you start any increases. Then, while working the 1-16 row rep of the edging, you increase where specified (after that marker) a total of three times (in other words, you increase on row 1 of the edging, then work the rest of the repeat to row 16, and you do that for a total of 3 times).
Then you are going to increase twice during each edging repeat (on rows 1 and 9) for a total of 22 or 23 increases (or less, if you have less yarn). The exact number of incs doesn’t really matter--you can make it longer or shorter, as you like. But keep track so you know how many decreases you’ll need to make the other half match.
Then do the same thing backwards: Decrease twice each repeat (on rows 1 and 9) the same number of times you increased twice, then decrease once each repeat (on row 1) 3 times. Your last decrease will really be on row one of the last repeat (you’ll dec on row one and then row 16 will be the end of the scarf), so technically, the beginning will have one more row than the end (because you knit rows 1-16 before beginning the increases), but the BO row adds that extra row.
Does that make more sense? You always work the whole 1-16 row repeat throughout. The only thing that changes is that you work one increase (or decrease) per 16 rows a couple of times at either end and two increases (or decreases) a bunch of times in the middle. I hope this helps!
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