Well, Vogue Knitting strikes again.

(Their "Knitting on the Go!" books are infamous in some knitting circles for the number/density of typoes, wrong information, or just plain missing information.

And as for errata - good luck finding 'em. Most of the "corrections" I've seen posted have been individual knitters' fixes of the pattern mistakes that they posted on their own websites.

And yet - Vogue Knitting gets voted one of the "Top 50 Magazines" or somesuch [the ONLY knitting magazine to get that honor, as they proudly trumpet in their latest issue.]

Ah well...what was it I was saying about the disconnect between popularity and true quality? And Vogue Knitting WOULD be the magazine chosen by the celebrity-addled, pop-culture-referencing, Madison-Avenue-driven group that probably picked those magazines. Because Interweave is "too arty and weird" and Knitters "doesn't have enough star power." And any of the smaller mags would just be greeted with a "what? Does someone, like, make this on a mimeograph machine in their basement?"

Because, you know, the Marie Antionette look is big this fall)

Annnyway. The scarf I started Monday? The one out of the chenille as thick as my thumb? Not gettin' gauge. No way in heck I'm gettin' the gauge listed in the pattern. So first, I just went along with it - I mean, it's a SCARF, size isn't that important.

Except. It was coming out wide enough to be the front of a sweater for a skinny person. And the ball (and I have but one skein of this stuff; it costs the Earth) was dwindling faster than I was comfortable with.

So this morning, in the 20 minutes or so I had between getting ready and leaving the house (I COULD leave earlier but there is something in me that rebels at driving to work in the dark when I do not have to), I ripped it back and started a new, narrower scarf.

I will say, even though the yarn costs the Earth, it's a much better quality chenille than most: it did not fray or shred when I undid the stitches. Most chenilles self-destruct when you frog, even if you frog gently. This one didn't even lose any fur.

So:
old pattern: cast on 28, make a "keyhole" about 8" up

new pattern: cast on 16, make a narrower "keyhole" about 10" up, count on a longer scarf.

The 16 sts looks a whoooooole lot better. It's a more reasonable scarf width - like 8" rather than close to 20".

So, Vogue? You are so fired on this one.