Knitting: mens' scarf

My nephew has a knack for choosing the most intricate designs.  I know that, and, on purpose, when I give him options about a project I (almost) always make certain that there is nothing elaborate.  How I end up with yet another pattern that will test my abilities, I really have no clue... Case in point:

I wanted to knit him a scarf, as I did for my niece.  No problem so far.  I gave him two alternatives, he chose one of them. Again, no problem.  Once I started reading the pattern in detail, it dawned on me -- I had no idea what was going on...

Enter the search for a similar pattern that could provide a way out of this problem: the Array scarf seemed straight-forward and looked fairly similar to the original design.

I cast on 75 stitches, knitting it flat so that I would get the scarf I wanted.  On I went knitting and ... after 18 rows I discovered I was doing it all wrong.  Scratch everything and start anew.  The second time was a charm and I was content.

What I was not content about was the time it took - because each row is basically knit twice (once in black and once in white), it eventually took double the time to finish.  Note to self:  think very carefully before committing to such projects...

The end result is wonderful however:  a great little scarf, perfect for the young man!