Amigurumi Starfish

#1

I’ve been knitting for a while, but am just venturing into more complicated patterns and have been having fun with Hansi Singh’s Amigurumi Knits. I’m working on the Starfish pattern and have run into a snag I can’t figure out, please help!! The tops of the starfish arms are knit in the main color and then the pattern instructs 12 stitches to be picked up from the two sides of an arm (two long sides of a triangle) for a total of 24 stitches. The pattern reads: continue working back and forth in rows
Row 1 (wrong side): Sl1, K7, w&t
Row 2: P8
Row 3:Sl 1, K3, w&t
Row 4: Sl1, K10, P2tog-tbls, P2tog, K10, P1 -22 sts.

Row 4 seems to have 26 stitches in it, but I only start with 24! Where do these other two stitches come from? Are they created somehow with the short rows? Or is it a typo and I should start with 26 sts?

#2

You start with 24 stitches, but it really doesn’t matter how many you have on the needle. When you work rows 1-3 as given when you turn to work row 4 you only have 4 stitches in front of your to work on. :think: I’m thinking if you have those stitches on one needle knit flat, but perhaps you are working in the round on row 4? There were no stitches already on the needles when you picked up the 24? If not I don’t know where the 2 are supposed are supposed to be coming from.

Either you should have picked up 26 or you should not knit 26 on row 4. (And like I said unless you are working in the round, there are only 4 stitches.) Does one or the other of those make better sense with what follows?

The short rows do not create new stitches. They are not an inc of any kind. :shrug: I don’t know what to think. You’ll just have to decide what makes the best sense from there. Things like this make it hard, you have to be part designer when the pattern gives way. Good luck, maybe it will still come out somehow.

#3

Its definitely in rows at this point not in rounds. The patterns in the book have been really accurate and clear up until this point, so it seemed strange that it was some sort of a typo. Just as a double check I’m counting 26 sts right in row 4?

#4

Row 4: Sl1, K10, P2tog-tbls, P2tog, K10, P1 -22 sts.

Yes, that accounts for 26 sts.

#5

So do you think it would be better to start with 26 stitches or only knit 9 instead of 10? I’m leaning towards knitting 9 since I’m supposed to end up with 22 sts and row 5 has a decrease of 2. Does that sound like the best way to tweek the pattern?

#6

Could be. You are the one with hands on what is happening here. Whatever seems to work. I don’t really know myself.