Hi, I’m a new knitter and was wondering if anyone could spell out for me what the following directions mean.
I’m starting with 38 stitches.
[B][U]Neck Shaping:[/U][/B]
At neck edge, BO 4 sts once, then 2 sts 2 times, 1 st 5 times. (25 sts)
Work until 4 1⁄2” from armhole.
[B][U]Shape Shoulders:[/U][/B]
BO 4 sts at shoulder edge.
BO 5 sts at shoulder edge.
Thank you,
Connie
Welcome to KH!
Sounds like one of the fronts of a cardigan. On the neck edge, bind off 4 sts at the beginning of a row, then knit to the end of the row. Work the next row which brings you to the neck edge again and turn. Bind off 2sts at the beginning of the row and repeat this bind off of 2sts at the beginning of the row once more.
To decrease 1 stitch, work the decrease one stitch in from the neck edge. Repeat the dec 4 more times on successive rows.
When you get to the given length, bind off 4sts at the armhole edge. Work a row without bind offs. Then bind off 5sts at the shoulder edge.
Can you give us a pattern name or link?
You’re right. This is working the front of the cardigan. The link to the PDF is below. It is a free pattern from CascadeYarns.com called “Here’s My Heart Cardi”.
I also attached a photo of the cardigan.
http://www.cascadeyarns.com/patternsFree/DK286_CherubDKHeartCardi.pdf
Your bind off explanation makes complete sense. However, should I decrease 1 stitch 5 times or should I bind those stitches off as well?
I think where I was getting confused, is if I’m understanding what you’ve written, on the front left side of the sweater, as it’s worn, I would bind off on the Knit rows at the neck edge and bind off on the Purl rows at the arms.
Then, for the front right side of the sweater as it’s worn, I would bind off on the Knit rows at the arms and bind off on the Purl rows at the neck.
Am I understanding that correctly?
You know, I just read another post here on KH and it looks like I can either Decrease 1 as you have it or bind off 1 at the neck edge.
Looks like Decrease 1 (worked 1 stitch from the neck) is the same as binding off 1 at the neck. Is that right?
You’ve got it. Bind off one stitch per row, 5 times. Yes, you can also bind off one at the neck edge instead of decreasing. The decrease gives a nicer edge when you go to pick up sts for the collar but it’s a small difference.
And yes, since you can only bind off >1 stitch (in your pattern 2, 4, or 5sts) at the beginning of a row, you’ll bind off on different rows for right and left fronts. This looks like stockinette stitch so for the left front as worn, the knit row starts at the armhole edge, so the bind off at the neck edge is on the purl row. For the right front, the knit row starts at he neck edge, so the bind off at the neck edge is on the knit row.
Really cute pattern. Enjoy knitting it.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help! This is a wonderful site and so sweet of you to help folks through their patterns. Makes the process so much more enjoyable! 