Beginner with a question of the k1, p1 pattern

#1

I am a beginning beginner! I have learned through the videos to cast on using the continental stitch, and I have also learned the knit and purl stitches from the video, using the continental method. My problem is this:

I am wanting to make a knitted tank top, that says it is suitable for beginners, and the instructions seem simple enough –

Front: ** cast on 76 sts This I have done, and it goes quite quickly…

[i]
Row 1( Right Side): K1, P1; rep from * across.
Row 2: K1, P1, rep from * across

Rep Row w for ribbing until 11 inches from beginning, end wrong side row[/i]
.

This is where my confusion and non-characteristic pattern comes into play.

I understand that when you ‘cast on’ using the continental stitch, this makes the first ‘knitted’ row…

I am casting on my 76 sts, then when I get to the end, say for instance I end in a K1 stitch… In turning my work, do I begin with a K1 stitch or do I begin with a P1 stitch? I am not sure, and the first two rows of the pattern are to apparently repeat themselves until I have obtained 11 inches from beinning, end wrong side row.

To make my question shorter, and perhaps more clear, what should I be doing when I hit stitch #76 as a K1 and need to turn?

Thanks for your help! I am so anxious to learn, yet patient enough to learn to do it right!

Rhonda of Manhattan, Kansas

#2

Just treat your cast on as just that–your cast-on row. Count row 1 as the first row of your pattern.

#3

Hi~
(Newbie here, too!) I thought “continental” was simply the method used to hold the yarn…right hand or left…loop around a finger or a as a “THROWER” myself…pinched between the finger & thumb and thrown over the needle before pulling the stitch through.

If the number of stitches are even - 76 - for DPN’s an even number of stitches on each needle means you always start the next needle with a Knit and end up with a purl. Knitting K1, P1 repeat in the round on a circular needle you would end with a purl so long as you didn’t make a mistake!!
I know this, because…

edited: What she said! :slight_smile: As soon as you’ve cast on start right in with knit 1, purl 1 rib - even number works out: start with a knit & end with a purl

Wait a minute…you said: WHEN I TURN. Does your pattern say P1, K1 on back side to keep the rib pattern going? (Are you going to be sewing this together later… instead of knitting in the round??)

I think (our newbie) confusion starts here: you said, “I understand that when you ‘cast on’ using the continental stitch, this makes the first ‘knitted’ row”

Your first row should be K1, P1…not all Knit…shouldn’t it?

#4

Sometimes people count a long-tail cast on row as the first row in stockinette. That doesn’t apply here.