I am making a doll’s sweater from the March 2007 issue of Creative Knitting. The pattern stitch is called Mistake Stitch, multiple of 4 + 3 stitches. It makes a nice kind of ribbing pattern, but the trouble I’m having is when it comes to binding off at the arm, and decreasing.
The directions say to Bind off at the beginning of the row 4 stitches 4 times, but it doesn’t say whether to bind off in pattern or not. I’ve tried to do it both ways (some purlwise and some knitwise), but then after the stitches are bound off I can’t figure out how to make the stitches continue in the pattern. Then I need to start decreasing on the right side rows (might have been nice if they had told me which side was the right side, lol!, but I think I can figure that out).
Any ideas on how to keep this straight? I can tell whether to start with Purls or Knits at the beginning of a regular row, but the binding off is messing me up…
Thanks! I’m a relative newbie here, have only lurked so far.
Typically (and this is coming from a not so experienced knitter), it is my understanding that you are to bind-off knitwise and regular (not in pattern) UNLESS the pattern instructs otherwise.
Best of luck. I’m sure others will chime in on this as well.
I’d BO in pattern… The bind off is only the part about passing the 1st over the next one, otherwise it’s just like working the row. That might also help you figure out what the next st should be, though you could look at the sts on the rows below it to figure out what it is. Same with decreasing, the other sts below your next ones will help you figure it out.
Ok, I have the binding off thing down now. That part looks good. Now how do I decrease? The pattern says to do K1, SSK, then continue in the pattern across to the last three stitches, K2Tog, then K1. I can do that, except that I am having a hard time telling whether to purl or knit to keep the stitch pattern going. The pattern is 4 stitches plus 3, but the decreases are only 1 at a time…
Am I making any sense? I’ll fudge with it some more and maybe I’ll be able to figure it out, but I wish the pattern had been more specific. Maybe I won’t make the matching girls’ sweater for my daughter, if the pattern isn’t any better than the one for the doll! lol.
What I do is make a chart of my stitches. I will chart out 2 rows before the decrease is to be made, then on the decrease row when I chart that out I can tell what stitch will follow by reading the stitches below the decrease. I hope I said this clear enough that you can get what I am talking about. Oh I should add I don’t necessarily do the whole row in charting just the part concerning the decrease you know a couple of stitches before and after just to get the pattern going.