Cable v neck division a step too far!!

Hi all you natty knitters! I’m fairly new to knitting and am attempting, very slowly, a cable v neck. Managed the bottom ribbed section of front, managed v fetching cable pattern- am totally lost at this bit…

“Divide for v neck
Next row (re) Patt66 (75 for my size) sts, k2tog and turn, leaving rem 77 sts on a spare needle. 76 sts.

1.Is the Patt- knitting together for 75 stitches-?
2.What does and turn mean?
3. Should I be left with the 67 stitches on the needle I’ve just worked and the 68 on the other spare needle?

This is prob all v obvious but can’t find any explanation for the and turn bit in particular.

Thanks people!

Hello
Sounds like you’ve managed well so far with a cable sweater.

The next part you need to work the two sides (left and right) of the v-neck one side at a time. It will be the bottom of the v and up to the shoulder, then you will go back and work from the bottom of the V up to the shoulder again.
When a pattern asks you to work in pattern this means you need to continue whatever pattern of stitches has been established earlier on, in your case this is some type of cable pattern with a stitch pattern in the background. You need to maintain the continuity of the pattern whilst also shaping the neck. This might involve reading your knitting or counting stitches.
Work the 75 sts keeping in pattern.
Then k2tog, then pretend you are at the end of the row even though there are still stitches on the left needle and turn the work and needles around so the wrong side is facing. Work back on the wrong side of the fabric with whatever the instruction is for this row.
The remaining 77 stitches which you have not worked you can slip purlwise onto a stitch holder or spare needle (with a stopper on the end) or cable, or onto a length of yarn (knot the ends so the stitches are safe). You will ignore these whilst ou work the first part, and later you will come back to them and slip them back onto your needle for working.

Does this help? If it’s not clear do say.
What pattern are you making?

Gosh thanks for taking time to give me such a full answer. Brain is now winding down for sleep so will have a go through that tomorrow - it certainly makes a lot more sense looking at your response than it does looking at the pattern! I will let you know how I get on. Thanks again :pray:t2:

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You’re welcome.
See how how get on, but don’t hesitate to ask again if you are still stuck on this part or another part.

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Hello again, I finally got around to attempting this stage this evening. Have worked the first row according to part and transferred remaining stitches on to stitch holder.

I am working the next row of the one side of the V Neck - Pattern stipulates

Next row : Patt to end

I’m confused as if I knit the original second row of the Pattern it is not following the cable plan and looks a mess imho! I think I’m doing something wrong?!

The second pic is the detail from that row of the bit that makes up Cable pattern. Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks people .

It can be tricky when you first try neck or armhole shaping because it alters the pattern. Take your time with it and you’ll get there.
When a pattern instruction says patt to end or patt a certain number of stitches, or ‘keep in pattern as set’ you are expected to maintain the pattern that has previously been set up, this can be hard because up to this point you probably could follow all the written instructions, now you suddenly have fewer stitches but the written pattern doesn’t take that into account. You are expected to do this yourself. (It seems unhelpful that at the point where the knitting becomes more difficult the instructions are reduced rather than increased! But it is due to patterns being written for various sizes and would take up many many pages if they were written out in full).

Some fabrics are easier to “read” than others but in any case it takes some practise and is part of the knitting skill which you will learn the more you do. Reading the fabric means looking at it and working out where each type of stitch went and what should sit above it. Should it be knit or purl or a cable cross. Have a look at your fabric, both sides if needed, and see if you can work out what comes next in your rows.

You can also count stitches, or subtract stitches from the written pattern. You made a k2tog on the first shaping row, just before you turned, that means you decreased by 1 stitch. The next row then, you can ignore the first stitch when you read the pattern and begin with stitch 2. This will work for this row. On subsequent rows you need to keep taking into account the decreased stitches.

You can also use stitch markers on your needle. If you can identify an obvious place where you know which part of the instruction goes with which part of your fabric you can put a marker in - for example just before and after a cable cross is an easily identifiable place. Identify which part of the written instruction this is and highlight it. You can then look a your knitting and say I have X number of stitches before that marker so I need to work back from the cable cross the same number of stitches and follow the pattern fom there.

If the cables disappear into the v neck shaping you will need to ignore a cable cross when there are not enough stitches to complete it and replace with another stitch (knit or purl whichever works best with your pattern).

If you don’t have stitch markers you can use loops of yarn as markers.

If you tell us the name of the pattern, or post a link to where it can be purchased, it would be helpful as we can see how it looks on the pattern photo which often helps to identify upcoming tricky parts, like disappearing cables.
There is also a chance that there is an easier way to work the wrong side which is to knit the knits and purl the purls but I’d need to see a pic of the finished item before I could really say this is the way forward. You could also check this with the pattern.

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