I’m a new member (HI!) and am stumped on the sleeve of a sweater I’m knitting. It is a buffalo wool sweater and actually, I’m not following the intricate pattern within the sweater (just knitting it all one colour, as I didn’t have different colours of the buffalo wool) But what I’m having trouble with is where the pattern starts to decrease. The way I read it, the first decrease is a “decrease 3 stitches at the end of a pearl row”. I know how to decrease 1 stitch at the end of a row, but 3 is giving me trouble. Can anyone help spell this out for me? I’ve attached a picture to show you what I mean.
To decrease for shaping this way, you actually BO stitches. If it’s a european pattern they don’t always differentiate between BO and decrease, since binding off does decrease the stitch number.
Thanks Suzeeq, but I tried that and if you are binding off at the end of the row, your yarn ends up still at the end of that whole row. Do you know what I mean? Unless I purl that whole row and then turn around and bind off the three stitches at the start of the next row, which doesn’t seem to be what the pattern is telling me.
(As an aside, there is very little in the way of method written on this old pattern. Tells me to do the ribbing for 9 rows then just simply states that I should follow the pattern above)
Hi Lizzzys,
The picture you have uploaded makes me think they might mean that you need to bind off at the beginning of two successive rows. So, the pattern may indeed be asking you to decrease three at the end of a purl row, but I think it would be unusual.
You might want to insert a lifeline in the row you have on your needles now if you haven’t already. This makes it much easier to rip back if it doesn’t look right to you. I love lifelines!
What I think the pattern may be asking you to do:
With the right side (public side) facing you bind off three stitches and then knit to the end. Turning the work you then bind off three stitches in purl and then purl to the end of the row.
Below is an example from this pattern I’m working on now.
“Shape Cap
Bind off 4 (4, 5, 5, 6, 6) sts beg next 2 rows.”
Take a look at the sleeve schematic and then compare it to your own. I think this is the same thing your pattern is asking for.
Yes, I think that binding off on 2 successive rows is just what the pattern is calling for. Hold a ruler up to the graph and you can see that the bind off of 3sts is offset by one row.
You don’t BO at the end of the row, you do it at the beginning of the next row. They’re really saying to decrease on both [I]edges[/I] which isn’t the same as both ends of the row.
