Easy Pattern, but confused

im very confused, i thought it said knit 17 rows in my book but im not sure, it says

Front and back alike make 2:Beg at lower edgeand cast on 81 sts. Work in Garter St (k every row) until 17 from beg. Bind off all stithes.

WHAT DEOS THIS MEAN??? Im really confused. I casted on 81 sts. and i started to knit and im on row 15 i think and it looks like im not making any progress. did i just waste a bunch of yarn?:chair:

and then on top of it all, its curling and i dont know how to stop it! Help me plz.

What are you making? Should it be 17 inches from beginning? Can you give us a link to the pattern.

this pattern is in a book i have, i can take pictures

The pictures are not very clear but I am pretty sure it says work in garter stitch until work is 17 inches long from beginning. You will have to rectangles which when seamed will make a vest. Good Luck.

Look at the diagram in the book; I’m sure it means work for 17".

Yup, you’re fine. It DOES say to knit 17". You’ll have knit a rectangle or a square when you’re through. Just keep doing that garter stitch (knit every row) thing and keep measuring as it starts to get longer. It doesn’t look like it’s curling to me-- and when you sew up the side seams, that will take care of any curl on the edges. As for the bottom edge-- it looks fine in your photo, no curl. Garter st takes longer because it takes 2 rows to make a ridge. But you’ll get there. What is the name of the book and what page is it on?

What maybe looks like curling is from the sts being squished on the needle. As you knit more length, the edge will have more room to spread out and by the time you’re done, it won’t be rippled like that at all.

Yep- what everybody said! (17" & it won’t curl- you’re fine)

I just wanted to add- it’s coming out really nice! Your stitches look great!

When I see the knit front and back alike to me it says make the front and the back of the garments the same, meaning there is 2 pieces that will be sewn together later.
It looks to me that they want you to Garter stich 17 rows. However looking at the blurred picture are you sure it isn’t saying 17 " (inches)? then BO all stitches?

There’s likely a missing [" inch] symbol in the text. Reading the schematic (drawing) of a pattern usually gives dimensions.

If you look very closely, and especially if you increase the size of the print on the page (in Windows, at the very bottom right of the screen is a plus signe with “100%” next to it-- that’s where you increase it), there is a very definite mark after the parentheses, which abosolutely looks to me like a " sign.

Oh. Actually, there is one there. It says knit to 17 (18, 19)" - it’s just after the )

Well im knitting from a susan bates beginner knitting book and its a garter stich vest, i will try to take the advice given to me and see what happens! thank all of you!