Help! I don't understand the order of my pattern!

How-to Questions
1

Hello! I decided that I wanted to try and make a hat, so I bought the pattern for the Lucy Hat while it was on sale for $3.85.

[I]I did not realize I should not post the whole pattern or offer to share, so I am editing out the full instructions. [/I]

I am confused on where I am supposed to start. It describes the Woven Stitch and says what to do on odd and even rounds, starting at round 1. Beneath that is the instructions for the BRIM. The Brim says to CO 100, and then you work a series of short rows.

So, what do I do first? Where does the woven stitch part come in? Is that just what I should do after I have completed the brim and band for the body of the hat before decreasing?

I was working my short row when I saw the Woven Stitch and it said Round 1 and now I am not sure I did the right thing for the first round. I wish patterns could just be written sensibly and chronologically. :???: Or maybe I just need more experience reading them (charts may as well be Greek to me, haha!)

[U]Also[/U]: I read an AWESOME TUTORIAL on short rows, wrapping, and turning. In this tutorial it says that you should pick up your wrapped stitches, and that will look like a K2TOG… But in the underlined part of the notes I THINK that it is telling me not to pick up the wraps? So, I just pick up the stitch and ignore the wrap entirely?

[I][B]Lucy Hat[/B]

Notes: This hat is worked seamlessly from the bottom up using short-rows to create an asymmetrical folded brim that is sewn into place during finishing. [U]When working the short-rows in garter stitch, it is not necessary to work your wraps together with the wrapped stitches. The wraps essentially disappear into the garter stitch when left alone. [/U]

Woven Stitch: (even number of sts) Rnds 1 and 3 Knit. Rnd 2 K1, sl1 pwise wyf; rep from * to end. Rnd 4 Sl1 pwise wyf, k1; rep from * to end. Rep Rnds 1–4 for patt.

Hat Brim: With cir needle and MC, CO 100 (110) sts. Place marker (pm) and join in the rnd. Purl 4 rnds. Beg working short-rows…

Band: Knit 1*rnd, picking up wrap around first st and working it tog with wrapped st. Break MC; change to CC…

Shape crown…[/I]

Thanks very much in advance.

2

The pattern starts out by telling you it’s worked seamlessly from the bottom, so we know you are starting at the brim. The hat brim instructions tell you to CO, join and purl 4 rounds. You then begin your short rows. After the short rows are done it tells you to to do a complete round, picking up the wrapped stitches. You then knit a round, change color, knit a round, purl a round. You then begin the woven stitch pattern with row 1 which is worked for 11 rounds.

It looks like a well written pattern to me. The woven stitch pattern portion is telling you how it’s worked, making it easier to refer back to. The actual pattern begins with [I]Hat Brim[/I].

I think a mod will ask you to edit your post so you’re not including the entire pattern or offering to send the pattern to others because of copyright laws.

3

Oh, I am not allowed to share? Alright, I will edit that post. I do have another question. The author apparently got a lot of emails about the instructions with the short rows. She made a comment on Ravelry explaining, but it is still not making sense to me. Here is what she said:

[I]Clarification for the short rows:
I’ve been getting a lot of messages from confused knitters regarding the short rows in this hat. I’ve re-read the instructions in the magazine and I see now where the confusion is.

The instructions say “knit to 2 sts past previously wrapped st… wrap next st, turn”

This means you knit up to but not including the second st past the previous wrap and then wrap the next st. It’s the minor, yet significant, difference between saying “knit 2 sts past…” and “knit to 2 sts past”. I hope this is helpful.

THERE IS NO ERRATA FOR THIS PATTERN. THE PATTERN IS CORRECT AS PUBLISHED IN KNITSCENE.[/I]

So, does that mean you knit up to the first wrapped stitch, you knit the first stitch that is behind the wrapped stitch, and ignore the second stitch? I am new to the wrapped stitches and short rows so I am having trouble with this. I understand how to do the short rows, but this one part is confusing.

4

Knit the stitch you wrapped when you come back to it. Knit one more stitch. W&T the next stitch. Your row ends with a W&T which is the second stitch past your last wrapped stitch.

Someone else here can surely do a better job explaining than I am so don’t give up!

5

Actually, what you said clarified it pretty well for me. I suppose I will see when I get there, working on my Purl rows now.

And then, one more thing. I will just copy from my OP.

[U]Also[/U]: I read an AWESOME TUTORIAL on short rows, wrapping, and turning. In this tutorial it says that you should pick up your wrapped stitches, and that will look like a K2TOG… But in the underlined part of the notes I THINK that it is telling me not to pick up the wraps? So, I just pick up the stitch and ignore the wrap entirely? Does it matter?

6

This is how I read the designers clarification. the sample row below is the previous row that you’re knitting onto. K is a knit stitch, and W is the wrapped stitch.

KKW[COLOR=“Red”]K[/COLOR][COLOR=“Lime”]K[/COLOR]K

Working the red K is the “knit to 2 sts past the wrap”, and what her instructions are supposed to mean. To me her wording is the same as k1 st past the wrap. Then. wrap the next stitch

Working the red and green Ks is the literal “knit 2 sts past the wrap.” wrapping the next stitch after will throw you off pattern.

Notes: This hat is worked seamlessly from the bottom up using short-rows to create an asymmetrical folded brim that is sewn into place during finishing. When working the short-rows in garter stitch, it is not necessary to work your wraps together with the wrapped stitches. The wraps essentially disappear into the garter stitch when left alone.

To me this underlined instruction means you don’t have to work them tog if you don’t want to because it can’t be seen. If you choose to, that’s fine too.

7

I agree with Charlotte, pick up the wrap or not as you prefer. I think you said this is your first short row experience so not picking up the wrap will probably make it easier. It’s up to you. This is a really cute hat. I think you’ll be pleased with it and you’re learning a lot from this project.

If I’m told to knit to 2 sts before the end of the row, I know I’ll have 2 unworked sts left. The way the pattern is worded is the same concept, just not at the end of the row. If you watch videos for short rows and how to interpret patterns it could be helpful. Warning: When you go looking you’ll find many methods for doing short rows, for now stick with the W&T ones to avoid confusion. Save the others for later.

8

Lucy is a Really really pretty hat indeed! :heart: I know I’d love to see her when she’s finished, if Cetra would like to share a FOto…

GG, you and I got our wires crossed in posting, typical for when our great minds think alike. LOL

I agree with sticking with one short row method in construction, and visiting the others later for other projects.

Have fun with Lucy, SleepingCetra!

9

Thanks so very much. I am very excited to knit something that is not a scarf or cowl.

I am not sure of how I want to join in the round. I usually use an “invisible join” where you CO an extra stitch and slip that over the last stitch on the left needle, moving the stitch back to the left needle once you’ve slipped the extra stitch over it, rather like a bind off.

I did that and it was so loose, I had to knit back because it was too wide and there was laddering.

I have looked at the k2TOG method, and I am just not sure if that works on a pattern that wants me to Purl rather than K, so if I am knitting wouldn’t that interfere with the pattern? I also don’t know where to put my stitch marker, before or after. Does it count as the first stitch (therefore marker goes behind), or do I move it back to the left needle and purl into it (I tried this and it made it uneven).

I wish the pattern specified the join method. :<

10

I’d cheat on the joining to work in the round. I would add an extra stitch to each end of the row, work it as a k on the RS and a p on the WS. I could then knit all garter stitch rows and use the tail to mattress stitch the extra stitches together after I went to actually working in the round (If the st count stays the same I would dec 2x to eliminate the 2 extra sts) and voila, it all works out easier for me. I’m using this method on sweater sleeves right now. It avoids that sloppy st you mention, lets you work only knits for garter stitch rows, and best of all I don’t work a bunch of rounds only to find out I did indeed get the cast on twisted when I joined. Should you decide to use this method it will put your st count off by one when you do your short rows (if you do them flat and don’t join sooner) so allow for it when you count. Joining to work in the round should be done on a RS row also.

11

I adapted a joining method I found online. It is a method where you use the tail to K the first stitch, but then pull the loop until the tail goes all the way through and the stitch is undone, leaving your round looking exactly the same except the tail is fed through that loop and you continue knitting and just tug the tail to tighten.

I did this, except I was Purling. I hope that this is okay. It looks okay so far.

I don’t want to get several rounds done and have a sloppy, jogged join.

I don’t want to use your method just because it changes the counts on the short rows like you said, just because I’ve never done them before and I don’t want to make it more complicated.

12

NP, as far as my way of working flat then joining is concerned. I first read about it in response to someone else’s question here at KH. I don’t quite get the join you used, could you link to it, please? I’m always up for learning something new. And if it looks OK and works for you, you did it exactly right! There are no knitting police who will confiscate your yarn if you do things your way. :slight_smile:

13

No problem! It is the last technique on this list, the only thing I did differently is that I purled rather than using the knit stitch. I don’t know if they are meant to be interchangeable, but I decided I would knit one round and see what it ended up looking like. I will let you know.

14

Some patterns do, but often the join method matters not in the big picture.

The k2tog method works well as a joining method. But given that you’re purling, you’d p2tog to join.

If the stitch marker is just denoting the beginning of the round, you can place it as you see fit. I put mine after the first stitch so that I can stop at the actual beg without losing my stitch marker. Plus, the offset lets me see at a glance where I am in the round when I have to use multiple markers.

15

The stitches are interchangeable only in that if you’re knitting in the round, use the knit stitch. If you’re purling in the round, use the purl stitch.

But you’ve probably already seen that in your knitting.