HELP! My stitch pattern somehow got flipped

#1

I have only been knitting literally 2 days and only know some of the basics from watching a couple videos on knittinghelp.com. I decided to make the sailboat potholder (from the website’s patterns) as my beginning project and things were going relatively well until row 30-something. It was then that I noticed my purl stitch was no longer showing up on the front and it had instead switched over to the back of the potholder. I’m not too familiar with stitch names (besides regular knit stitch and the purl stitch) and I’m not even sure what caused this let alone how to fix it. I thought I had been doing the same thing consistently, purling when it said to purl, knitting when it said to knit, and I just don’t know where/when/how I went wrong!

I don’t care about fixing the part I have already messed up but I would like to figure out how to get the purl pattern back to the front side before I finish so I know how I can fix it in the future. Please let me know if you have not only a solution, but can maybe guess what I did wrong in the first place. It would be very much appreciated!

(And remember I’m not too technical yet so please, please, be detailed! I read another post that I think was asking the same question but they were throwing around the term “stockinette” and I don’t know what that means nor do I think I was doing it, so their solution didn’t help me.)

:heart:Christina

[SIZE=“4”][FONT=“Impact”]Here is a chunk of the of the pattern I was following to make the potholder, in case it helps :[/FONT][/SIZE]
19: k3, p7, k5, p1, k1, p1, k15, p2, k3
21: k3, p6, k6, p1, k1, p1, k14, p3, k3
23: k3, p5, k5, p2, k1, p1, k13, p5, k3
25: k3, p4, k6, p2, k1, p1, k13, p5, k3
27: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k4, p1, k7, p5, k3
29: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k3, p3, k5, p6, k3
31: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k2, p5, k4, p6, k3
33: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k2, p2, k1, p2, k3, p7, k3
35: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k9, p8, k3
37: k3, p4, k6, p3, k1, p1, k9, p8, k3

#2

You either skipped a knit row and went on to the next pattern row, or you knit two rows and then continued with the pattern. Did you put your work down in the middle of it and forget what row you were on?

You probably did one of these things. I’d imagine, especially with a pattern written the way that it is, that you skipped a knit row and went straight to the next pattern now, at least thats what I would have done.

To avoid doing this, when patterns have instructions that say something like, knit across for every other row, I actually copy the pattern into a word processor and add in the knit rows every other row rather than trying to remember that I have to do it. The visual cue actually helps.

Getting the pattern reversed would be super easy. You can either skip a knit row and go straight to the next pattern row. Like go from row 35 to row 37 and skip row 36. Or, the next time you get to a knit row, you could just do it twice and then start the next row in the pattern.

#3

Looking at the pattern I am going to have to agree with Trvvn and his assessment. I’ve done it before… many times before. I always have a pencil or pen with a print out of the pattern so I can keep track of my rows (I never depend on my memory telling me to turn the counter at the end of each row or round)

I would recommend going to the last good row, inserting a life line, very carefully, and frogging back to that point and then start knitting it back again.

Don’t feel bad at all, we ALL have to do it. Sunday I had to recast my father in law’s socks 4 times because I kept messing up the first row of ribbing. I really hate K1 P1 ribbing, BTW.

#4

I find using a post-it note helps me. I use it to mark the line I’m on in the directions. When I finish that row, I move it up a line. And I only stop at the ends of rows.

#5

Thank you guys so much for your help! Its good to know what I did wrong and how I can fix it if it happens again. I just did two of the knit/purl rows and got back on track with my pattern.

I actually had been writing the pattern out on a paper and crossing the rows off as I went but I much have just forgotten to cross off at some point and done one of the rows twice.

I decided, for many reasons, not to go back and redo the part that I messed up and just to learn from this experience. I don’t think I would be able to re-thread the needle properly (at this point with my limited knowledge and understanding of knitting) and I’m not even sure what row in the pattern I’d have to start working from again… not to mention my needles are only 1 sided. Hopefully my next project goes smoother!

Again, thanks so much for the help!

-Christina

#6

For future projects that have a right and wrong side, you’ll make life waaaay easier on yourself if you mark the right side somehow. A safety pin, a bit of yarn in a different color, or anything else you can detach at the end of your project will work. Most of the time, odd-numbered rows are on the front, or right, or public, side of the work and even-numbered rows are on the back, or wrong, or non-public, side. (Some patterns are just the opposite, but they almost always say so.) That way, if you see your right side marker toward you and realize you were about to do Row 30, you know to stop and see what happened.

Ask me how I know about marking the right side…:roflhard:

When you’re first starting out, it also doesn’t hurt to mark the right side starting edge of Row 1 so you don’t lay down your work, forget which direction you were going in, and end up with a square that looks more like the Leaning Tower of Yarn. Not, of course, that I know anyone who has done that…numerous times…:teehee: