Help reading pattern instructions

How-to Questions
1

I’m a new knitter and am struggling with the logic of this pattern instruction:

[B]With MC, cast on 39 sts.
Knit 3 rows (garter st), noting first row is WS, inc 2 sts evenly across last row. [U]39 sts.[/U]Proceed in pat as follows:[/B]

If you cast on 39 stitches, then increase by two, how can you have 39 stitches (as indicated by underline above)?

2

Hi and welcome!
Well, the logic of that one escapes me too. Can you give a link to the pattern or a pattern name or if not, quote just the next few rows of the pattern?

3

Here’s the link:

http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=6505

And here’s the pattern for that panel:

INSTRUCTIONS
Panel A (make 4).
With MC, cast on 39 sts.
Knit 3 rows (garter st), noting fi rst row is WS, inc 2 sts evenly across last row. 39 sts.
Proceed in pat as follows:
1st row: (RS). K2. *M1. K4. Center Dec. K4. M1. K1. Rep from * to last st. K1.
2nd row: K1. Purl to last st. K1.
3rd to 6th rows: Rep last 2 rows twice more.
7th and 8th rows: With B, rep 1st and 2nd rows.

4

Yeah, that definitely looks like a typo, but I couldn’t find any corrections for this pattern.

It looks to me like you need to cast on [B]37[/B] (not 39), and increase 2 sts across the last garter stitch row. Then that will set you up to have 39 stitches for the first row, which is the stitch count I get when I tally it all up.

If that’s wrong, someone will come along and straighten me out, I’m sure.

Pretty pattern!

5

Thanks for the link. Looking at the numbers in the repeat and the increases (the M1 in the repeat) it seems that the best number of sts for the repeat is 12sts. If you repeat that 3 times, that’s 36sts and with the k2 at the beginning and the k1 at the end, that totals 39sts. So two things. Cast on 37sts and do the increase on the last row of garter stitch as given. When you do the M1 increases in row 1 of the pattern stitch, use an increase between sts like the M1L on theIncreasespage under Free Videos at the top of this page rather than an increase that uses a stitch. This’ll keep the stitch count correct.

You can edit your last post to delete all but the first 8-10 lines just so we don’t get into copyright problems. Enjoy making this lovely blanket!

6

Thanks so much!

7

It’s legal to copy up to 10% of a publication (no more), that’s my understanding (at least in Australia).