I’m having some problems… I would like any tips or advice that you experienced knitters have for me. the biggest problems I have are the shapping of the neck line and armholes… i get all confused when patterns talk about using two balls of yarn…lol. I would appriciaany advice I can get… Thanks:muah:
Without a specific question it’s hard to help. Have you knit garments from a pattern? It’s often the best way to learn. Once you have the different techniques down designing your own would be a lot easier.
When you’re working on shoulders, you make the neckline a little lower than the shoulder seam, and since you can’t work straight across, you have to work it like 2 separate pieces. They would look something like this - -------_______/-------
So to work them separately you need 2 strands of yarn, one for each shoulder. You can do them at the same time - work across the first set of stitches, drop the yarn, skip over the middle sts, and pick up the other yarn to work over the other stitched - or you can do each side separately.
I understand about using 2 balls of yarn to work the sides of the front at the same time, but I usually choose to do one and then do the other. Maybe that would help you.
You usually want a little scooped area at the top front for the neck. You shape that by decreasing on each side at a rate you choose, to get the number of stitches you want for the shoulder over the distance you plan for the neck shaping. Decease the same way on each side, usually at the beginning of rows, so on one side you work the decreases on the right side and the other side you work them on the wrong side of the piece–so the two sides differ by one row.
There are several good books about designing your own things. One I have is called [U]Sweater Design in Plain English[/U] by Maggie Righetti. You might be able to get it at a library.
there was no specific question asked only because I was trying to get some tips on how to design my own necklines and arm holes… just looking for tips from experience knitters is all… thanks for the help
No problem, I just misunderstood.
I can also recommend The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. 
Always make a swatch before starting. This allows you to check if your knitting tension matches that of the pattern. If you end up with a swatch that is too small or too large, adjust your needle or knitting to prevent the project from being too tight or too loose.