Making Baby Afghan Pattern Larger - help with ratio..SaraMcD

#1

[color=red]This was posted by Sara McD:[/color]

I purchased the Leisure Arts “Our Best Knit Baby Afghans,” which has some terrific patterns in it. I want to make one “adult sized” which will mean increasing the original afghan (35" X 46") approximately 60%, to about a twin-bed size (size will need not be exact, by any means).

My gauge and the pattern gauge are both 5 to 5.25 sts/1".
I wonder if someone can help me verify that my calculations are correct?

The pattern row says:

187 sts.
ROW 1: Slip 1 as if to K, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1, * (K3, P1) twice, K1, P1; repeat from * across to last 7 sts, K3 (P1, K1) twice.

ROW 2: Slip 1 as if to purl, P1, K1, P5, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1, *(P3, K1) twice; repeat from * across to last 12 sts, (P1, K1) twice.

[color=red]I took the pattern off this post since we can’t post copyrighted patterns. Now let me see what I can do to help.[/color]
Questions:
Am I right in presuming that the pattern is a multiple of 10 + 17 (on the first one); and 10 + 27 (on the second one)? (why are there more sts on one side of the pattern than the other? – am I reading that correctly?)

All the pattern rows appear to have 10 sts for the pattern, but it varies between 17 and 27 as to the edge stitches (a difference of 10).

So am I safe in presuming if I cast on 297 (yikes!), it will yield me an afghan of approximately 56"-60" wide?

I’ve attached pics of both the afghan and the pattern, since I probably haven’t made myself too clear.
My brain hurts – too much math.
Shocked

#2

The pattern you posted had 186 stitches cast on. I think from looking at the rest of the rows, and writing a bit of it out on paper that your ratio is 10 + 6.

There seems to be a 3 stitch border of each edge and the pattern stitches in between.

#3

Thank you, Ingrid.

I apologize to all for posting the pattern.
I’m a musician by trade, and I deal with copyright issues all of the time, so I’m not sure what my head was thinking! :oops:

I appreciate your help and instruction (and correction!) :heart:

~Sara

#4

In my haste, it seems I made some typos in relating the pattern. I have placed the omissions in bold. Would this make a difference to the “multiple of 10 + 6” supposition?

[i]ROW 1: Slip 1 as if to K, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1, * (K3, P1) twice, K1, P1; repeat from * across to last 7 sts, K3 (P1, K1) twice.

ROW 2: Slip 1 as if to purl, P1, K1, P5, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1, *(P3, K1) twice, P1, K1; repeat from * across to last 12 sts, P3, K1, P5, K1, P2.
[/i]

I bought some Bernat Satin in Mocha (love it!) and look forward to making a beautiful afghan with this great yarn! I am taking an Amtrak trip with a friend of mine from South Louisiana to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks and will enjoy the company of my knitting on this l-o-n-g trip :slight_smile:

Thanks,
~Sara

#5

Since I had access to the pattern, I figured it off of that, so you should be ok. (At least if I’m correct. :pray: ) I’m pretty sure I am. :wink:

#6

Thanks again, Ingrid for your help.
And, yes, it seems to be correct. I tested by casting on 50 + 6 and working some rows with no problems :thumbsup:

Is there an easy way to explain to me how you ascertained the 10 + 6 from the pattern? Or a website that would explain it to me? I’ve looked and looked at the row instructions, and I’m apparently making it harder than it is to come up with 10 + 6 out of:
[i]
ROW 1: Slip 1 as if to K, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1, * (K3, P1) twice, K1, P1; repeat from * across to last 7 sts, K3 (P1, K1) twice.

ROW 2: Slip 1 as if to purl, P1, K1, P5, K1, P3, K1, P1, K1, *(P3, K1) twice, P1, K1; repeat from * across to last 12 sts, P3, K1, P5, K1, P2. [/i]

…and it’s driving me nutzo that I can’t “see” it (which is not a far drive!) Are these instructions written kookie? (probably not) I’ve had no problem in the past taking a stitch pattern from a pattern book and using it for a sampler-square afghan, but apparently I can’t do things in reverse :crying:

Thanks for any words of wisdom!
~Sara

#7

It wasn’t obvious. I sat with some paper and a pencil and wrote out the pattern chart-style. As the pattern ‘showed’ itself, I saw that the three stitches on the edge were the only ones that stayed the same. The picture confirmed this.

Sometimes patterns include the edge in with the last part of the pattern stitches, which leads to confusion.

There was recently a pattern posted on here that, when read, looked wrong. The LYS even said it wasn’t possible. My first reaction was that it couldn’t work, but when the poster said that someone had made it from that pattern, I wrote it out and there was a :doh: moment when I saw that the last part of the pattern included only part of the pattern stitch and the edge.

Sometimes pictures are best, I guess. Maybe that’s why I prefer charts so much.

#8

Thanks again, Ingrid.

Lordy, I’m so frustrated!! I’ve spent all day with graph paper and books and pencil in hand, searching internet sites, trying to graph these #$%^&$ instructions and just generally being perplexed. I dunno what I’m doing wrong, but it’s “stump the band” for me. I’m just not “getting it.” Surely I can’t be this stooopid? Or maybe I am. Somehow I managed to get a college degree - summa cum laude at that – but this is paralyzing me :wall: :wall:

Oh well, I’ll take a break and revisit it again another time before I get so aggravated that I throw all my new-bought knitting things in the dumpster and say “forget it!” (Hubby would love that, considering how much $$$ I’ve spent in the last few weeks! :lol: We-e-e-e-e-e-e-e.

#9

One thing to remember, and you may already be doing this, is to write the right side rows from right to left and the wrong side rows from left to right.

Also, when you write the wrong side rows, you have to write the opposite of what the stitch is so that the chart looks like the front of the blanket.

That’s why charts are written with an empty square meaning knit on right side and purl on wrong side–so on the chart all the stockinette stitch sections are all the same.

#10

Several more hours; several more pages of graphing/scribble – still nothing that clicks. Some rows, I have 14 boxes; some 27; some 17. I don’t get it. Nothing lines up or appears the least bit repetitive. I’m blue in the face. I can’t find any straight-out instructions online of how to transfer a written pattern to chart.

Oh well, I totally give up. I guess if I’m not savvy enough to be able to look at an afghan pattern and figure out the stitch multiple to be able to enlarge it, I have no business knitting. I’m really, really down and sad about this, especially since I am far from being a “new” knitter!

Anyone want a whole slew of brand new needles – Addis/Pony Rosewoods/CN Rosewoods – a great new bag, several new books, and about a truckload of great new yarn??? :frowning:

Thanks for everyone’s help in the past. This has been a wonderful group. I’ll miss participating :frowning:

#11

Oh stop! Don’t give up!

When you chart a pattern that has increases and decreases, you don’t chart how many stitches the pattern uses, you chart the result of the increase or decrease. So even if it’s a triple decreases that uses three stitches, you use a symbol to represent the triple decrease in one box. If you have a yo, it takes one box, even though it doesn’t use a stitch.

Are you trying to chart the whole afghan, including the edging, or just the rows you posted. When I’m more awake, I can post how I charted those two rows, if you’d like.

I’ll play with it.

#12

I stayed up very late figuring this out–it got to me, too.

When I worked it out the first time, I was using the 186 stitches that they start with. For some odd reason, they add a stitch before the pattern section.

There are 13 edge stitches on the left side and 14 on the right, and they don’t really match the center stitches, so it was confusing. I think your assessment of 10 + 27 makes sense this way.

In any event there are 10 stitch repeats for the center pattern, so you could add as many groups of 10 as you like to get extra width. I

In fact, you could just put some seed stitch edge and just have the 10 stitch repeats between them, or work the first 14 stitches, then start the repeats there with the kkkpkpkkkp section.

#13

Hi Ingrid, I have a cabled coat pattern that I need converted from a chart pattern to a written pattern because I can read the chart. Do you know of anyone who does this kind of conversions?
BeckyDarrow

#14

Welcome to KH!
I don’t know of anyone who does this. I tried Ravelry but couldn’t find a group. You might search with different terms however.
There are a couple of sites recommended here:
https://patternduchess.com/converting-knitting-charts-into-written-instructions/
You may be able to take the advice on reading charts to convert each symbol. This seemed especially helpful:

We can help with specific questions if you decide to go ahead and try this yourself. What pattern are you considering?

#15

Thank you so much.