Mitered Square and Hue Shift Afghan Purgatory

#1

So, I’m “knitting” this amazing afghan , but I’m getting nowhere fast. The mitered square has gotten the best of me. I’ve knit and reknit the first square three times and each time it has ended up looking like a kite.

The directions for the first square say to CO 49 stitches and place a safety pin on the center stitch. The second row is knit. The third row is knit with a CDD in the middle. Rows 4, 5 and 6 are knit. The directions say to repeat rows 3-6 until 3 stitches remain and then continue on. I first need to master an actual square!

My gauge was off the first square, but now it is correct, so I’m at a loss. I looked at all the other beautiful square, squares on Ravelry and was mystified.

Please help!

#2

Usually you would do the double decs on every other row, not every 4th one. I don’t see any errata mentioned on the Ravelry page. Did you block your first one to see if that helps?

#3

I’ve only done these with the decreases every other row, too. Why not give it a try that way and see if you get a square that way?

#4

Okay, here we go! I’m pulling it apart and knitting this “square” for a fourth time with CDD every other row. As they say at Knit Picks, the fourth time is a square! Thanks for your input!

#5

Seriously, I’m getting ready to throw this Knit Picks box out into the snow.

Of course the CDD every other row works just fine, but when I looked at the next square it dawned on me that I have to start changing colors and by dropping a few rows I’ve now completely messed up the entire pattern.

Am I just doomed?

#6

Naw, you’re just modifying the pattern… :wink:

Just work the next square the same way, with less rows, see how that turns out.

#7

I just tried a small swatch with the pattern dec on row 3 and rows 4-6 knit and I got…a kite. Can you quote the exact directions, expecially the repeat for pattern without quoting the entire pattern? It just seems that it has to be a decrease every other row for a square.

#8

She does say she got a nice square doing it every other row, but there’s less rows (because you dec down to one stitch and since the dec is done more other, that takes less rows).

#9

Yes, the every other row works but I’m just wondering how to make sense of the directions. No one seems to comment on it on Ravelry. Is it just a misinterpretation?

#10

I read through FIVE pages of projects and not one person comments on the kite problem. I’m stumped. I should not have to change the pattern, especially when I start to work with color and I’m beginning to loose one entire stripe for each color.

The exact directions read:

CO 49 stitches, marking center stitch with safety pin
row 2 (ws) knit
row 3 (rs) knit to 1st stitch before center stitch cdd, knit to end
row 4 knit
row 5 with first color indicated repeat row 3
row 6 with first color indicated repeat row 4

Repeat rows 3-6 until 3 stitches remain.

sigh The things we do for yarn :slight_smile:

#11

You know, I just looked at your square. Is that moss/seed stitch? You won’t have the same stitch gauge in that as in garter stitch. Maybe it’s just a trick of lighting, but if it is seed that’s why the dec every 4th row wasn’t working. Or your gauge is just really uneven.

#12

The way I’m reading this it looks like a cdd every other row.
Row 2 is knit
Row 3 is knit with CDD
Row 4 is knit
Row 5 repeats row 3 with a CDD
Row 6 is knit

repeat starting with Row 3 with CDD

ETA Is this counting the cast on as row 1?

#13

It is garter stitch. Knit every row. My photography skills are not exceptional!

#14

So, apparently I can knit, but I cannot READ! :} Thank you all for participating in my knitting crisis. Jeesh! You all are so smart!

#15

But the pattern is to CDD every other row! When you repeat row 3 you’re putting in another decrease
CO 49 stitches, marking center stitch with safety pin
row 2 (ws) knit
row 3 (rs) knit to 1st stitch before center stitch [B]cdd[/B], knit to end
row 4 knit
row 5 with first color indicated [B]repeat row 3[/B] [U](that is, do a CDD)
[/U] row 6 with first color indicated repeat row 4

Repeat rows 3-6 until 3 stitches remain.
OK, now it makes sense. The remaining squares should work correctly in pattern with this first square.

#16

I saw it because I’m [I]not[/I] working the pattern! I’m glad it got clarified for you.

#17

The exact directions read:

CO 49 stitches, marking center stitch with safety pin
row 2 (ws) knit
row 3 (rs) knit to 1st stitch before center stitch cdd, knit to end
row 4 knit
row 5 with first color indicated repeat row 3
row 6 with first color indicated repeat row 4

Repeat rows 3-6 until 3 stitches remain.
What happened to row 1? Did you do a LT cast on and skipped row 1 to do a WS row 2 as the first row instead? That could throw it off. Reading through the KAL a lot of people used a knit or cable CO which would be easier to pick up the sts in than LT.

…and everyone else posted while I was looking online and thinking, and the mystery is solved. I still wonder about row 1 though…

#18

…and everyone else posted while I was looking online and thinking, and the mystery is solved. I still wonder about row 1 though…

Same here, I’ve not had a pattern that counts the cast on as a row yet.

#19

It sounds like it counts the cast on as row one which some patterns do. Maybe that’s more helpful when you go on to the subsequent squares which may be picked up from the side of square one. The pick up would count as row one and you continue from there.

#20

Row one is a long tail cast on (I’m assuming because they don’t specify row one) the pattern just skips to row two. It’s funny because my Mom was SUPER worried about row one as well. It turns out she should have been more worried about my ability to decipher rows 5 and 6 :slight_smile: