Need help reading a pattern

#1

OK, I’ve knitted this one row and ripped it out about 5 times now and I still am not “getting it Right”. The pattern is in a magazine called [U]Knitter’s[/U] Winter 2007 page70 Pattern Bountiful. Here is were I am having trouble:

Beg Rib Pat: Row 1 (RS) P8, (0), [p4, k9, p5, k2, p5] 0 (1) time, [k2, p6, (k2, p5) twice, k9, p5, k2, p5] twice, k2, p6, k2, p8 (0), [p5, k2, p5, k9, p4] 0 (1) time. K the knit sts and p the purl sts until piece measures 15 1/2 (17)" from beg, end with a WS row.

I have 146 sts on my needles and when I follow this pattern I run out of sts before I am finished with the instructions. I am also not sure what (0) means. Is this where I put a marker or what?

I am not a beginer knitter, but I must admit this is driving me crazy because I can’t seem to get it right.

Any help would be appreciated.:grphug:

Yours in Knitting,
LRHBeads

#2

The 0 is like `no stitch’ you don’t do anything when you get to it. There’s 2 sizes it looks like, and on one size or another, you won’t do what the other size is doing. So for the small size you P8, then go into a repeat of k2, p6, k2, p5, k2, p5, k9, p5, k2, p5 twice, k2 p6, k2 p8, (I think, there’s only one size given here, you may have missed a number when you typed it in). Then I think you repeat the whole thing until you get to the end.

I looked on the website for errata and couldn’t find it - they have the worst site to navigate on. You could email them and ask if there’s any corrections to the patterns.

#3

I thought I had it worked out for you, but no, I end up with 136 stitches worked instead of 146. I’m certainly finding it confusing too - its late here and perhaps I’m missing something obvious in my sleepy state.

What I’ll do is leave below what I’d previously written, as perhaps there’ll be some small thing correct in my thinking, which will lead you or someone else to figure it out correctly. So, just as a springboard, what I originally worked out was…

It looks to me as if there must be two sizes, and you’re knitting the larger size… ??

I am also not sure what (0) means. Is this where I put a marker or what?

The way I read this is, since it says P8 (0) - If you’re knitting the smaller size, P8; if you’re knitting the larger size, P0, ie no purl stitches to work. (The first time P8 (0) appears there’s a comma after the P8 and I don’t think it should be there. It doesn’t appear after the P8 the second time it appears.)

Presuming you’re knitting the larger size, I’ve coloured red the part of the instructions that applies to your size:
Beg Rib Pat: [COLOR=“Red”]Row 1 (RS)[/COLOR] P8, ([COLOR=“red”]0[/COLOR]), [COLOR=“red”][p4, k9, p5, k2, p5][/COLOR] 0 ([COLOR=“red”]1[/COLOR]) time, [COLOR=“red”][k2, p6, (k2, p5) twice, k9, p5, k2, p5] twice[/COLOR], [COLOR=“red”]k2, p6, k2[/COLOR], p8 (0), [COLOR=“red”][p5, k2, p5, k9, p4][/COLOR] 0 ([COLOR=“Red”]1[/COLOR]) time.
[COLOR=“Red”]K the knit sts and p the purl sts until piece measures 15 1/2 (17)" from beg, end with a WS row.[/COLOR]

[B]Checking the number of stitches worked[/B]:
Row 1 (RS) [p4, k9, p5, k2, p5] 0 (1) time = [COLOR=“Blue”]25[/COLOR] stitches.

[k2, p6, (k2, p5) twice, k9, p5, k2, p5] twice - this is confusing, but take it carefully looking at how the brackets fall. First you K2, P6 (by now for this section you’ve worked [COLOR=“blue”]8 [/COLOR]stitches), then (K2, P5) TWICE so that’s another [COLOR=“blue”]14[/COLOR] stitches worked, then K9, P5, K2, P5 means another [COLOR=“Blue”]21 [/COLOR]stitches worked. But all that fell within a set of square brackets, so you do it all a second time (“twice” being written after those brackets) … meaning you’ve worked [COLOR=“blue”]43 x 2, ie 86[/COLOR] stitches over that bracketed section.

[p5, k2, p5, k9, p4] 0 (1) time = [COLOR=“blue”]25[/COLOR] stitches

[B]TOTAL[/B] - 136 stitches!!! not 146! :?? :help:

#4

What about this part in the middle between the bracketed sts -
" k2, p6, k2, p8 (0),"
Would you only p8 if you’re doing the small and 0 if the larger size?

#5

That’s how it reads to me, too, suzeeq. There’s a symmetry to the instructions, in that someone knitting the smaller size works P8 at each end and someone doing the larger size works [p4, k9, p5, k2, p5] each end of that confusing central panel. But that means quite a difference between the number of stitches for the small size compared to the large size…

#6

First and formost, Thanks for replying so quickly! You are right (0) means no stitches. I went out on some errands yesterday and stopped by my local yarn shop and popped in for a moment and asked one of their staff, who confirmed that it means “no stitches”. I usually get the knitting bug during the winter months so I sometimes forget how to do a stitch or read a pattern and I now have ready access to all you great knitters on this forum. Thank you all for responding to my question.

#7

Did they help solve your other problem? I’d be very interested to know just what the pattern meant… how you’re supposed to end up with 146 stitches.