Need help with a beginner Caron Pattern

Here’s the pattern.

Okay so I am very confused as to what to do next. I really do not understand the portion that I have highlighted! Where am I supposed to insert the needle to join the yarn? I also feel like I need to be doing more of the neck pattern as well

Thank you for all your help. I really wish Caron had explained this pattern better. It’s supposed to be for beginners and I have had so much trouble trying to decipher what they are saying at various points. :sleepy::sweat_smile:

1 Like

Hello
The instruction is somewhat vague I my opinion, but, I believe you will slip the first stitch you have on your left needle onto your right needle. The second stitch I expect to be a purl for dropping (although I can’t make it out in the photo, if it’s not a purl for dropping ignore this message!), so you will drop it off the left needle. Return the first stitch back to left needle by slipping it. Now k2tog with the working yarn. Join yarn by leaving a 10 to 15cm tail to weave in later, anchor the tail so it stays still (holding it against one of the needles) and work that k2tog. Then continue the row.
The first stitch where you joined the yarn will be a bit loose but you can go back to it later and pull on the yarn tail to snug it up to the right size and weave in the tail end which will secure it.

You’ll be binding off a given number across the centre neck then working the right shoulder like you have the left shoulder.

Later on you will work a neck edge.

I hope this helps.
The dropped stitch pattern in this top is lovely. I would like to make one, thanks for thenoattern link too.

You are joining the yarn to cast off the neck edge.
In the paragraph before your highlighted section, you are completing the left shoulder shaping which eventually casts off all of those stitches.
You are now left with the right shoulder and central neck stitches with no yarn attached!

So you will attach the new yarn here, cast off the neck stitches, and then continue with shaping the right shoulder on the same way you did the left.

Thank you!!! That was super helpful!

So I found their directions for the chain stitch confusing, so I did it a way I saw online. However, now that I’ve reached the highlighted portion of the directions…I don’t have 24 stitches on my needle. I only have 18 :sweat::sweat:—not quite sure what I did wrong.

Is that something that’s going to ruin me later on? I don’t think I can add the stitches right now because it just juts out of my sweater in an odd way.

I can already tell that something isn’t right with the neckline. I have 4 dropped purl stitches columns on the right side and it’s looking like I’m only going to have 3 dropped purl stitch columns on the left side.

I feel like I definitely messed something up with the chain stitches or starting my chain stitches. I just don’t know how to fix it 🫣. I don’t even know how to undo it to go back and fix. Is there a way I could fix as I go along?

Hello
I think you did the repeat (the binding off and dropping) one too many times along the front edge.
There is one described, then repeat from * 4 times then repeat from * to ** once. I make his 6 total along the font neck. Looking at your photo it looks like you have done 7. There are 7 sections of stockinette columns.
In addition you may have missed counted something at the second section, it looks like here are only 2 stockinette columns in the second section rather than 3, and the very first section on the neck seems like it has 5 columns of stockinette?? It makes those decorative vertical stripes of stockinette and dropped stitches uneven in that section. Do you want to try to fix that or accept it and just aim to fix the overall neck width and left shoulder stitch count? If you leave this section as it it I imagine you’d be only one you noticed it when worn. Other options are to see if you can work up the ladder with a crochet hook and then just sew the stitch in place (there are video tutorial for this, fixing a dropped stitch).
It’s up to you.

Fixing the stitch count alone is the simplest part in my opinion. You would need to carefully tink the last several stitches where you bound off the extra repeat. This would involve undoing the k2tog in such a way as to catch each of the 2 sts.
Here’s a video for tinking, it means to un knit each stitch, in your case catch 2 sts with the left needle as you tink.


You will need to watch out for those chain stitches and undo those too.

Then your stitch count should be correct and you can continue with the row.

The gappy part you circled. I wouldn’t worry about this. It looks uneven at the moment but you can use the tail of the rejoined yarn to cross that gap and weave the tail into the first knit stitch there, as you cross the gap just pull on the tail to snug up that wide section and make an evenly spaced neck edge at the top. It will all even out. Then weave the tail in the wrong side of the shoulder section to secure it. You will add a neck edge later too and that will make it neat.

Hope this helps

Creations,

Thank you! This is super helpful! I had a feeling I did something extra. The only reason that I did it is because it says Rep from 3 (4-4-4-6-6-) times, then from * to ** once which is why I did it an extra time. But I felt weird about it because it was such a weird way to write that. :sweat:

I think I’m fine leaving the biff on the stockinette columns, but definitely want to fix the neck width and left should stitch count. That’s what I feel like is really making my sweater portion look weird because the neck is just stretching to the side.

So for fixing the stitch count: I’m just going to remove the K2tog and then moving backwards also remove the K2tog and accompanying chain stitches? Then I would go to K2tog. Pat to end of row… and just continue on?

Also thank you so much for your help with this! You’ve been so kind to me and this project has been tricky because I don’t have anyone I can ask in real time, or show my stuff. I’m looking around in Austin, TX to see if there are any knitting meetups. It doesn’t seem like it, so I really appreciate you taking the time to help me online. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Yes that’s it, just make sure you have the right stitch count before you pattern to end. You’ll be fine as you obviously noticed the mistake so you’re looking st your knitting as you go.

Glad to help in anyway I can. I get help here too and it is nice to be able to pay it forward where I can.