Ok, I’ve never knit before. I purchased a pattern that is like Greek to me. Can someone explain to me what this means.
knit 12, knit 4 tog, knit 12, knit 4 tog, knit 12, knit 4 tog?
I’m such a visual learner that reading instructions with no photographs really throws me for a loop.
Thanks everyone for helping this newbie out.
Sandra
You’re alternating K 12 sts, individually, and then, 4 tog. K4tog can be a tad tricky for some. Existing posts that might offer insight:
Kint 12 is fairly self explanatory. you knit 12 stitches normally.
knit 4 tog is and abbreviation of knit 4 together and may also be written as k4tog.
This is a decrease in which you are making 4 stitches into 1. It is simple to do. normally when you knit you insert your needle into the front loop of the first stitch on your left needle right?
well in this, you are putting the needle into the front loop of 4 stitches all at the same time. The way i would do it is to bunch up the first 4 stitches on your left neddle and then poke your right needle through as if they were just one stitch and then knit it as normal. It will be very tight and might take a bit of pushing and effort but it does work.
if you go to the Glossary on this website (it is the second tab from the right at the very top of this page) and scroll down, you will see an entry and video for K2tog, which is the same technique over less stitches.
Sometimes with knitting patterns, it’s best to just start following the instructions and see what happens. So with the instructions you wrote, knit 12 stitches, then knit 4 stitches together, then knit 12 stitches, then knit 4 stitches together, (keep going like this).
If you already understand how to knit 4 stitches together, then try just slowly and carefully following the pattern. It will take some time before reading a pattern will make sense visually in your mind’s eye, so don’t expect that yet!
I often knit a small swatch in the pattern, and then I can see what’s going on before starting on the real-deal. A typical swatch is 20 stitches wide and 40 rows tall, making a rough square. But this may vary depending on the individual pattern.
Good luck!
Kris
Oh my goodness, Cam, I have no idea what you just typed…LOL. Do you know if there is a video tutorial on something similar to this? I really need to see it being done to understand it.
Sophie,
I think I understand what you’re saying. So, the pattern I gave is for 1 row, right? So, I’ll knit 12 single stitches and then insert my need into 4 stitches and knit those 4 stitches together and then I knit 12 more single stitches and so forth. Am I on the right page?
Yep, you’ve got it. You might want to look at the Decrease videos for knit 2 together for a general idea, you’re just going to knit 4 sts together is the only difference.