Novice knitter having problems with pattern

Hello, all! I’ve only been knitting for a few days (other than at attempt when I was about five!), and am finding myself having problems with a pattern. I’m trying to knit a cow and have bought the pattern.

Here’s the part that’s confusing me:

[I]Cast on 31sts and P 1 row
Next row (Right side): K29, turn
Next row: Sl 1P, P26, turn
Next row: Sl 1, K25, turn
Next row: Sl 1P, P24, turn
Cont in this way working 1 st less before turning on every row until the row Sl 1, K7, turn has been worked[/I]

OK. I’ve cast on my 31 stitches and have purled the first row. That was fine.

But now I’m confused. After I knit 29 stitches and turn, I’m left with 2 stitches on the right needle. And when I slip 1, I’m still left with 1. What do I do about that? Do I ignore it and just keep knitting?

It says that I should be working “1 st less” on every row, but this looks like 2 stitches less to me.

I hope someone can help me!

Yes ignore them and purl back, and there will be some sts left at the end there too. This is called doing short rows, it’s done for shaping and you 'll go back later on to knit them. It’s 2 less on the first couple rows, but is only 1 less on the rows after that.

Ok you knit 29 stitches and you literally turn your work as if you were at the end of a row.
that means you have 29 stitches on your left needle and 2 on your right. ignore those 2 stitches for now (they get dealt with later)
When knitting always work from left needle to right needle unless otherwise told to.

so the next row which says sl 1p, meens you slip 1 stitch from left needle to right needle inserting your needle purlways. then you knit 26 and turn your work, ignoring any unworked stitches.

keep going in this fashion (knitting 1 less st each time) until you work a row that is sl1, k7, turn.

the key points here are:

[ul]
[li]make sure you are working from your left needle to your right needle[/li][li]slip stitches purlwise (from left to right)[/li][*]ignore any unworked stitches. just don’t worry abou them.[/ul]But yay a knitted cow! sounds fun, i love toy cows, post a pic when you are finished, i would love to see!

I first came across this as a total novice knitting a baby sock. What I did was not think about it at all. I did exactly what the pattern said, step by step, row by row. AFter I got through it all, and had a lovely little baby sock heel, I thought, oooooooooh, I get it now. :slight_smile:

Thank you, everyone! I did it OK, but I think perhaps I didn’t pull the unstitched stitches tightly enough when I eventually used them, as it’s a bit loopy. Still, for my first attempt, I’m fairly pleased. I’ll definitely post a photo when it’s done!

:slight_smile: