Please Help Converting Kfb to YO for Ruffle Pattern

How-to Questions
1

This pattern gives a solid St st for the ruffles. I want it to be lacy instead of solid. If I just change all the Kfb increases to YO increases, it will still be solid St, just with lacy edges. I want the whole ruffle to be lacy, so I guess what I’m asking is this- For all the knits in between the increases how can I get it to be totally lacy? I know I need to alternate YO and K2tog, so my stitch count stays constant. So referring to Row 4 for example, I would do a YO instead of Kfb, but then instead of K2, how would I do YO, K2tog, when it’s only 2 sts? Wouldn’t I need 3 sts, so I could do K1, YO, K2tog. Do I just need to adjust my CO for a multiple of 3 instead of 2 and adjust the pattern? So confused about how to do this! Please someone help me!
:?? :shrug: :wall: :pout: :verysad:

CO 50 stitches.
Row 1(WS): K2, *P2, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 2 (RS): P2, *Kfb, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 3: K2, *P4, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 4: P2, *Kfb, K2, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 5: K2, *P6, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 6: P2, *Kfb, K4, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 7: K2, *P8, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 8: P2, *Kfb, K6, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 9: K2, *P10, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 10: P2, *Kfb, K8, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 11: K2, *P12, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 12: P2, *Kfb, K10, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 13: K2, *P14, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 14: P2, *Kfb, K12, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 15: K2, *P16, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 16: P2, *Kfb, K14, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 17: K2, *P18, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 18: P2, *Kfb, K16, Kfb, P2. Repeat from * across.
Row 19: K2, *P20, K2. Repeat from * across.
Row 20: P2, *K20, P2. Repeat from * across.

2

[color=red]I know I need to alternate YO and K2tog, so my stitch count stays constant[/color].

yes this is normally true. but to get a ruffle, you need to increase (yo or kfb) with out a corresponding decrease.

every row will have more stitches… this is what makes the ruffle!

a YO will not ruffle as much as kfb stocking knit will.

do a swatch, (cast on 10, follow the pattern, subbing a YO for every Kfb, and see if you like the results.)

(check out Nicky Epstiens books, Knitting on the Edge, and Knitting beyond the Edge. each book has many ruffles, some plain, some lacy. she has done all the work for you. (the books are great reference books, i use them all the time.

3

Guess I wasn’t clear enough in my explanation.

If I just change all the Kfb increases to YO increases, it will still be solid St, just with lacy edges. I want the whole ruffle to be lacy, so I guess what I’m asking is this- For all the knits in between the increases how can I get it to be totally lacy?

The increases are the Kfb (which I am changing to YO) in between the knits (even rows of the pattern). But I want the solid St in between the increases to be lacy as well, so I need to YO to get the lacy effect, but then need to K2tog to keep the st count. If you look at the pattern, there are increases every even row (the knits done in between the inc also inc as the pattern goes on because there are more sts as a result of the increasing) Got it? Okay, so how can I make the solid St in between the increases lacy as well?

4

in the ‘pattern’ you posted, i don’t see a single instruction to K2tog.
so i don’t understand your question.

is that the pattern for the ruffle? --and do you want to make the ruffle ‘lacier’? (it does at time have K20, (do you want to make the K20 into ({K2tog, YO,} ten times?) and do you want to know it that will work?
well it might, or might not… depends on your yarn, your gauge, and your defination of what works!

can you sub YO’s for the Kfb in the pattern? I don’t know.
try it–swatch and see.

how can you get the effect you want? i don’t know.
i don’t know what effect you want.

buy a stitch dictionary/treasury/collection, and find a lacy pattern you like.
can’t find one? invent one.
there are still stitch patterns that haven’t been created. you are not limited by what is available. but no one can ‘solve’ your problem except you.

ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU LIKE!
(that is a good thing!)

the only way to learn is to do it. swatch. swatch again. knit some more, look at knitting books. swatch a pattern you find–see if you like it, if you don’t swatch again!

5

What I want is to create a lacy looking ruffle, instead of the solid St one the pattern creates. The pattern as it stands creates triangles of St separated by strips of purl sts which is what creates the ruffle. With every row of increases (Kfb) the # of sts knit between each increase also increases. I want those triangles to be lacy. There are no K2tog in the pattern, because this is a pattern of increases not decreases. of troy, I don’t think you really understand what I am explaining. To change from solid St to the lace there will need to be K2tog after the YO in order to maintain the st count in between the increases. The Kfb on each end of triangle is what gives the ruffle effect. Maybe someone else could give it a go. Someone who has dealt with lace and ruffles and understands what I’m after. Thanks for trying to help, of troy.

Pic below of the ruffle. Maybe it will clarify.

6

Well, I know nothing of lace or ruffles since I’m not much of a frou frou gal, but I think I understand what you’re getting at. If I’m right, the operative phrase is “in between” in this statement:

For all the knits in between the increases how can I get it to be totally lacy?

I think Helen (that’s what “of troy” alludes to, right?) was confusing the YO increases that create the ruffles with the YOs you want to put in to make the lace in between the ruffles. Easy mistake. Regardless, I think her suggestion about looking for an existing pattern is worth considering. Of course, I say this as someone totally clueless about lace – I’m mainly jumping in to (hopefully) help clarify your goal.

ETA: Something just occurred to me, though I haven’t thought it through – what if you keep the kfb increases intact, and just change the plain parts? For every 2 knits, you can do a YO, k2tog. (If there is only one knit, I think it would be okay to just do a knit – I think that’s what you’re supposed to do with pattern repeats like that, no? Just do stockinette until you can make another full repeat?) I don’t know if it would look funny, but I thought I’d throw out the suggestion. You wouldn’t have to worry about having 2 YOs next to each other that way, as you would if the increases were also YOs (like your line 4 example). KWIM?

7

well it seems what you actually want is for someone to test knit and work out a pattern of K2tog and Yo’s for you.

you have an idea… swatch it.

if it doesn’t work, swatch again.

you might need to change needle size, or gauge, (a lacy fabric won’t create the same sort of ruffle as the stocking knit stitch does…)

that is a 20 row pattern, and 10 rows (right side) need to be ‘re-worked’

If i wanted to design it, i could. but YOU WANT TO DESIGN. to design, you do the work! you figure out how to manage the rows where the K2tog and Yo will interfer with the ruffle increases.

(i have designed patterns that are 90 rows (45 pattern rows with out a repeat. i had lots of failures along the way… but in the end, i got just what I wanted. you might not like, but i do…ITS MY DESIGN. )

8

I don’t want anyone to knit it out for me, I just want to know if I need to change the # of sts in the pattern. I have a mult of 2, but I’m thinking that I need a mult of 3 to do the lace. K1, YO, K2tog = 3 sts, so I was just wanting confirmation that I need to change to a mult of 3. I also wanted to know if it’s possible to do a lace pattern for this ruffle. And maybe if someone has already done this, they could share their technique.

9

CO a multiple of 3 sts.
Row 1: K3, *P3, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 2: P3, *(K1, YO) 3x, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 3: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 2x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 4: P3, *K1, YO, K1, YO, K2tog, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 5: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 3x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 6: P3, * K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 2x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 7: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 4x, K3 Repeat from * across row.
Row 8: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 3x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 9: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 5x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 10: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 4x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 11: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 6x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 12: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 5x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 13: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 7x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 14: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 6x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 15: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 8x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 16: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 7x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 17: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 9x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 18: P3, *K1, YO, (K1, YO, K2tog) 8x, K1, YO, P3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 19: K3, *(P1, YO, P2tog) 10x, K3. Repeat from * across row.
Row 20: P3, *(K1, YO, K2tog) 10x, P3. Repeat from * across row.

I think I figured this out correctly. I’m going to knit it up and see how it turns out. Like I said in the previous post- didn’t want anyone to do the work for me, just wanted to know if my train of thought was correct about it.

10

Isn’t it fun to problem solve? I only looked at the first few rows, but your logic makes sense to me. Good luck! :thumbsup: