Reading patterns for a complete beginner

How-to Questions
1

Hi,

I have just started a new project (my first one) and I am having difficulty understanding my patterns.

At the moment I am working on a pattern that says ‘work 14 rows dec 1 st at each end of next and every foll alt row. 21 sts.’ I understand how to decrease but I am confused with what ‘21 sts’ means. I’m sure it’s something simple, but I’m confused.

Thank you in advance :blush:

2

It probably means you got 21 stitches after all the decreases. How many stitches do you have currently?

3

Thank you for your response. I currently have 50 stitches (before I start the decrease).

4

Are you sure you are supposed to have 50? I mean if you decrease at both ends you will do an even number of decreases and you will also have an even number of stitches left. Thus 21 is not fitting in this context.

5

Welcome to the forum. What pattern are you using? A link to it would be very helpful. If it’s free we can look at it and if it isn’t someone might already have it.

6

Hi. Thank you very much for your responses. After going back over the pattern it appears that I have made a few mistakes earlier on. I’ve started again and hopefully will be able to get through it mistake free. This is a beginner pattern but I’m still struggling to understand some bits. I am following the pattern ‘sweater in sidar tundra super chunky 8077’. Thank you again for your help.

7

Learning to recognize and correct mistakes is a major part of knitting. You’ll do great. If you need help figuring out a fix let us know. Chances are we’ve all been there with the same problem. You might be saved starting over again for the last time again.

https://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/patterns-and-books/sirdar-8077-sweater-in-tundra-super-chunky-leaflet-download

8

Thank you, that’s really kind. I will keep working on it until I get it right. I think this is where I went wrong:
P4, p2tog, (p8, p2tog) 4 times, p4. 45 stitches.

9

You probably missed a p2tog before. If the count doesn’t come out right you can ‘read’ your work from the beginning of the row and make sure you got all the p2tog’s. Using markers between repeats can be really helpful because you can check each one for a quick count before moving to the next and catch any mistakes sooner. HTH