Help!!! My 85yr old mum has been knitting for 70+ yrs but is having trouble with neck shaping. I have attached photos of the part of the pattern, it just doesn’t make sense to her. Could someone explain please.
She is knitting the largest size, so the end number in the brackets.
I guess I would like to have it explained in simple terms. When are the decreases happening? Many thanks…
How lucky for you to have such an experienced knitter in the family.
These kind of directions are often confusing. It helps to write out the rows and stitch numbers then check them off as you knit.
For this pattern the first decrease row is immediately after the “Shape Neck” title. It gives the placement of the decrease too. Call that row 1 and work that decrease then decrease on rows 3,7,11,15,19,23,27,31,35,39,43 and 47. Then decrease on rows 53,59,65,71,77,83,89 and 95.
Thanks for the pattern information and hope your mum has fun working this graceful sweater
Thank you so very much, that was very helpful, your input is much appreciated. Mum says thank you also.
Hello, I had a question about this same pattern, so I hope it’s okay to ask it here.
I have made the left front of the pattern but was confused about the instructions for the right front side.
For the left side, where it said to cast off, I assumed it meant at the start of the RS row and proceeded in the way. But for the right front, it also says cast off at the start of the row so I thought this could mean to cast off on the purl WS side? Otherwise I would lose the sts with the pattern and the sides wouldn’t match. I therefore cast off 14 sts purl wise on the WS row, thus a row earlier than I did for the left front. I was wondering if this was correct? I’ve never made anything like this before and I worry so any insight at all would be appreciated please. Thank you very much.
Welcome to the forum!
Your knitting looks very good and the solid color really lets the cables stand out.
You’ve worked this correctly. The instructions are a bit vague and may depend on which row you end with before starting the cast off. No matter. You’ve done the correct thing by casting off starting at the shoulder edge for right and left fronts (the difference of one row before the cast off isn’t significant). The two fronts should be mirror images of each other as you have made them.
Thank you so much! That’s very kind and I am in awe of how speedy your replies are. Does it matter if I did a knitted cast off on one panel and a purled cast off on the other?
I’ve made a few strange mistakes during this knit but it’s been a great learning experience. I also found your previous answer incredibly helpful as I could not make sense of the instructions at all. Your reply has made me feel much better. Thank you. You must have rescued an incredible number of WIPs.
Hello
Your cardy looks good, the cable is lovely and I also like this pattern in a single colour to show off the texture.
Lots of patterns have the shaping happening one row different just because the nature of knitting is you have to turn the work to cast off at the beginning of a row, not at the end (although some are worded as casting off ‘at the end of the row’, you still have to turn to work the cast off) and usually it is fine, the single row isn’t noticable. This can also mean casting off the shaping, or the final row with purl instead of knit and this is correct, you have done the right thing.
It is possible to alter how things are knit to make shaping happen on the same row but usually this just isn’t needed. If you make something very chunky, where one row is a significant height difference, you might want to look into it but otherwise just do what you have done.
If you get stuck on any of this pattern or another don’t hesitate to ask, it’s so much nicer to get help and get back to knitting rather than struggling alone.
I have learned a huge amount from reading people’s questions even when they are not related to a pattern I am making, this is a great forum to be a member of.
We also like to see pics in progress and finished pics if you’d like to share them.
Thank you so much, it’s a lovely community to be part of.
