How to misread your pattern
Dec. 3rd, 2019 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzHappily knitting away at That Thing That Will Never Be Done In Time For The Birthday It's A Gift For, I ran into a problem with the armscye decreases. I just couldn't figure it out. Was the pattern wrong? How can it be wrong?! I'm probably wrong!
But I couldn't figure out where I'd gone wrong.
At the start of each knitting project I check my gauge and do any calculations I might need to get to the right size finished garment. Because my gauge was off this time, I am knitting a size L. I'm knitting at a more loose gauge than the pattern requires, so I need less stitches to get to 10 centimeters, so I can knit a size smaller. Gauge magic!
Then I circle each instruction for that size throughout the pattern. The L instructions are the second number in between brackets for this pattern. An example:
"Continue to knit in pattern for 6 (8, 10, 12, 400) rows."
In this example you only need to knit 6 rows for the smallest size, but for the larger sizes the number goes up. This is a very common way of writing knitting patterns and you can see why I circle the instruction I need. It's much easier to read if you can see in an instant which number of the series given you need.
I was at 101 stitches, and my next instruction read:
"Size M (L, XL, 2XL, 3XL) only:
Work Special Decrease row on every row for 2 (4, 10, 14, 14) times - 89 (93, 93, 95, 99) sts remaining."
Math alert!
The instructions for the Special Decrease row means you decrease 2 stitches per row. So I'd need to do decrease 2 stitches 10 times = 20 stitches decreased.
By row 8 I counted my stitches. How can I be at 87 stitches!?
Well, of course. There's no way you can start at 101 stitches, decrease 20 stitches, and end up at 93 stitches. (That's what the pattern said).
I stared and stared and stared at the number of rows. Yes, I did my decreases right. Yes, I'd have to do 10 times the Special Decrease row. I couldn't figure it out.
And then my eye fell on that one special thing. Size S wasn't mentioned. There were separate instructions for size S. SIZE L WASN'T THE SECOND SIZE IN BETWEEN THE BRACKETS ANYMORE!
I had circled the number 10, for doing 10 Special Decrease rows, because it was the second number between brackets. But it was the wrong instruction. For this bit of the pattern, size L was the FIRST number between the brackets. I only needed to do FOUR special decrease rows, to only decrease 8 stitches, because 101 - 8 = 93 sts remaining.
Dûh!!!!
Right. The best part was that I only needed to frog back a weeee bit to get to the intended 93 stitches again. I undid the four extra Special Decrease Rows I'd done and was back on track.
But some days....
But I couldn't figure out where I'd gone wrong.
At the start of each knitting project I check my gauge and do any calculations I might need to get to the right size finished garment. Because my gauge was off this time, I am knitting a size L. I'm knitting at a more loose gauge than the pattern requires, so I need less stitches to get to 10 centimeters, so I can knit a size smaller. Gauge magic!
Then I circle each instruction for that size throughout the pattern. The L instructions are the second number in between brackets for this pattern. An example:
"Continue to knit in pattern for 6 (8, 10, 12, 400) rows."
In this example you only need to knit 6 rows for the smallest size, but for the larger sizes the number goes up. This is a very common way of writing knitting patterns and you can see why I circle the instruction I need. It's much easier to read if you can see in an instant which number of the series given you need.
I was at 101 stitches, and my next instruction read:
"Size M (L, XL, 2XL, 3XL) only:
Work Special Decrease row on every row for 2 (4, 10, 14, 14) times - 89 (93, 93, 95, 99) sts remaining."
Math alert!
The instructions for the Special Decrease row means you decrease 2 stitches per row. So I'd need to do decrease 2 stitches 10 times = 20 stitches decreased.
By row 8 I counted my stitches. How can I be at 87 stitches!?
Well, of course. There's no way you can start at 101 stitches, decrease 20 stitches, and end up at 93 stitches. (That's what the pattern said).
I stared and stared and stared at the number of rows. Yes, I did my decreases right. Yes, I'd have to do 10 times the Special Decrease row. I couldn't figure it out.
And then my eye fell on that one special thing. Size S wasn't mentioned. There were separate instructions for size S. SIZE L WASN'T THE SECOND SIZE IN BETWEEN THE BRACKETS ANYMORE!
I had circled the number 10, for doing 10 Special Decrease rows, because it was the second number between brackets. But it was the wrong instruction. For this bit of the pattern, size L was the FIRST number between the brackets. I only needed to do FOUR special decrease rows, to only decrease 8 stitches, because 101 - 8 = 93 sts remaining.
Dûh!!!!
Right. The best part was that I only needed to frog back a weeee bit to get to the intended 93 stitches again. I undid the four extra Special Decrease Rows I'd done and was back on track.
But some days....
