I am currently working on this pattern for a "candle tree" (see here (http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m112/yosemite55/CandleTree.jpg) ), except I need to double it. It has been the most challenging thing for me to do yet! I never thought it would be so difficult. It is full of YOs, cables and right and left twists. So my question is: has anybody ever had to double a pattern and have any advice on the best way to do it?

I have made a regular size swatch to make sure I knew how to knit it, and decided to rewrite my own doubled pattern so it wouldn't be so confusing for me to double as I knitted; but at this point I'm not convinced it wouldn't be easier to just double as I knit!

Also, the person I am knitting this for does not like the look of the YOs in the leaf patterns, and I guess I could just increase by a stitch instead of YO, but knitting into the front and back of the next stitch with the bamboo yarn I'm using doesn't look good. Any alternatives for a YO substitution that would not make an eyehole?

Thanks a bunch!

Do you mean double as in make 2 of them, or double as in make it twice as big?

as in twice as large, not 2 of them.

Could you just use bigger yarn and needles?

No it's part of a very large shawl and has to be in the same yarn and needle size as the rest of the shawl. The overall shawl size is 72" by 26", and my initial "candle tree" pattern size is 7" wide by 8" tall. I would like the candle tree pattern to be 14" wide by 16" tall.

Oh I see... :think: Well hopefully someone else with (much) more expertise than I have will chime in!