Help With a Pattern

[elizabethrmiller]

Hi Everyone,

First I'd like to thank everyone whose already been so helpful. I'm a new knitter, have made several scarves, hats, baby blankets, baby booties etc. I'm trying my first top, it's a Tropicana Halter Top (I included a picture here).

I've been able to do the Back and Front, no problem, but I have a question when I get to armhole and neck shaping.

The pattern reads:

Next row (RS): k1, k2tog, k28, ssk, k1, join 2nd ball of yarn, k1, k2tog, k28, ssk, k1

Working both sides at once continue to decrease in the same manner 5 times more every 4 rows. And then 9 times more every other row - 4 sts (end with RS row)

What exactly does this mean? I have two questions, what does it mean to join the second ball of yarn? And when it says "same manner" 5 times every 4 rows, does that mean that inbetween that shaping I should continue to knit in St. St as I did the rest of the front? I know I should end with 4 stitches and then use the tubular cord technique to do the straps.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Elizabeth

[Ingrid]

What you're doing with the second ball of yarn is dividing the front into two sides for the v-neck. Just start knitting with the second ball and you can weave in the end later. Continue in stockinette stitch as you have been, working each side with it's own strand of yarn.

[suzeeq]

And `in the same manner' refers to the decrease row. So on the RS rows, you'll be k1, k2tog, k across to 3 sts before the neck split, ssk, k1, go to the other ball of yarn, k1, k2tog, k across to 3 sts till the end, ssk, k1. You continue to work the stockinette and dec 2 sts on each side of the front - one at each armhole edge, and one at each neck edge.

sue

[nkfries]

Remember that ssk slants to the left and k2tog slants towards the right.

[suzeeq]

Oh yes it does; I was just repeating the pattern row. So reverse the ssk and k2tog. The dec at the beg of the row and beg of the neck edge should be ssk and the one at the end of the row and end of the neck edge should be k2tog.

sue

[elizabethrmiller]

Sorry, I’m a little confused, should it read like this?

RS rows: k1, k2tog, k across to 3 sts before the neck split, ssk, k1, pick up other ball of yarn, k1, ssk, k across to 3 sts till the end, k2tog, k1.

WS: st st

Thank you all for being so helpful. I’m trying to branch out and read patterns, and you guys are great at helping me understand them.

[suzeeq]

A k2tog slants to the right so you'd want it on the left edge; ssk slants left, so it's usually on the right edge. Sooo....

Start the RS - k1, ssk, k across, k2tog, k1 and the other side is the same, as you've written it above after picking up the other ball of yarn.

sue