Stockinette?? Pattern help

Cocoabean · 01-06-2009, 06:43 PM

Hello all,

Newbie here. Have crocheted for years, now attempting to knit. Have completed a couple of basic projects now trying something a tad more complicated. A sweater from Big Needle Knits to Wear. It is the off-the-shoulder sweather shown on the cover.

I need help with the pattern. It says..Cast on 50 sts.

Row 1: p1, *k4, p4; rep from * to last 5 sts, k4, p1.
Row 2: k1, p4, *k4, p4; rep from * to last st, k1.

Continue for all sizes.

OK, I understand how to read a pattern, but here is my problem. The pattern appears as a stockinette stitch with 4 knits/4 purls per section.

When I get to the end of the first row, I end up with 8 knit stitches then 1 purl.

When I do subsequent rows, it doesn't come out as stockinette but a jumbled mess of knit and purl stitches that do not line up.

I hope this makes sense...I need help :(

Thank you!

MGM · 01-07-2009, 01:42 AM

It seems that you are miscounting somewhere. If you cast on 50 and then do k4, p4 with one single purl at the beginning and one single purl at the end, it should work out perfectly.

Then for the second row, you knit and purl the stitches as they face you. This is actually a k4,p4 ribbing that you are creating.

I would suggest counting your cast on stitches before starting row 2, and then make sure you are knitting and purling 4 each time. You should end row 2 with 4 knits and then one purl. If it doesn't work out that way, count again to see where you went wrong.

Hope this helps!

MGM

TrishL1975 · 01-07-2009, 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by MGM

It seems that you are miscounting somewhere. If you cast on 50 and then do k4, p4 with one single purl at the beginning and one single purl at the end, it should work out perfectly.

MGM

See, I'm not getting the same math, I'm getting what Cocoabean is. This is how I'm counting it. 50 minus the first purl = 49. 49 minus the last 5 stitches = 44. Then the repetition is 8 stitches, k4, p4, which should somehow go evenly into 44, but obviously doesn't.

In other words, the repetition ends on 4 p stitches, so the last 9 stitches should be 4p, 4k, 1p, and Cocoabean is getting 8k, 1p, which throws the instructions off for Row 2.

Cocoabean, are you certain it's 50 stitches? That pattern would work with 46 or 54, but not 50. Maybe there's a correction somewhere?

suzeeq · 01-07-2009, 04:27 AM

It's a k4, p4 repeat over 48 sts.. with a p1 at the beginning and an extra p1 at the end for the 50 sts, so you're really ending the row with p5, not k4 and p1, regardless of what the pattern thinks... It would need to be 46 or 54 sts to end with k4, p1. .

MGM · 01-07-2009, 04:46 AM

Oh Boy! Where was my head? That is true. The cast on number must be wrong. It's either 4 too many or 4 too few. That extra K4 at the end of row 1 throws off the cast on count from being correct, but it's necessary to keep the pattern.

Thanks for catching my mistake and giving a better explanation!

MGM

Cocoabean · 01-08-2009, 05:28 AM

Thank you all for the responses. Glad to know I did not lose my mind!! My first more complext knit project, and I run into this. I have found errors in crochet patterns and I now have enough experience in that art to adjust.

Below I have listed the next size down, which does not work, either. Would I be OK to cast-on 46 then start row 1 with k1, p4, repeat to end with p4, k1? and work the pattern for the remainder of this size with 46 cast on?

The next size down has 46 cast on but has different instructions:

Row 1:
K3, *p4, k4; rep from * to last 7 sts, {p4, k3} 1-time

...again when I do this with 46 cast on, it does not come out even. I end with 8 purl and 3 knit stitches...

Row 2:
{p3, k4} 1-time, *p4, k4,; rep from * to last 3 sts, p3.

cftwo · 01-08-2009, 05:04 PM

The pattern has to be something like #8+2 where # is the number of times you do the 4x4 rib. For the cast on of 50, it's 6 repeats of the 4x4 rib, plus one on each end ((6*8)+2=50).

To translate that 4x4 rib to a 46 stitch cast on, they have problems, because (5*8)+2=42. So, they add some extra stitches on each end and make it (5*8)+6=46 (or three extra stitches on each end of the row). I would knit it up as K3, do 5 repeats of the 4x4 rib, then either knit or purl the last 3 stitches (whichever makes the most sense as you're knitting it up). Reverse (purling the purls and knitting the knits) in the 2nd row. Once you have the first row set up, you should be able to just follow it from there.

Spokaloo · 01-09-2009, 12:06 AM

Suzeeq is right. It's just 4x4 ribbing with an extra stitch to begin and end each row. IMO, you seem to be overthinking the whole thing. It doesn't really matter if you end p4, k1 or k4, p1.

As for your concern about the pattern giving you the right number of sts to cast on, just read ahead in your instructions and see how many stitches are going to be worked immediately after the ribbing to start the body of your sweater. That should be the same as what you cast on to begin with.

Good Luck!

Cocoabean · 01-09-2009, 02:40 AM

Thanks all!!

This is not a ribbing just at the bottom, but it applies to the front and back of the sweather. These stitches are continued to the length indicated and I am to make two of them. Thus I want it to look right

suzeeq · 01-09-2009, 04:30 AM

Then just CO the sts for the size that's going to work for you, start the RS rows with p1 and repeat k4,p4 to the end and end with p4, p1 (or k1). The single sts at the ends will wind up being in the seam and won't show, so if you begin and end both front and back this way, when seamed together you'll have k4, p4 all the way around the sweater.