Oh please help!

[pepperpott]

Hi all!!
I seem to remember knitting being so much easier, but I was about 11 last time I touched a pair of knitting needles. Almost 40 years later I'm trying to read a pattern and now I know why I stuck with scarves back then.

So the pattern says:
Shape the neck and shoulders
Bind off 4 sts at beg of next 2 rows, 3
sts at beg of next 4 rows, AT SAME
TIME, place center 27 sts on
holder for neck and working both sides at once, bind
off from neck edge 2 sts once and dec 1 st every
other row once.

Does this mean bind off 4 stitches and knit until I reach the center 27 and then put them on a holder and then finish the last part of the row? Or do I wait until the first two rows are done and when I start binding off the 3 stitches THEN take out the middle 27? Does work both sides at once mean armhole side AND neck side?
e.g. Starting with 53 stitches. Bind off 4 stitches. Knit 7 stitches. Bind off 2 from neck. Place 27 stitches on holder. Bind off 2 from neck. Knit 11 stitches. Is that right?

I am VERY confused!
Huge thanks for any help.

[suzeeq]

Does this mean bind off 4 stitches and knit until I reach the center 27 and then put them on a holder and then finish the last part of the row?

Yep you can do it that way, or BO 4, knit to the center, drop the yarn, put the sts on a holder, then with a new end, work to the end of the row, turn and BO 4 sts. You need 2 strands of yarn so you can work the shoulders separately anyway. That's what the 'work both sides at once' part means - both shoulders. But do this on the first row, then do the other BOs and decs.

[pepperpott]

After reading that about 15 times, I think I mostly get it! Thank you suzeeq!

I am still a bit unsure about when to "bind
off from neck edge 2 sts once and dec 1 st every
other row once". Do I BO 4 for 2 rows and then BO 3 for 4 rows and THEN "bind off from neck edge 2 sts once and dec 1 st every
other row once"? Or are they done simultaneously?

Thank you again.

[suzeeq]

Maybe it'll help you to spread it out a little and look at it - the center sts on a holder are the neck, the outer edges are the armholes. You BO 4 at the armhole edges, then BO 3 at the same edges. BUT -- you also BO sts at the neck edges 'at the same time', not after you do all the armhole edge BOs.

So BO 4, work to the middle sts, put them on the holder, finish the row with new yarn. Turn and BO 4, work to the neck, drop the yarn and with the other yarn BO 2 at that neck and finish the row. Turn and BO 3, work to the neck, drop the yarn and pick up the other, BO 2 on that side of the neck and finish the row. Do the same again on the next row. Then after that, BO 3 at the beg again, work to the neck, but instead of binding off 1, do a dec on the last 2 sts, go to the other side of the neck and dec there then finish the row. Turn and BO 3 and you don't have to do any more BOs or decs at the neck. If you're going to just BO 1, a dec - ssk or k2tog - is smoother, so I suggested that instead.

[pepperpott]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

suzeeq you are fabulous!