Pattern Question. Please Help a Newbie!

[ramblingwebgirl]

Hello. I'm new here. I just wanted to start by saying that this site is such an amazing resource and as a newbie knitter I'm forever grateful that it exists.

Here's my dilema.

I saw the most adorable cardigan at my LYS yesterday so I bought the pattern and all the yarn I needed to whip up my own version. Unfortunately, I'm having serious trouble understanding the pattern.

There is a snippet of the pattern below. The red marks indicate where I'm having problems.

Dec one st at end of next and foll alt row ... 11 (13-14-16) sts.

According to the pattern book foll = following so I assume I'm supposed to Dec one stitch every alternate row, but what does ...11 sts mean? I read it as meaning that I'm supposed to decrease a total of 11 sts, but this means that if I'm doing it every alternate row that I'd knit 22 rows - which I did and now my sweater is like 5 feet long! Please tell me I read the pattern wrong, because the cute cardigan at the shop was only waist length and mine is approaching knee length!!

Cast off rem 6 (8-8-10) sts.
Divide for BACK:
Shape Armholes:
Next Row: Cast off 2 sts, P24 (28-30-34), turn

I get the cast off part. The next part I'm stuck on is Divide for BACK:. Am I supposed to fold the piece in half vertically or something? Also, if I've already casted off all my sts how do I cast off an additional 2 sts and where to the 24 sts come from that I'm supposed to P?

I'm so confused.

Below is a picture of what my piece looks like so far, mind you it's about 5 feet long and 2 feet across.

I see a lot of frogging in my future. Please help :(

[JessicaSant]

No worries!

There is a snippet of the pattern below. The red marks indicate where I'm having problems.

Dec one st at end of next and foll alt row ... 11 (13-14-16) sts.

so you're going to decrease twice, once on the current row, then knit the next row normally, then again at the end of the 3rd row. The 11 (13-14-16) is there to indicate how many stitches you'll have after youve done the two decreases. If you're doing the small -- you'll have 11 stitches left after you've done the 2 decreases

                       (2nd decrease --
           VVVVVVVVVVV 11 sts remaining)
          VVVVVVVVVVVV 
          VVVVVVVVVVVV (1st decrease)
start--> VVVVVVVVVVVVV (13 sts)

I'm not sure about the divide for back part... if you want you can email me the full pattern and maybe I can figure it out better. - jessica@javaranch.com I promise to be a good girl and respect the copyright.

[ramblingwebgirl]

Thanks Jessica. That makes perfect sense. I can definitely see where I went wrong. I also sent you a copy of the pattern in case there's any more input you can give me.

Cheers!

[aliassak]

If I'm reading this pattern right-- the next 2 sts that you're to cast off will be at the start of your next row. Then you purl x-amount of sts (whatever required for the size that you're working), then turn...

So, it should go something like this:

Cast off remaining 6 sts. (turn the work to start a new row)
Cast off first 2 sts, p24, turn.


It seems as if the part where it says "Divide for back" and "armhole shaping" are just there to let you know where you're at in the construction of the cardi. Does that make sense?