Help please - baby blanket issues!

[callalilly38]

I am going NUTS trying to figure out this beginner's baby blanket pattern. It mostly has to do with WS vs RS. Here is the pattern...

CO
Knit 9 rows.

Work pattern:
Row 1 (RS): Knit
Rows 2, 4, 6, and 8 (WS): K7, p to last 7 sts, knit to end.
Row 3: K7, *k2, k2tog, yo; repeat from * to last 9 sts, knit to end.
Row 5: repeat Row 1.

Ok, here goes...I cast on using long-tail, and I always thought that if the tail is on the bottom right, that is the RS facing me. If the tail is on the bottom left, that is the WS facing me. So, if I follow the pattern, when I knit 9 rows, the 9th row is a RS row. So how can the next row (Row 1 of pattern) be a RS row???

Thank you so much for your help!!

[Jan in CA]

Yes, that is generally true about the tail, but since your first 9 rows were all knit (garter stitch) it doesn't really matter which side is considered the RS since garter is a reversible stitch.

You can knit another row so that works out if you want, but what you can do is place a removable marker (like a safety pin) on one side and that will be your RS. Then you don't have to worry about the tail. I've been knitting for 6 yrs and I still often do that.

[Ingrid]

In this case it doesn't really matter, since the previous 9 rows are knit and both sides are identical.

You can knit the first row of the pattern and call it the right side, regardless of where the tail is.

[callalilly38]

Thank you so much for your speedy help, Jan and Ingrid! Have a wonderful day.

[suzeeq]

The garter st is reversible and where your tail is depens on the CO you use, so that's not a good way to tell. What the pattern is doing though is telling you that the 10th row, R 1, will be the RS from now on and the row after that has purls on it which will be the WS.