couple of questions

[wrchili]

First, I dropped my stitch marker and I think it clicked up an extra row, but I'm not sure. How do you count to know how many rows you've knitted? I tried counting the v's, but then I didn't know if you counted the stitches on the needle as a row too.

Second, I'm going to attempt to knit my first pattern. This will be the first time that I've had to change colors in the middle of the row. I think I undertand how to do that, but I was wondering if there is a way to carry the old yarn along a row or do you have to cut the ends every time the color changes within a row?

thanks in advance!

[Ingrid]

I don't count the stitches on the needle as a finished row. That will be row number 'whatever' when you knit it, so you don't count it as a completed one.
When I count rows, I ususally put the tip of my needle in the hole of each stitch--makes it easier to keep track.

For your color changes, do you mean an intarsia pattern in the middle? Or do you mean a stripe?

[wrchili]

I mean an intarsia pattern. I'm making a bunny in the middle of my backpack.

[Ingrid]

The easiest way to knit intarsia is back and forth. You knit in the main color up to the bunny, knit in the contrasting color, attach a new strand of main color. Then you just knit back and forth--no cutting or reattaching necessary. Just make sure that you twist your yarns to avoid holes. I find that all I have to do to make sure this happens is to hold the yarn I'm dropping over to the left before I pick up my new yarn.