HELP - JUST LEARNING

[sillyme]

As a new knitter I picked a pattern that said easy. I have purchased a book for beginners and am trying to teach my self. Can someone tell me how to place marker and then slip marker. Also when the pattern says to k 2 -15 (31, 47, 63, 79, 95)sts. what does this mean.

[knitqueen]

A marker is something that's used for many different things - it can be used to show where the beginning of a round is (in circular knitting), it can be used for where you need to make decreases/increases on subsequent rows, etc. The marker itself can be anything from a loop made from scrap yarn, to fancy beaded beautiful pieces, that all serve the same purposes. All you do is slip it onto your needle where your pattern tells you to, and when you need to "slip marker" all you do is move it from your left needle to your right needle when you come to it.

As for your second question, whenever you see numbers inside brackets like you described, it is referring to the different sizes of the item. For example, if a sweater were made in four different sizes it could say something like S (M,L,XL) and then the corresponding numbers refer to those sizes.

Make sense?

[sillyme]

yes, the marker makes sense. The number do also, but the only thing is if it doesn't say so many sts means what size, how do you know which to use.
Thanks for the information.

[knitqueen]

At the beginning of the pattern it should say somewhere what the different sizes are, and they'll likely be written in the manner shown above, using parentheses and commas to differentiate between the various sizes. Then, when you look at the pattern itself, the number you look at in the directions will be in the same position within the parentheses as was at the beginning of the pattern.

[suzeeq]

What knitqueen said. And it helps if you go through the pattern before you start, either marking or circling the numbers you need for your size. If you're going to make the second size inside the (), then mark all the numbers that are in the second place. Saves a lot of confusion as you go along.

sue

[sillyme]

thanks, this helps alot. I know I will figure all this out eventually.