Why Can't I Follow A Pattern????

[NYCKnitKat]

I've been knitting on/off for about a year. I love it but get discouraged because my count is always off. I use stitch markers, go slowly...still off.

I was working on a Feather and Fan scarf that turned into a dickie or a bib. How did this happen?

I want to knit more.......I can crochet simple things, I can needlepoint and do counted cross stitch (there's alot of counting)!!! but I can't seem to follow a pattern.

Anyone? I'm posting a photo of what was supposed to be my Feather and Fan scraf.........I made two ends to tie together to use it as a dickie but what a waste of good wool.

[darkhalcyon]

personally, I would not suggest novelty yarn. For practice try doing some straight up unadorned yarn. the novelty stuff does tend to hide mistakes, but it's also hard to keep track of how many stitches you have and the rows.

Also, do whawt I do and take the time to count how many stitches you have at the end of each row to make sure you didn't add or drop any by accident.

[knitasha]

I couldn't find a link to your photo so I don't know what your scarf-dickey looks like. Since feather-and-fan is a lace stitch, however, I would guess that you are accidentally adding extra yarnovers. That would explain why the scarf kept getting wider instead of remaining the same width throughout.
A lot of people over-think yarnovers and end up making extra loops, which turn into extra stitches on the next row.

So listen to Mama: stop putting yourself down, learn the correct way to do yarnovers (it's easier than doing them wrong): http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting...increase.phpyo jhstop and don't tell anyone that your lace dickey was supposed to be a scarf.