Stocking stich - 2 rows or 1 ?

[gerry]

Hi - very new knitter - in fact just trying to start my first evr item !

I am going to attempt a Sirdar pattern 8591- a waistcoat in Sirdar Denim Ultra.

After casting on and doing a knit row then a purl row - the instructions say this is stocking stitch st-st, which I get completely.

Just need the next step clarifying - it then says -

working in st-st (throughout) work 38 rows more

Does this mean I knit and purl for 76 more rows giving 38 rows of stocking stich ?

or does it mean I alternate between knit and purl for a total of 38 rows ?

May be a silly question - but for a totally new male knitter sitting here with no-one to advise me I havent a clue !!

Thanks - Gerry

[Silver]

Work 38 rows total.

No question is silly... if you're unsure, you're unsure!

[suzeeq]

You would knit another 38 rows of alternating knit and purl. You'll end up with a total of 40 rows altogether because the first 2 plus 38 more is 40.

[gerry]

Wonderful !! I was hoping for a reply tonight but getting 2 within 2 minutes of posting is great !!

Thankyou ladies.

I am sure I will have more questions to come !!

[Songbirdy]

Typically it means you count both the k and the p rows. In otherwords count each row for a total of 76 rows.

If you were garter stitching (k every row) you'd count 38 ridges. But since you won't get the garter ridges, count 76 v's on the front less the one on the needle!

HTH!

[But I always check the pattern sizes if they have them kind of drawn out. Because I did make up a pattern once where the designer decided to make their own defintions for counting. Since they didn't share their unique definitions I was well on my way to a dwarf length sweater in a plus width! Thankfully I could tell something was wrong and just knit to measurements after I tinked the work way back!]

[suzeeq]

No no no! He doesn't have to do 76 rows. The first two plus another 38 only!

[Songbirdy]

So sorry, miss read ... my error!!!

[suzeeq]

Just didn't want to confuse him...

[gerry]

ha ha !! with my present snails pace knitting speed ( 15 rows since my first post ) I had no chance of getting to 78 before making a mistake

I reckon I shall be able to tell when I get to 38 if the piece will be very short or very long, good stuff this chunky wool for beginning - lets you see everything coming together much quicker and mistakes are very obvious.

None yet though - touch wood !

[suzeeq]

Don't get stuck on the 38 rows... remember you have 2 rows to start with then 38 more. So you need to have finished 40 rows total or it may be a bit short.