Joining a second ball...?

[londoneyre]

Hello crafty knitters!

Quick question here, and apologies if this is a frequent FAQ. I'm a beginner/intermediate knitter working on my first poncho. So far, so good. But now the pattern tells me to join a second ball of yarn and something about working both sides at the same time? This is for the neck opening and I've never done one before. Thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated!

Merci beaucoup!
~Jess

[boyforpele13]

hi there!

usually this is when you have bound off stitches for the neck opening and you have a left front and a right front still live to work on. instead off leaving the one side active with one ball of yarn and finishing that up and then going to the other side, some patterns instead tell you to join a new ball of yarn to the opposite side and work both at the same time, meaning you would work the right front stitches with one ball, drop that ball, skip the bound off neck stitches, and pick up the new ball and then work the left front with that ball. (or vice versa, depending on where you ended up.) this is a good method because it helps keep the gauge consistent across both fronts, since you are working them the same time, but if that is not a worry for you, you can also work the one front until it is completed, then join the yarn and work the other front.

hope this helps!

[londoneyre]

Hi!
Thanks for the reply. Here are the exact pattern instructions:

Neck Opening: Next row (RS): K 49 (51, 53) sts (back); join second ball of yarn, dec 1 st, k to end (front). Working both sides at same time, work 1 row even. Rep neck dec for front on next 2 RS rows. – 46 (48, 50) sts for front; 49 (51, 53) sts for back. Work even until neck opening measures 7 1 /2", end with a WS row.

Next row (RS): K 49 (51, 53) sts (back); k into back and front of next st (inc 1 st), k to end (front). Rep inc on next 2 RS rows – 49 (51, 53) sts for front and back.

Now, unless I am misunderstanding you, this doesn't call for any bind offs. Are the instructions defective in some way? Also, how exactly to I join the second ball--just knot it to the back? And lastly, I'm working on circular needles (but not in the round) and I'm having trouble understanding how I work both of these ball on one set and apparently without stitchmarkers.

[suzeeq]

No you won't bind off, you knit the first half of the sts, drop that yarn, pick up another end, dec 1 and knit the 2nd half with it. Then you will dec sts in the same place, it sounds like the neck opening. You don't have to knot it to anything, just leave a 3-4" tail to weave in later. The sts might be a little loose, but won't come out. You won't need st markers you should be able to figure out where you are by the dec sts.

[isabeau]

The dec 1 is basically the same as a really really short bind-off, for a pointy neck opening. So you're basically dividing the work there, doing each half with a separate ball of yarn; you don't need stitch markers because the neck shaping will tell you where you are (and also, the other yarn strand will be waiting at the neck edge.)

[Joelle]

I've got a simple project I'm sure I'm over analyzing but here goes...I'm making a striped pattern sweater so I've got 2 strands (black and grey) at the beginning of each knitted row and I pick up whichever color I need. So now I'm at the neck and I'm supposed to knit 16 sts with black then join second strand of yarn (grey - still sitting at the end of the row) and bind off next 15 sts and then k to end. Then it goes into working both sides at once...etc. Here are my questions:

1. should I cut the grey at the end to join in the middle of the row where I'm binding off?

2. Am I supposed to bind off using both black and grey and then drop the grey to continue to k the rest of the row or does join mean drop the black and work with the grey?

3. Since I've got this stripe I didn't think that one side should be black and one side should be grey which is how I interpreted your thread above so I'm not sure what to do here.

Did I mention it's my first garment? I got sick of knitting baby blankets.

Hope my questions are understandable. if you want to reference what I'm working on, it's pattern #30145 (Lion Brand Homespun Child's Striped Yoke Pullover).

Thanks in advance!

Joelle.

[suzeeq]

The pattern doesn't say another strand of gray, it just says 2nd strand, so it would be the same color you started the row with. I think that will answer all your questions.

[Joelle]

Thanks. I figured it was something simple like that and I was over analyzing. I think since grey is my main color and therefore I've got 2 skeins of it and only 1 of black I may start the neck with grey.

Thanks so much for your help!

Joelle