Help with counting rows

[Gina V]

Hi everyone,

I am attaching two photos here and have a couple of questions for you. I knit up this swatch real quick!

Photo #1.
I THINK I have 14 rows? Each of those ridges is two rows?
I am wondering if this looks like the right side. I cast on (using my thumb) and in photo 2 it almost looks like that would be the wrong side.


Photo #2
See the cast on? Does that count as an actual row? I think it looks like it should go on the inside of the garment ...?


Thanks for any help you can give. It's appreciated!

[campbellmom549]

I think I count 12 rows, a cast on row, and the bind off row. Technically that's 14, but I'd say for pattern purposes that you have 12 rows. When the cast on tail is to the left, you're on the right side. It looks like you're doing all knit rows. When you look at it, it's the purl rows (which is the back side of a knit row) that are standing out - they look like ridges. The knit rows sink in a little in comparison. You see that the cast on in photo 2 is pretty while in photo 1 it's more bumpy. The pretty side is typically the right side. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

[suzeeq]

The cast on is not counted as a row. The Bind off row is because you're knitting an actual row; the binding off is only the part where you pass one st over the other.

[scmomof4]

When you do long tail cast on you are casting on and knitting your first row at the same time. If the pattern tells you to long tail cast on, then you don't "count" it as the first row of your pattern.

In general: when the tail is on your left you are knitting a "right side" row of your pattern.

[suzeeq]

When you do long tail cast on you are casting on and knitting your first row at the same time.

<sigh> I know that's what a lot of knitters believe, but it really isn't a row. It may seem like it, but the `row' is much more hidden than a real knit row. A long tail cast on is a cast on, not a row, just as a cable cast on is a cast on, not a row.

[scmomof4]

Thanks for the correction. I think I was more trying to convey what Theresa Vinson Sternerson at knitty.com did a much better of conveying:

"The long-tail cast on leaves a row of purl bumps, so if you'll be knitting in stockinette stitch, begin with a wrong side row."

[knit2btied]

I was counting 13 rows. It seems to me that if your working yarn is on the same end as your cast-on tail, you would have an uneven number of rows.

OTOH I have been known to make a mistake from time to time.... (smile)

[suzeeq]

Thanks for the correction. I think I was more trying to convey what Theresa Vinson Sternerson at knitty.com did a much better of conveying:

Quote:

"The long-tail cast on leaves a row of purl bumps, so if you'll be knitting in stockinette stitch, begin with a wrong side row."

I take issue with that statement too. The `purl' bumps all but disappear.

[Gina V]

Thanks for all you input! I have so much to learn! I am going to write all this down and keep in in my bag so I can refer to it. Hey, and I can actually see a "pretty" side now! They looked the same to me before but I can see there is a slight difference. And the info about the cast on and where the tail is and the working yarn is very helpful! Thanks everyone!

[Jan in CA]

Garter stitch really doesn't have a right or wrong side so choose which you think looks best and that will be your RS (right side).