shawl pattern

[strawberry]

I bought Knitted Lace shawls book title 'Wrapped in Comfort'. Of course I don't understand the pattern. Page 41- Julia's Shawl my neice is getting married and want to make this for her wedding day. Need to understand this pattern.
It is circular and it reads to CO 9sts. Row 1 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 2: K1, YO across, end k2- 16 sts.
Row 4: K1, YO across, end k1 - 31sts.
How can there be 16 sts when CO 9sts?
Picture shows shawl is circular.
I thought I would cast on (example) 200sts and just knit and follow pattern, but this is different. Rows are short.
mhkucharik@comcast.net
Thanks

[Mirl56]

the shaw you picked is knit in a circle, from the center out. You start out with 9 cast on. On row 2, when you knit 1, YO, knit 1, YO across - the YO means 'yarn over' the needle, making a new stitch - that is why at the end of the row you have 18 stitches. Each row that has YOs is an increase row, that is how the circle gets bigger and bigger.

If you would rather cast on 200 or whatever, maybe you should look at some of the other shaws in the book. Or, here are a bunch to look thru, too: http://lovetobikeandknit.blogspot.co...-patterns.html

[suzeeq]

Yes each of the YOs are an increase to your stitch. So the first row you double the CO st number, then on row 4 your double that number. You'll keep increasing according to the pattern until you wind up with 200-300 sts or more. I find the top down shawls like this very easy to knit. If you want to CO a lot of stitches and decrease, look for Faroese type shawls. Another source for patterns is this site Triangle Shawl Patterns