Help w/dec evenly spaced--going crazy!

rosiknitzar · 09-23-2008, 02:16 PM

this shouldn't be too hard, but I've got this wrong 3x! Ok, I have my ribbing done (with 2 extra stitches by mistake) and need to dec from 162 (well, 164) by 67 (69) to leave 95sts.

How do I figure out how often to p1 or p2tog (how to space them)?

Please enlighten me!!!

P.S. Normally I am quite intelligent...

suzeeq · 09-23-2008, 07:24 PM

You need to dec about every other st - you can p3, p2tog, p2, p2tog, p3, p2tog, p2, p2tog, alternating p2 and p3 between the decreases, it may come out a little better. Don't stress over getting them exactly evenly spaced, just as long as they're not all bunched up together.

brittyknits · 09-23-2008, 07:24 PM

You need to decrease every 2.38 sts. Which is impossible-- so just do every 2 sts, then every 3, alternating back and forth. Every quarter of the way, count and check to see how you're doing. In each completed quarter, you should have 24 sts, except for one, which will have 23. Make sense?
The point is to decrease evenly, not exactly. So if you have to make up by skipping or inserting an extra decrease every couple of inches or whatever, it won't be a big deal.

rosiknitzar · 09-23-2008, 07:30 PM

Thank you!
OK, I knew it was something like that, alt spacing, but tell me how you figured 2.38 sts?

Tell me your math for knowing each quarter I should have 24/23 sts?
I want to be able to get this right next time on my own!!

suzeeq · 09-23-2008, 08:06 PM

Divide 69 into 164 = 2.38.

brittyknits · 09-24-2008, 02:45 AM

Sorry about that!-- I took 169 and divided it by 69 and got 2.38. Since that's not possible in knitting, I'm going by either side of that number, in other words, 2 and 3. For future reference, take the number of sts you have and divide it by the number of sts you're taking away in your decrease. The resulting number is how many sts you need to knit between decreases BUT because when you decrease you knit 2 sts together, don't forget to take that into account. So if you have to decrease every 4th sts, you actually need to knit together every 3rd and 4th st. Hope that makes sense.
Conversely, if you have to increase, take the number of sts you have and divide it by the number of sts you have to add on. The resulting number is how many sts you need to knit between increases, and you don't have to worry about the knitting 2 tog. issue with decreases.
For the quarters, 96 is 4 times 24, but you needed 25, so I just lopped off 1 st from 1 quarter, or 24 + 24 + 24 + 23. Depending on what you're knitting and how many sts you have and how many you have to increase or decrease, you might want to mark off thirds or tenths, or whatever. It's just a way to keep track as you go along and not get through most of the row or round and find out you all of a sudden have to decrease 10 sts and it will look uneven.