oh dear... hat help

[psychedelic_oatmeal]

So I'm working on the hat seen here: http://preita.com/2008/09/12/hawk-hat/
All goes according to plan up until the decrease rows. I start out with 88 sts when I start round 1:
Round 1: *K14, P2, Sl 1, K2tog, PS, K to marker, repeat from* end P2, (86st remaining)
There's room for two repeats, plus the P2. But I ended up with 84 sts. Is it just me, or doesn't "Sl1, K2tog, PS" repeated twice decrease you by 4 stitches?
It's all downhill from this point... oh dear...

[Mystery_Gyrl]

I'm confused with you P_O. I would think that from the instructions you lose one (1) stitch when you k2tog and you lose another stitch (2) if you pass the previous slipped stitch over the k2tog, therefore if you repeat this action twice you remove a total of 4 stitches.

I looked up the abbreviation "PS" on the web (http://www.knittingfool.com/pages/ab...=201&PageNum=6) and it says that PS stands for "patent stitch" (I've never heard of this stitch maneuver). Maybe you should try it, the instructions say you are supposed to slip 1 stitch with the yarn forward and bring the yarn over the needle. Doing PS this way allows you to replace one decrease and or removed stitch with a yarn over.

Or maybe it's a typo and you are supposed to simply purl the following stitch after you k2tog and I am making it more complex than it needs be.

HTH. If possible, could you let us know how it works out.
Katrina

[tarrentella]

I orriginally read it is a double decrease (sl1, K2tog, PSSO) which indeed would be a decrease of 4. If their is no glossary with the pattern explaining the term i swould contact the publisher or designer for a clarification. Either the end stitch count is incorrect (and it should be 84) or the PS meens something different, such as simply purl stitch, which you need to find out about.

[Knit4Pie]

I would say that the stitch count is wrong. I got this explanation directly from the pattern:

Sl 1, K2tog, PS: Slip one stich from left hand needle to right needle, knit next two stitches together, then pass slipped stitch over just knitted stitch.

Unless they mean to just pass it over, without dropping it from the needle, but that doesn't sound quite right.

[suzeeq]

I agree with everyone that it's a dble decrease too. The pattern is wrong that you should be left with 86 sts. I'd just go on and follow it as written and it should come out right.

[psychedelic_oatmeal]

Thanks to all for the helpful suggestions (and reassurance that I'm not losing my mind). I did leave a question for the designer, so we'll see what happens. I went through the pattern and calculated the stitch count for each row, and it does consistently work out to be 2 less than what it says. I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and keep working, and "wing it" when I get to the end.
(Get it? You know you've been working too hard when the puns start to emerge...)