Wrong number of stitches after bind off

[debbiemoon]

I am making my first lace project and it so happens to also be my first joined project (so far, scarves or one seam mitts and now, I've got sleeves and buttonholes etc etc

I have 83 stitches before the bind off.
Next row: K1, p2tog, work in pattern to last 3 sts, p2tog tbl, k1
(I"m assuming that's 81 stitches....I forgot to count )
BO row: BO1 st, work in pattern to last 11 sts, BO remaining 11 sts.

I have only 70 stitches instead of the 71 the pattern calls for.

As well, whenever I bind off, the counts are never the same as in the pattern. For the body of my cardigan, it said I should have 33 sts for the front, (11 sts were BO), 79 sts for the back, (11 sts were BO) and 33 for the other side front.

The first time I did this, I had 32, 79, 32. So I figured I must have BO more than 11. The next time I did it, I made sure I had the first 33 sts, BO 11 (there were 11 stitches that were slid off my needle), made sure there were 79 sts, BO 11, and now there are only 31 sts left!!!

Help me please. I've gotten so far and i can't give up now. I've already taken a big long break from this project and tried it just now with 'fresh' eyes and it's still not working. I'm sure it's my BO that's throwing me.

[suzeeq]

When you BO sts, you have to work an extra, so to BO 1, you would k2. I'd probably just do a ssk at the beg of a row that wants you to BO 1. But remember, when you BO a stitch, the loop that's left is the first stitch of the next set of sts. If you have 81 sts (which should be right) and you BO 12 (1 at beg of row, then 11 at the end) that should actually be 69 sts, not 71. What's the pattern, maybe it's different than what you think.

[debbiemoon]

Thanks Sue for getting back to me so quickly and I see what you're saying but I was thinking that when the pattern asks to knit in pattern to the last 11 sts and then BO remaining 11 sts, that actually meant 9 stitches were bound off and 2 remained on the needle???? That's how there should be 71 sts????

I'm working on the Decimal cardigan from knitty.com. Little did I know about the rating system. I just figured I could work it all out when the time came. Well, the time has come and funny, my problem has nothing to do with the lace bit but with the binding off.

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

[suzeeq]

I was thinking that when the pattern asks to knit in pattern to the last 11 sts and then BO remaining 11 sts, that actually meant 9 stitches were bound off and 2 remained on the needle???? That's how there should be 71 sts????

Hmm, dunno, maybe. You really can't BO at the end of a row though, you get the last st way at the end and can't do anything with it. So you could try working to the end of the row, then turn and BO 11 sts.

[debbiemoon]

When you BO sts, you have to work an extra, so to BO 1, you would k2. I'd probably just do a ssk at the beg of a row that wants you to BO 1. But remember, when you BO a stitch, the loop that's left is the first stitch of the next set of sts. If you have 81 sts (which should be right) and you BO 12 (1 at beg of row, then 11 at the end) that should actually be 69 sts, not 71. What's the pattern, maybe it's different than what you think.

Hi Sue
I'm back and still right where I left off. Actually, at that time, I had finished the body of the cardigan to under the arms and the left sleeve. I just finished the right sleeve and the number of stitches turned out perfectly. With renewed hope, I recounted my left sleeve and body. They are still messed up. The difference between the sleeve that worked out and the sleeve and body that didn't was that , the one that worked had its BO stitches at the beginning of the row and the other two, I had to BO in the middle of the work or at the end. How can one sleeve work out perfectly and the other be 2 stitches short? Oh yeah, now that sleeve is 69 stitches instead of my original 70!! :(

Left sleeve (83sts)
BO 1st, work in pattern to last 11 sts, BO remaining 11 sts. (71sts)

Right sleeve (83sts)
BO 11 sts, work in pattern to last st, slip last worked back to left needle and pass last st of row over this st. (71sts)

Just by looking at the pattern, I can see how she comes up with 71 sts at the end...but in practice, how does the left sleeve come up 2 stitches short when the right sleeve is fine?

Please help. I don't know how to make this work and it's I feel the end is near...if only I could just make this part work!

[suzeeq]

Being one stitch off doesn't make any difference, if you were 10 off, that would be something to worry over. I'd say just go on and it'll work out.