very frustrated about losing stitches in k1 psso etc

[jellis1972]

Hi
Sorry if this has been posted but I cant find it.
I am knitting (well what I thought) a very basic lace shawl.

When I knit which you can see below I am losing stitches.

eg.
1st row K1*k1 k2tog, yfwd, k1, yfwd, sl1, k1 passo k2

2nd row and following alternate rows - purl

3rd row k1* k2tog, yfwd k3, yfwd, sl1, k1, psso, k1

5th row k2tog *yfwd, k5, yfwd, sl1, k2tog, psso, rep from * to last 7 sts. yfwd, k5, yfwd, sl1, k1 psso

and so on and bit different to row 12.

My problem is and I understand that when I do the psso over stitches, it decreases my work but is balanced out when i add the yfwd. I'm on the understanding that i should have the same amount of stitches on the needle as when I started the row.

I've watched videos to make sure I knitting correct and as far as I can see I am.

I'm making sure the wool is been pulled to front for yfwd, I slip the stitch (sl1) in a pearl like stitch ( i've even tried the knit way) and I psso over from the right needle.

I cant understand why this is reducing my knitting,
please help me as I have spent hours on this practicing every way, and I really love the shawl.
thanks for any help

[suzeeq]

Yes, the 'yfwd' is a YO which should make up for the decreases. The slip st for the sl, k, psso should be slipped like knitting a stitch, but doing it like a purl shouldn't cause you to lose stitches. The k2tog is a dec too, but in the repeat - "k2tog, yfwd, k1, yfwd, sl1, k1 passo k2" - you have 2 decs and 2 yos so that should stay at 8 sts.

The st pattern is a repeat of 8 sts plus 1, so why don't you CO about 25 sts and try the pattern with just 3 repeats. Maybe with fewer sts you can see what's going on. Put a marker between each repeat, then you can count the sts easier.

[goknitterpurler]

5th row k2tog *yfwd, k5, yfwd, sl1, k2tog, psso,

isn't 5th row above over 10 sts? and I see 3 dec and 2 inc?
or does the final psso bring it back to 8 + 1?
I count the other rows as 8 + 1

[suzeeq]

You don't count a YO as a stitch until you've done it, not at the beginning. R5 uses 8 sts in the repeated part - YO, k5, YO, sl1, k2tog psso - the k2tog at the beg isn't counted in the actual repeated sts, and the sl k2tog psso is a double dec which is offset by the 2 YOs. That's why I said the whole pattern is done over 8 sts plus 1, the 5th row gets the 2 for the k2tog, from one of the sts of the repeat.