As with a recipe, always read a pattern through first so that you get the idea of how the design and techniques fit into place.
At the beginning of each pattern, it will have the sizing
and the materials you need to knit with.
Sizing
The smallest sizes of the item you’re knitting will be
printed first and the larger sizes will follow.
For example:
To fit bust: 81 86 91 97 102 cm
32 34 36 38 40 in
Just to confuse things you will sometimes be given the actual
size measurement of the garment. This is the size that it will knit to,
rather than the measurement of the person who’s fitting in to it. Remember it
isn’t generally a tight fitting piece of clothing, so you need a bit of space (ease, wiggle room etc.) to get into it. Following
this you will have the measurement of its length and the sleeve seam length.
Remember that if you need to adjust the length you must take into account that
you may need extra yarn.
1. Bust: The measurement of the bust/chest
is taken under the arm.
2. Back: The length from the back of the
neck to the very bottom edge of the garment.
3. Sleeve: From the beginning of the cuff
to the widest point, which is just below your armpit, where your bicep is widest.
There may
also be a diagram of these measurement - I think these are realy useful and wish all patterns included diagrams and a measurement chart.
Materials
Yarn amounts are also shown at the beginning of the pattern
underneath the measurements, so that you calculate the amount of yarn needed to
knit the pattern.
To fit bust: 81 86 91 97 102 cm
32 34 36 38 40 in
Yarn: 10 10 11 12 13
balls (arrow)
Make sure you have bought the correct
amount of yarn and if you are substituting a yarn, make sure it has the equivalent
weight, yardage or metreage.
Sometimes it’s wise to over buy a little. Most good yarn suppliers will let you
have a refund on unopened balls or
hanks of wool. You can ask your local shope to 'put yarn by' for you. They’ll store it at the shop for you with your name on it and you can buy it as
and when you need it. Don’t expect them to keep it for too long though. It ensures you get the
right dye lot number for the yarn
you have chosen.
In the materials section there will also be the recommended
needle size and any other equipment you need eg: buttons, beads, cable needles,
crochet hooks or stitch holders.
Knitting instructions
When reading through the pattern before
you begin, it can sometimes become confusing and it will only become obvious
once you start knitting, so don’t go thinking you’re totally stupd, or that the pattern is wrong before trying it out.
Knitting instructions give the smallest size first and the
larger sizes are followed using brackets eg: cast on 96 (100: 106: 110: 116).
Follow the order according to the size you are knitting throughout. It’s
useful to go through the pattern with a highlight pen marker, so you don’t read
the wrong size by mistake.
Asterisks or
brackets are used to indicate the repetition of a sequence of stitches. Eg:
‘*K1, p2; rep from * to end’. This means
that you must repeat the sequence inside the asterisks until you get to the end
of the row. It is also sometimes written in brackets, eg: ‘(K1, p2) to end’. To
confuse you even more, asterisks and
brackets are sometimes used together. For
example *K1, p2 (K2, p1) 3 times; rep from *
to end.’. The bracket instruction means that these stitches only are to be repeated
three times before returning to the
instructions immediately after the asterisk. So, following the example, you k1,
p2 then k2 2, p1 three times in total, then go back to the k1, p2 until the end
of the row.
It is always good to have a pencil to hand so that you
repeat the sequence the exact amount of times specified. Some knitters have a
pin neatly attached to the pattern page and make little points instead of
pencil marks.
Even if you have to put your knitting down in a hurry, always take the time to mark where you are
on the pattern or you will end up
having to take the row back because you’ve forgotten
where you are.
The phrase ‘work straight’ means continue knitting without
increasing or decreasing, until instructed.
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