Row 1: *K1, p1, k1, p1, k1, k5. Repeat from * two times. K1, p1, k1, p1, k1.
Row 2: **K1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p5. Repeat from ** two times. K1, p1, k1, p1, k1.
You repeat these 2 rows until you reach the desired length. Because you have alternating sections of 5 stitches (either K or P), the pattern should look the same as you go along. In other words, the pattern forms columns. However, my scarf was changing....
I've made this picture really big to show the detail. You can see 7 columns. But do you see how the design changes around the top quarter? Well I knew I had to start over. I just couldn't believe I made such a mistake. This was probably the 5th time I was going to restart so I just cut the yarn off. This is a great piece to keep - to show what NOT to do.
So I began knitting again. What is funny (or perhaps sad) is that I made the same mistake again at almost the same place. I kept going and I made the mistake TWO more times!!!!!! It was so pathetic, I just couldn't take a picture.
My family and I went to our Aunt's place for Thanksgiving dinner on Monday and I showed this to my sister. She is pretty much an expert when it comes to needlework (i.e. Hardanger, cross-stitch, design, and knitting) so I showed her. She explained that I made a simple mistake: on a row where I was supposed to K5, I P5'd. I just couldn't believe it. I thought I was being so careful. I was left with 2 options - rip out all the stitches (which was about 3 inches of work) or continue and have a scarf that isn't right. Well, I'd rather rip out than have a scarf riddled with errors. My sister, God bless her, offered to rip it out for me. I turned while she did it:
You'll notice that she's working so fast that her hands are blurry. So..... I had to start again. But she showed me what the knit stitch looks like an what the purl looks like so I can at least distinguish between the two. Also, I have a trick - when the yarn 'tail' is on the left, I knit. When it's on the right, I purl. That has really worked well for me. I've knitted about 4 inches and it looks perfect!!! WHEW!
Having a piece of work containing errors is a great teaching tool. This is a picture I took to help:
Yeah, Lisa, that was a tough day for you. I hate to rip anything out...but the other option (ie. living with a mistake...forever) is too horrible to contemplate. Your knitting teacher should have shown you what a K stitch and a P stitch look like so you would have been ready for this.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing remarkably well for a beginner, regardless. You only have to work on your tension, and really: who doesn't!