Once I decided to try and improve my knitting game, the next question became where to start? All the books that I have gathered seem to follow the same layout. They introduce the basic things, like the materials you will need, different types of needles, how to cast on, and then they all move into stitch patterns, so it makes sense to me that is where I should go next.
I easily moved through the first few patterns such as stockinette, ribbing, and garter stitch, but then things started to go a bit sideways. As far as I was concerned, I was following the stitch pattern, but here is the thing I have learned about knitting, your knitting instantly tells you when things aren’t quite right! Learning how to read knitting patterns is like learning a whole new language. EVERYTHING is abbreviated, and if you don’t know what those abbreviations mean, you might as well not even pick up your needles. Here is a little teaser from a chevron eyelet stitch, Row 3 *K2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, SKP, k2; rep from * to end, what does that even mean?? I tried phoning my mom, but she didn’t answer, so off to YouTube I went. I honestly don’t know how people learned to knit (or do anything frankly) before YouTube was a thing.
It turns out that I was reading the very first line of the stitch pattern wrong which was sending me down the garden path of disaster. In the picture below, in the brackets you can see where it says “multiples of 7 sts plus 2”. I took that to mean for every 7 stitches I cast on, I add two more, essentially casting on 9 stitches each time. But what it actually means is that you cast on how any many multiples of 7 you need, and THEN you add 2 bonus stitches at the end after you have all of your multiples of 7 on your needle. I had set myself up for failure by having the wrong number of stitches, so the pattern would never turn out how it was supposed to. Once I figured that out, I was off to the races!
I was easily able to move through the rest of the patterns. I figured out how to increase and decrease, knit and purl through the back, and work new colours into a piece. I was so proud of myself for working through my frustration and figuring it all out. I now have a nice little collection of colourful swatches, and a little bit more confidence in my knitting skills. Now that I have made it through all the stitch patterns, I am cautiously optimistic that it is time to attempt my first project. Flipping through my books, the projects all look way above my newbie skill set, but I am sure there is something in there I can tackle….and it won’t be a scarf!
