This is why I hate instruction books
Apr. 26th, 2009 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragovianknightLittle help, knitters?
I am knitting my sock on two circular needles. I just finished turning the heel, with the last row of instructions reading K across all 18 stitches.
The next heading is "Picking up Gusset Stitches", and frankly, from the instructions I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe I'm just stupid. Hopefully, y'all are smarter and will explain in tiny tiny words.
With the same needle, knit up 15 sts in the loops along the heel flap. In the intersection of the heel flap and instep, pick up a stitch. On the next round you will knit it through the back loop (a twisted stitch) to keep a hole from appearing here later. Place a marker.
Now, initially I thought this meant to pick up and knit the stitches along the side of the heel flap, so that I'd have 33 stitches nestled together on the needle. But the next instruction is:
Look at the other end of your needle, where the 18 heel turn stitches are patiently waiting. Transfer the distant 9 to the other needle.
So...I'm supposed to pick up the stitches on the empty end of the needle? And the last nine stitches I knit when turning the heel, move to the resting needle? How does that work when I need to start knitting again? I tried it this way and wound up with my needle ends perpendicular to one another, and my active yarn nowhere near where it needed to be in order to:
Knit across half of the instep stitches, maintaining the ribbing pattern (*p2, k2, repeat from *, end p2). This ribbing continues until the toe. You now have 40 stitches on this needle.
I am so fucking confused, guys. So fucking confused. I'm sure these instructions are fine if you already know what you're doing, but as a simple beginner pattern, there isn't enough information. At least, not for me.
Edit: How is that math even supposed to work? I started with thirty stitches on each needle. In the heel turn, I decreased needle A down to eighteen, with thirty stitches still on needle B. If I pick up fifteen plus one on A, then that's thirty-four, right? 18+16=34. If I transfer nine from A to B, that leaves 25 on A and 39 on B; if I'm actually supposed to transfer nine from B to A, that gives me 43 on A on 21 on B. Where the hell am I getting forty stitches anywhere with these instructions???
Edit 2: OMG YAY SORTED (with the help ofhelens78; thank you for confirming I was not insane with my first instinct of where to pick up stitches). After picking up stitches and shuffling stitches and spending ten minutes untangling my needles, because after that they looked like something from an Escher painting, I'm actually knitting around again yay! Cat Bordi suffers from severe explanation fail. (Seriously, everything up to this point was very clear and straightforward, and then it was like, "Magic happens and you have a heel!" Like those drawing books where between step two and step three you go from an oval with some ovals inside, to a photo-realistic human face, and the only explanation is "add detail to the features".)
I have a headache now. *whines*
I am knitting my sock on two circular needles. I just finished turning the heel, with the last row of instructions reading K across all 18 stitches.
The next heading is "Picking up Gusset Stitches", and frankly, from the instructions I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe I'm just stupid. Hopefully, y'all are smarter and will explain in tiny tiny words.
With the same needle, knit up 15 sts in the loops along the heel flap. In the intersection of the heel flap and instep, pick up a stitch. On the next round you will knit it through the back loop (a twisted stitch) to keep a hole from appearing here later. Place a marker.
Now, initially I thought this meant to pick up and knit the stitches along the side of the heel flap, so that I'd have 33 stitches nestled together on the needle. But the next instruction is:
Look at the other end of your needle, where the 18 heel turn stitches are patiently waiting. Transfer the distant 9 to the other needle.
So...I'm supposed to pick up the stitches on the empty end of the needle? And the last nine stitches I knit when turning the heel, move to the resting needle? How does that work when I need to start knitting again? I tried it this way and wound up with my needle ends perpendicular to one another, and my active yarn nowhere near where it needed to be in order to:
Knit across half of the instep stitches, maintaining the ribbing pattern (*p2, k2, repeat from *, end p2). This ribbing continues until the toe. You now have 40 stitches on this needle.
I am so fucking confused, guys. So fucking confused. I'm sure these instructions are fine if you already know what you're doing, but as a simple beginner pattern, there isn't enough information. At least, not for me.
Edit: How is that math even supposed to work? I started with thirty stitches on each needle. In the heel turn, I decreased needle A down to eighteen, with thirty stitches still on needle B. If I pick up fifteen plus one on A, then that's thirty-four, right? 18+16=34. If I transfer nine from A to B, that leaves 25 on A and 39 on B; if I'm actually supposed to transfer nine from B to A, that gives me 43 on A on 21 on B. Where the hell am I getting forty stitches anywhere with these instructions???
Edit 2: OMG YAY SORTED (with the help of
helens78; thank you for confirming I was not insane with my first instinct of where to pick up stitches). After picking up stitches and shuffling stitches and spending ten minutes untangling my needles, because after that they looked like something from an Escher painting, I'm actually knitting around again yay! Cat Bordi suffers from severe explanation fail. (Seriously, everything up to this point was very clear and straightforward, and then it was like, "Magic happens and you have a heel!" Like those drawing books where between step two and step three you go from an oval with some ovals inside, to a photo-realistic human face, and the only explanation is "add detail to the features".)I have a headache now. *whines*
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 05:21 am (UTC)I think what you want to do is pick up those gusset stitches (as you expected), then knit across the 30 instep stitches on B, then pick up the other 16 gusset stitches (first the 1 you pick up in the intersection, then the other 15), and finally those first 9 stitches from the heel, stopping in the middle of the heel.
I have no idea which stitches should be on which needle at that point -- but you'd have 80 total, which would mean the top (instep) half would be 40 stitches!
(Are you reading a Cat Bordhi pattern? I hear she scares veteran knitters! You are very brave!)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 05:30 am (UTC)(It is a Cat Bordhi pattern, but it's not a complicated pattern...she just doesn't explain very well. Or, in some places, at all.)
Going back and re-reading her introduction, I think this is actually going from one needle for the top/one needle for the sole, and twisting it all into profile, so half the sole and half the top are one one needle, and the other half are on the second needle. Why? Who the hell knows. Because she can, maybe. :P
I'm tempted to leave things split thirty for the top and fifty for the sole and sides, but then I'd have to work out the decreases on my own. On the other hand, it would mean not having to re-arrange things again when time comes to graft the toe.
I understand now why this book was being given away! :D