HELP!! Fern & Faerie pattern crisis

[tarahsolazy]

OK, this is the first thing I have knit, and it was going great. Ribbing, check, knitting 6.5 inches below the ribbing, check. Knitting 29 stitches onto a dp needle, check. Next the pattern says K2. So.... I took the yarn from the dp, and knit 2 new stitches, not using the dp, using the original R end of my circ, so I now have 29 stitches on a dp, squished all together, and two knit stitches under significant tension on my original circ. Next instruction is ssk, slip, slip, knit. I find the instructions for this stitch in my Knitting for Dummies book, and try to do it, but the yarn is under such tension that I cannot make it work. Did I do this right? Should I try to transfer my 29 stitches to a holder? (Just got an old NeedleMaster, so I think I could use the cable, or I have several of the big safety pin thingys)

Any ideas? :goodgrief :pezfrog

[Meredith]

Dude... I started to type this out and my computer ate it!!!

Ok.... you have your 29 stitches on your DPN. You then have the DPN in between your right and left needles. What I do at this point (and this is my little variation) is I just knit all of the stitches on my circular, taking out my marker, and knitting to the end, turning and purling back.

Then I work my decreases. You will notice some tightness with the DPN right there in your face, but once you knit out far enough in your decreasing rows, that tension will go away. And once I knit out far enough, I transfer over to straight needles.

To work your decrease, you knit two, then ssk, knit the rest of the stitches to the last four, knit 2 together, then knit your last two. Turn your work and purl back, to start over again.

There shouldn't be too much tension on those stitches though. How you described it sounds like you are doing it correctly... but hopefully maybe I helped a little.

[lifetapestry]

OK, this is the first thing I have knit, and it was going great. Ribbing, check, knitting 6.5 inches below the ribbing, check. Knitting 29 stitches onto a dp needle, check. Next the pattern says K2. So.... I took the yarn from the dp, and knit 2 new stitches, not using the dp, using the original R end of my circ, so I now have 29 stitches on a dp, squished all together, and two knit stitches under significant tension on my original circ. Next instruction is ssk, slip, slip, knit. I find the instructions for this stitch in my Knitting for Dummies book, and try to do it, but the yarn is under such tension that I cannot make it work. Did I do this right? Should I try to transfer my 29 stitches to a holder? (Just got an old NeedleMaster, so I think I could use the cable, or I have several of the big safety pin thingys)

Any ideas? :goodgrief :pezfrog

This is the confusing part of the pattern or just the confusing part of making a soaker. If you look at the pattern page that you're reading the directions from, at the bottom there are 2 pictures labeled "a" and "b". What's going on is that the stitches on your DP (leave them on the DP and don't touch them; put point protectors on the end to keep the stitches from accidentally slipping off) are at the horizontal line of figure "a" below the ribbing. Right now, your soaker is just a short tube, the length of that first horizontal line on the soaker in figure a. What you're going to do is work the rest of the stitches on your circular needle so that the back of the soaker hangs down like you see in figure a. Then you'll graft the soaker together like in figure b.

I *think* you've done it just right, as long as the two new stitches you refer to are attached to the old stitches on your circular. About the SSK, keep trying it until you can do it. I remember having problems making it work. Try changing the angle that you insert the left needle into the slipped stitches either up or down and pull the worked stitch SLOWLY off the needle, watching carefully to be sure you release the old loop stitch. It will be hard to do the first time, but you can do it, really.

Sometimes knitting is like sex, a little change of angle makes a big difference. Just keep playing with it.

HTH,
Karla

[dandelions2]

Sometimes knitting is like sex, a little change of angle makes a big difference. Just keep playing with it.

HTH,
Karla

:lol: I was just skimming this thread because I know nothing about this pattern...I wasn't reading every word...then I clicked the back button to move on to another thread and the word "sex" caught my eye! I had to come back! :brow...and ain't that the truth!

[susanjp]

I can't help you at all with the knitting problem, but thank you Karla for the best laugh of the day! Your observation about sex was priceless!!! :lol:

[tarahsolazy]

Thanks!! I was doing it right, except I slipped a stitch instead of knitting it, so when I looked, I had a knit stitch, then a three slipped, and I was trying to ssk the last two, which is impossible! So I knit that second little stitch, and, although it was tight, I got the ssk accomplished. (Gotcha on the sex thingy :pezfrog ) Now I'm back on track, thanks all!!

[pamelamama]

excellent analogy, lifetapestry ;)