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Me and Patterns, not so good friends...

As to be expected the Firestarter pattern is a struggle for me. First, there are two sets of directions in the packet. So to better my odds I'm reading both at the same time and going crazy for my effort.

One set of instructions says to CO 30 using the provisional cast on; the second says to make a provisional cast on using a crochet chain the length of a little over half the needed stitches. Literal me reads this and thinks the crochet chain should only have 15 stitches plus a few. And yes, I would be wrong. And wrong in an eventual "it'll be funny how wrong I was" way. Yet this funny wasn't evident to me while I was wracking my brain at the seeming contradiction of the two statements. I was not given any pattern reading DNA. None whatsover. And my laugh at myself gene could use a little bolstering as well.

It seems obvious now that the pattern writer meant half the total stitches needed for the full circumference of the sock. But it wasn't even remotely obvious to me until after I attempted to double the cast on stitches on a 17 stitch crochet chain. But that's me and my pattern reading anxiety.

So, one hurdle met, some humor generated. The next hurdle is the short row toe and I haven't mastered that yet, but after two tries I think I'm on my way. I didn't fully comprehend the idea of the wrap the first time around and so my short row stitches were bare. The second time around I was tired. My toe seams were holey because of the way I knit. I'm going to have to twist the wrap stitches. I also ended up with an uneven toe; there were stitches left on one side of the needle but not the other. I frogged back to the first toe half but I lost some stitches and wraps so I'm gonna have to start from scratch. I don't see any humor in this yet, but I have hope.

There is a definite pattern discrepancy on the toe. One set of directions says to knit the first row then turn, with the following rows incorporating the wrap and turn feature. The second set says to begin the wrap and turn at the end of the first row. After my fruitless attempts I realize that either way will work, but coming to grip with these inconsistencies as I'm learning the pattern is extremely daunting.

Comments

Linda said…
Ugh - why are there two sets of directions? Usually one is hard enough to comprehend, especially when it involves short rows. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.
Minerva Turkey said…
I have a hard time with patterns! I need pictures to help me comprehend what I should do. That is why I like going to a knitting group. We help each other figure that kind of thing out.
Morticcia said…
You're probably on the right track, Shannon, with having help in person. I should get out more, but I don't.

I'm banking that it will be worth it in the end, Linda. LOL. Thanks for the comment. :-)
Nick said…
hi all,
the extra set of instructions (it's really a step-by-step addendum) are there to help knitters along that have never done anything like a short-row-toe-on-provisional-crochet-cast-on before. I will look into the discrepancies.