There's one equation in this math that is absolutely critical: Stitches you have - stitches you want for decreases, and stitches you want - stitches you have for increases. The answer will be stitches difference, or the number to decrease or increase respectively. Grab your calculator and a pencil, and let's do it.
You know I love mittens, so I'm going to use them as the example here for increases. In my cuff I have 40 stitches. I need 48 for the body of the mitten, and the instructions say "distribute increases evenly" for the increase row - no specifics. Yikes!
48-40=8, so I need 8 more stitches. How to do it evenly? Divide. Divide stitches you have BY stitch difference= number of stitches between increases/decreases. In this case, there are going to be 5 stitches between increases.
The way to implement is to knit a couple of stitches in the beginning of your row or round. Increase one. Then knit 5, increase one across or around. The increases will be even, and they will be a couple of stitches in from your edges, making any seaming necessary easier.
The example here for decreases is a skirt on a child's garment. The original skirt has 56 stitches. The decreased row has 40.
56 (stitches I have) - 40 (stitches I want)=16, so I need to decrease 16 stitches. 56/16=3.5. Three and a half stitches between decreases - - ? I have no idea how to make a half a stitch, but I can trade off between 3 stitches + one increase, and then 4 stitches + one increase. That would work. OR I can take that .5 (a remainder) and realize that it represents 8 stitches (3 x 16 = 48 48 +8 = 56). I can put half of them at the beginning of my row or round, and half at the end. I'll knit 4, then K3, M1 until I get to the last 4 stitches.
Unless it's stated otherwise, do not increase or decrease on the first two stitches of a row or round. It makes seaming much easier. If your pattern tells you to, then do as it says.
1 comment:
Thanks for the post. Sometimes the commonsense ways to do things don't automatically come to mind.
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