Stitches

Can someone explain these knitting instructions?

I'm making a scarf [called "Triumph Scarf"]. I've casted on 48 stitches and I'm supposed to do this for the first row: (P2, K2) twice, * P4, (K2, P2) twice, K2 *, P4, (K2, P2) twice ^ that's exactly how it's written. Can someone write out what I'm supposed to do? I know I'm basically just doing knitting & purling.

Public Comments

1. You know the Ks are "knit" and the Ps are "purl" right? Whenever you see a K, say or think the whole word "knit." Whenever you see a P, say or think the whole word "purl." Do your first p2k2 p2k2. Then p4 k2p2 k2p2 k2 and repeat that until your have only 12 stitches left on your needle. Then do p4 k2p2 k2p2 and you should be at the end. Read it slowly out loud to yourself and listen to what you're saying. Sound stupid? It feels stupid, too, te first time or two you do it. BUT it also works brilliantly for helping you understand a long string of instructions. Whenever you see instructions set apart by an asterisk -- as in * P4, (K2, P2) twice, K2 * from your instructions -- repeat that part. Sometimes it tells you how often to repeat it; other times, you get to figure it out. In this case, you need to repeat it until you have enough stitches (12 of them) left to do the last p4 k2p2 k2p2 set.
2. When you see things in parentheses, square brackets, or between asterisks, this is a clue that the instructions inside are to be repeated. They use this notation when something is repeated for two reasons. First, it saves a LOT of space in writing out patterns because knitting tends to repeat a lot and second, it is convenient for the knitter who can memorize the short instruction and just do it over and over, instead of having to keep referring back to the instructions. So "(P2, K2) twice" simply means p2, k2, p2, k2 --doing what is inside the parentheses two times The middle one is nested. p4 k2, p2, k2, p2 k2 Now the above sequence should be repeated somewhere, but it doesn't specify how many times. Either it will specify at some later point (unlikely), or them mean you are to repeat what is between the asterisks until you are down to the last 12 stitches, then finish off with the last instruction (most likely). How can you check? Count how many stitches you have, subtract 8+8+4=20 and see if what remains is divisible by 4+8+2=14. The center section uses 14 stitches each time it is repeated. 48-20=28 and 28/14=2. It should always divide evenly (if it doesn't, there is a mistake somewhere in the pattern). This time it comes out to 2. So you are to repeat the section between the asterisks a second time before moving on to the final instruction for that row. Other uses of parentheses: 1. a note inserted in the middle of instructions, such as (wrong side) or (1 flambooble stitch made) 2. modifications to pattern for specific sizes. Some patterns are written for multiple sizes. When that is the case, the beginning of the pattern will tell you what sizes it makes in the form of S(M,L) where the first size is before the parentheses, and other sizes are inside the parentheses, separated by commas. It could be 40"(46", 52", 66", 72") instead of S/M/L. Then, throughout the rest of the pattern, when you encounter that same format (a number before, then other numbers inside, parentheses) those numbers correspond to the pattern size. If you see K2(4,6) and you are making the small size, you knit 2. If you are doing medium size, you knit 4. And if you are doing large size, you knit 6. 3. stitch count. If the parentheses appear at the very end of a line of instructions and contain either just a number or a number and the name of a stitch or just "sts") then it is telling you how many stitches you should have on your needle after completing that round. It's to help you check for mistakes. You should make sure you have the correct count before proceeding to the next row. Square brackets and asterisks don't have alternate standard meanings. Just expect them to mean the contents are to be repeated. To learn more about reading patterns, check out these articles: http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/tip_knit.html http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/reading-stitch-patterns-for-knitting.html