How to Read your Knitting Part 4

I learned to knit when charts were not common. Most of the early knitting charts I used were for colour work not stitch work. When you learn from text, there is a tendency for you to focus on the text instead of the appearance of the work. This stitch is knitted lace, which means it has patterning on both sides. Charting it to North American standards means you have a visual representation of how it looks, but the knitter has to pay attention to wrong side and right side rows and reverse the (usually empty square) for the knit and purl symbols in their head. I find when I'm teaching stitches like this one, that text is more easily used as long as the knitter also figures out how to track where they are by reading their knitting. Here's a stitch pattern to try. The stitch pattern below is a simple 2 row pattern. It repeats over 4 stitches.

Vertical Openwork (multiple of 4)

Row 1 (RS): * K2, yo, ssk; rep from *.

Row 2 (WS): * P2, yo, p2tog; rep from *.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until desired length. 

I've added a garter stitch border around the edge of the sample I'm showing.

I've knit a few rows so you can see the pattern established. On the first few repeats you are completely dependent on the text. Once you complete a few rows start paying attention to how each stitch lines up with those around it.

On the next Row 1, notice the first knit stitch is on top of the p2tog from the previous row. The second knit stitch is made into the yo of the previous row. After working into a yo, you make a yo and finally you make the ssk. If you look at the work you can see the ssk is always made into a visually strong vertical column of twisted stitches.

On the next Row 2, notice the first purl is on top of the ssk from the previous row. The second purl is made into the yo of the previous row. After working into a yo, you make a yo and finally you make the p2tog. If you look at the work you can see the p2tog is always made into a visually strong vertical column of twisted stitches.

The best way to learn this is to practice and while you make each stitch assess the relationship to the stitches around it and think it out more like this:

Row 1 (RS): K3 for the border,* k1, k1 into the yo from the previous row, yo, ssk into the vertical column; rep from *, knit 3 for the border.

Row 2 (WS): K3 for the border, * p1, p1 into the yo from the previous row, yo, p2tog into the vertical column; rep from *, knit 3 for the border.

If you stay focused on the second stitch always being worked into the yo of the previous row, it will be hard to go wrong for more than a few stitches without noticing it. 

I often use a brightly coloured marker on the right hand edge of the RS to identify it as such. As the work grows take the time to compare both sides so you can identify which is the RS and which is the WS. 

http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/10/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-1.html
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/10/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-2.html 
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/11/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-3.html 
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/11/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-4.html
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/12/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-5.html
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/12/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-6.html
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/12/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-7.html
http://knittingrobin.blogspot.ca/2016/12/how-to-read-your-knitting-part-8.html