Quote:yeah a couple of daysago i bought a book on knitting just the basics and a few 'simple' patterns they Really menat basic
they just tell you how to start and do 2 stiches and they don't really tell it in a way i get the idea
and then they use stiches Never explainde in the patterns
needless to say i didn't leanr much
and i really wanted one of those slings..and a cloak
Stick with it guys! I'm very happy that Willeke managed to goad me into making another!
Cloak eh? I'm still working up enough steam to tackle a sweater (rugged manly sweater). Knitting is pretty much just a combination of the two stitches the book was showing you (knit and purl, almost certainly). The "fancy" stitches are just variations, like going through two loops at once - if you can figure out how to do a simple square of stockinette you can handle the rest.
Best thing to do at first is to make a swatch about 12-15 stitches wide using only knit stitches. The fabric that you end up with has funny horizontal ridges, but if you work a dozen or so rows, your hands will figure out what they are doing a little better. Next try knitting the alternate rows using purl stitches (yarn is held in front of the work instead of behind). The swatch will be smooth, with the front showing the little "v" pattern typical of knitting.
Once you have _that_ mastered, the only other tricks you need for this pattern are increases and decreases. Decreases are easy - instead of working one stitch at a time, you just poke your needle through two or more, you just need to be a little more careful as there is less room to maneuver. There are lots of ways to do the increases, but some of them leave little holes. These are the most complicated stitches in this pattern. The type that I used in my sling are twisted yarn-overs, which should be in the books or webpages. Normally, a yarn over (easiest stitch of all!) leaves a big hole, that is often used in lacy patterns. If you put the needle in from the "wrong" direction though, the hole twists into a little figure-eight shape, and the fabric is nice and solid. I chose this stich over the other options as the nylon I was using doesn't have much give.
Matthias
There a few little tricks that knitters use to make complicated shapes look nicer. Although I've written the pattern using the same stitches on the left and right sides, when I made the sling I mirrored the decreases. When you get to the point of practicing increasing and decreasing in your swatch (everyone is practicing first right?
) you'll notice that increases "slant" the knitting one way. I wanted the pocket to be symmetric, with the column on both sides slanting out, then in, so on one side I used a k2tog variant where you slip one stitch over onto the other needle, then knit the other loop before passing the slipped stich back. The pattern will still work if you don't do this, however...
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