Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Can you help this knitter?

I received this question this evening from a knitter who is having trouble with knitting a fingerless knit pattern. Can you help this knitter?

Has anyone made the smocked fingerless mitts by Tonia Barry from the 60 Quick Knits book?
I am stuck on a step and I need help figuring out what to do next.
On page 64, thumb placement, it says to work sts 1-4 twice which would make 8 stitches and put them on waste yarn, and then slip these 8 sts back to LH needle, then with working yarn, work sts 1-4 twice more. Continue to follow chart to rnd 8, then repeat rnds 1-8 once more, then rnds 1-4 once. Work in k2, p2 rib for 2 rnds. Bind off in rib.
Now my problem: When I've made mittens in the past, once I put stitches onto waste yarn I leave them there until I have finished the hand and go back and pick them up and make the thumb. This pattern seems to say that I work the 8 stitches for two times more and then continue on with the rest of the row following the chart. And also, why would I have 16 stitches when I begin the thumb?? Live sts? Not something I know either. If someone can help me figure this out so I can finish the mitt I will be so grateful. I love the pattern, it looks awesome. I am just not able to finish it as I have tried almost everything and don't know what is right. Thank you.

2 comments:

axilog14 said...

I've been parsing the instructions in your pattern for a while and it doesn't make much sense to me either. My only guess is that right before "Continue to follow chart to rnd 8" is the part where you set the thumb aside and resume working the rest of the mitten body (the palm, so to speak).

Either that, or the second part of the pattern is somehow telling you to form the "inside wall" of your thumb, adjacent to your index finger. The second "work sts 1-4 twice" part sounds like it might involve joining in the round with the 8 stitches already on your waste yarn.

In any case these are only guesses of mine, hope I could be of help.

--a fellow novice mitt-knitter

DrLeonesse said...

I'm not familiar with that pattern. However, I suggest asking the designer. Hop on Ravelry and send her/him a message. I have found that designers are more than happy to help their customers. Good luck.