I have a Fetching Knits group on Ravelry. If you have questions about any of my patterns, you might find answers already there, or you can start a new discussion thread and get help. Not a member of Ravelry? It’s free to sign up and an amazing resource.
You can also email me, although I might not be able to get back to you right away.
Help with Fetching/Dashing thumb
Some people have found the thumb in Fetching a bit of a challenge, but it’s pretty simple one you figure it out. The instructions below are written for Fetching. You just need to adjust the number of stitches if you are making Dashing. The instructions read:
Using waste yarn, k7; slip these sts back to left needle and k them again using working yarn.
By working 7 stitches with waste yarn, you are holding a space to make the thumb later on. So: you take a new piece of yarn, in a contrasting colour (so you can find it easily to take it out later), and work 7 stitches with it. You just drop your working yarn, pick up the waste yarn, and (leaving about 10 cm hanging down inside the glove), start knitting. After you make the 7 stitches with the contrasting waste yarn, drop the waste yarn, leave the tail hanging inside your glove, slip the stitches back to your LH needle and work them again using the working yarn.
Once you’ve bound off the top of the glove, carefully remove the waste yarn and put the exposed loops onto your needles . You will use these live stitches, plus some stitches that you pick up on either side of the open space, to create the thumb.
How to do the picot bind off for Fetching
Some people have had some trouble with the picot bind off. This bind off technique makes the scalloped edge with the little bumps above each purl rib. To make the bumps, you will cast on an extra stitch, and then immediately bind it off again. Because you are adding extra stitches, you can bind off quite tightly (if you bind off too loosely, your edge might curl backwards).
The instructions read:
BO 5 sts, [slip st on right needle back to left needle; CO 1 st using Cable Cast On method, BO 6 sts] until all sts have been bound off, slip st on right needle back to left needle; CO 1 st using Cable Cast On method, BO remaining st.
Break yarn and draw through last st. Thread yarn tail on tapestry needle and sew yarn tail to beginning of BO round. Weave in end.
So what you do is:
Bind off the first 5 stitches on the needle. Then, take the one stitch that ‘s on your RH needle, and slip it back to your LH needle. Take your RH needle, slip it between the stitch you just slipped back and the one next to it, draw up a loop of yarn and place it on your LH needle to make another stitch (it will be to the right of the stitch you slipped back). Now, BO this new stitch, plus the stitch you slipped. Keep going in this manner until all the stitches have been bound off. Just make sure that the picot bumps are lining up with the purl ribs. If they aren’t, you probably made a mistake counting your BO stitches.
If you don’t like the way the picot bind off looks, you can bind off in the rib pattern, or do an i-cord bind off instead.
Really having trouble starting the Little Twig cowl. Having marked work into 12 stitch units, I find the instructions for the first row need 13 stitches. Without yarn over: k2tog, k1, k2, ssk, k1,k2tog, k2. = 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2 = 13. Plus yarn over x 3 this gives 14 stitches between markers at start of Row 2.
I tried missing the knit stitch on the ssk to give 12 stitches used but still had 13 stitches between the marker because of the 3 yarn over stitches.
What am I doing wrong???? HELP!!
Hi, without seeing your project, I’m not sure what’s going on, but the lace pattern is correct.
The first round instructions are:
Rnd 1: *Yo, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k2, ssk, k1, k2tog, k2
So –
There are 3 YO increases = 3 sts
There are 3 corresponding decreases (K2tog, SSK, K2tog) = 3 sts
There are 2 K1s = 2 sts
and 2 K2s = 4 sts
3+3+2+4 = 12
If you follow the chart, does that make it more clear? It’s not an easy lace pattern.