I may just drop it

DROPS patterns are a great resource, completely free and readily accessible. Sir Lancelot is not my first DROPS pattern but may well be my last.

There comes a point in knitting every DROPS pattern where one’s brain either goes “Oh, dear” (or some synonym… like my first excursion with DROPS, when I reached the almost inevitable “While at the same time” instruction way too late – always read the whole instruction before progressing!) or otherwise “WTF!”

Last night was a “WTF!” moment. The arm-shaping instructions for the Front piece make no sense to me. I am at an impasse. I need help in sorting this one out, Ravelry and the DROPS pattern comments have not enlightened me. Mr L will not assist because he says it is knitting and he knows nothing about knitting. I responded that knitting is irrelevant, this is code and that is something he knows all about. I can work the stitches but I cannot figure out the instructions – totally different issue.

I have a new phone!

That makes 4 mobile phones in the house now, which is perfectly ridiculous for two persons who dislike and will not use a mobile phone from choice! I am considering an “Infinite Phones” photo project – remember the Infinite Cat?

Anyway, I now have to climb another learning curve and I am not looking forward to it, at least not while I am still attempting to work out why the front armhole has shaping that is not on the back piece or how to bind off at the end of a row…

LATER (much)

So, how would you parse “bind off on every row starting from neck: 2 stitches 8 times…” having traversed a row to the mid-point and cast off the centre 4 stitches, now working on one shoulder only, neck to armhole.

Clearly I parsed incorrectly last night and later spending several sleepless hours trying to grasp it in the night, I looked just now and all became clear. It is not Bind off on every row but “Bind off on each row that you start knitting from the neck edge” i.e. right side rows only (for this shoulder, later it will be wrong side only)

I feel really stupid right now.

However, a traditionally-written UK pattern would have full written instructions piece by piece, with what one needs to do for the Back, then the Front and then Left and Right sleeves if they should differ, or one set for both that says to make two the same.

I have just been out to the caravan to look for my Show box (it is completely AWOL) and found that some type of Beetle infestation ans utterly consumed my lovely fabric-lined cane shopping basket that I use to keep current knitting in. We had to put it out on the bonfire. I’m abject.