Hi, I have been trying to knit a pattern called the Juliet Vest. My problem is how the decreases look. The back and front are both alike. Basically the fabric is all 1 X 1 rib. Each piece is divided like this, (1) 7 sts in est rib,pm, (2) ssk,29 sts in est Rib,M1p, pm, (3) 45 sts in est rib for centre panel,pm, (4) M1p, 29 sts in est rib,ssk,pm (5) 7 sts in est rib. So basically 5 sections are delineated. The M1’s look nice but the ssk’s don’t. There’s supposed to be a chevron effect on the 2nd and 4th panels and I want the decrease lines to end neatly not in a lump. I get nice lines on my M1’s produced but I’m not happy with the look of the decreases. I haven’t been using the ssk (or p) on the #2 panel because it would lean the wrong way and a k2tog looks lumpy. I’ve tried to purl or knit the first stitch and then pass the 2nd stitch over the first worked stitch but either way if the stitch that gets passed over is a purl you get a purl bum showing. I know this sounds really confusing but I’m hoping that a very knowledgeable knitter reads this and knows what I’m talking about. Thanks very much for reading this.
That looks like a pattern error to me - you are correct that doing an ssk on both sides would make one lean in the “wrong” direction.
An ssk leaves the right hand side stitch of the pair on top, leaning left.
a K2tog will leave the left hand side stitch of the pair on top, leaning right.
Not knowing exactly what Juliet Vest pattern you are using, I can’t tell you which one you want to which side. But you should be able to figure it out by knitting a few rows in an abbreviated version of a few rows only knit a couple of ribs in each section - just enough to let you see the result.
My other suggestion is to contact the author or the yarn company that published the pattern and ask if there are any errata notes on that pattern.
Good Luck!!
Hello Vie,
Thanks for your response. I decided as well that the ssk instruction on the right facing edge was wrong and I substituted a k2tog, it looks better. I’m going to try to put photos in!
This is the vest, the front and back are identical.
This is my wip , 3rd time around trying to figure out what looks best
This is the right facing edge. The pattern is a 4 row rpt. The first few rpts I used a ssk dc but the last two (4 row rpts) I did the k2tog. I think it looks better.
This is the left facing edge and I did ssk decreases but because this fabric is a k1p1 rib the ssk’s differ in combination, one time it will be a purl, knit stitch combo that is decreased with the ssk and the next time it will be a knit, purl stitch combo that is decreased with the ssk. It gives it a lumpy look because with the purl knit st combo you are laying a purl stitich over the knit stitch. Do you think I should make that purl stitch into a knit stitch when the rib combo is knit, purl? Maybe I’m overthinking this, there’s not much direction given.
This is the M1 on the right facing side of the centre panel. The directions say you lift the in-between bar from front to back and work the strand through the back loop, knitting or purling it as indicated by pattern stitch.
This is a picture of the M1’s on the left facing side of the centre panel. The directions for both right and left facing sides are the same. I know tht there are M1R’s and M1L’s but maybe this doesn’t apply in a K1P1 rib fabric because sometimes you knit and sometimes you purl. I don’t mind the look I’m getting with the M1’s on both sides of the centre panel. The only ones that are really bothering me are the ssk’s on the left facing side, the edge I’m getting there is bumpy.
This is a very long explanation for something that seems should be much simpler to do. Maybe I’m overthinking this. What do you think?
Thanks for reading this whole rigamarole!