So- all is going well with the book with lots of lovely reviews popping up around the place, however I have had a few baffled e-mails from knitters regarding the X pattern cushion/ pillow and I assume by default the zig zag one is also causing confusion.....!
Both of these rely entirely on the Knit/ Purl Basket technique so getting this right is essential to cracking the pattern....and I wasn't kidding the X pattern is a lot harder (because of the swap over in the middle) than the Zig Zag so do the Zig Zag first!!!
First things first is double check your basic knit and purl stitches against how I do them- some of the patterns it makes no difference how you knit and purl but this one it really does.
Knitting: Make absolutely sure you are inserting your right needle through the centre of the stitch you are knitting and out the back. Then take your yarn (behind the work) from right to left around the outside of the right needle then back between the needles before pulling it through as a stitch.
Purling: Insert your right needle through the centre of the stitch and out the front. Take your yarn towards you around the outside of the needles and back between the two.
With any luck the pictures at the back of the book should help a bit to double check this!
So......
Knit basket: you need to knit the second stitch then the first and slip both off together. To do this take your right needle around the back of the work and insert it from right to left under the back of the second stitch- take the yarn round and pull the stitch through as described above. Then before you pull it off the needle do the same with the first stitch- slip both off together.
Purl Basket: Do the exact opposite of the Knit basket- so insert your right needle from right to left under the front of the second stitch- take yarn round and pull stitch through as described above, then do the first stitch and pull them off together.
And then......
Some people seem to have a bit of bother with reading the pattern. A knit basket is KB and purl basket PB. These abbreviations refer to the whole technique using both stitches as described above, so K1 KB uses 3 stitches. For the X Pattern one I would also put a stitch marker in over the central stitch as once you get going with your baskets it's quite easy to do too many!
I'm going to try and work out how to do a little film of my hands doing this and upload it- in the meantime please don't hesitate to email me if it's still baffling!
xxxx
PS any successful ones please send pictures!!!!!
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