Get to Know Your Pattern: Parts of a Pattern

Hi guys, welcome to the Knitting Circle. I'm Mary Beth temple, and my job in this video is to give you an overview of the different parts of a knitting pattern, so you can be more confident choosing one for your next project. Let's talk about the parts of a pattern that you may need to look at when you're selecting which one you want to knit. Now, the first thing you're gonna see of course is the fabulous photo, which will give you an idea of what the finished item is supposed to look like. Then of course, you'll have your title, and your fabulous designer, and you'll know that it's from our good friends here at the Knitting Circle but let's get into the nitty-gritty. Next thing we're gonna talk about is finished measurements. Now finished measurements, refer to the final size of the piece after blocking. And I do always recommend that you block your gauge swatches, So you can see if you're headed in the right direction. But for a shawl, for example you're absolutely gonna wanna block that. So when it's all finished, the finished measurements tell you how big it's going to be. The next thing that you will see is the gauge. And in this case, it says 14 stitches and 26 rows equals four inches in garter stitch. So when you knit that gauge swatch, you want to make sure that the swatch has at least four inches bigger is better, you want five or six inches square ideally and you're going to knit a swatch with the needles that you wish to use and the yarn that you wish to use, and see if you're getting the gauge after blocking, that the designer got. Now, we do have a video here on gauge, which tells you how to change needle sizes, et cetera. If you need to. Now, it does say on this particular pattern the gauge is not critical for this pattern, however, different gauge will affect the size of the shawl and the amount of yarn used. So if you're knitting too tight, you need more yarn to cover the same square footage, you're gonna go through a little more yarn, if you're knitting loose, you may need less, but you also may not get the ideal finish that you're looking for. So just because gauge isn't critical to a pattern doesn't mean it doesn't matter. And I would suggest getting as close as you can stand or being aware that your final project may not look exactly or be the exact same size as the one in the photo. Now materials, so this says 400 yards of worsted weight yarn in the main color. And it says MC after that, to let you know that that's the abbreviation for Main Color, and 400 yards of worsted weight yarn in contrasting color CC, and it's telling you that we're going to do that. So as US eight or five millimeter circular needle 24 inches or longer or size needed to obtain gauge. So again, the designer got gauge with a size eight or five millimeter needle, you might have to go up and down a little bit, and the reason we're telling you 24 inches or longer is because while we're using a circular needle you're knitting back and forth in rows. So it's telling you that if say you selected a 16 inch out of your vast stash of knitting needles, that's not gonna be big enough to accommodate the number of stitches that you need. So 24 inches is okay, longer is also okay. You're going to need a tapestry needle to weave in those ends, and you're gonna need whatever blocking supplies that you use. The next thing you'll see on the pattern is the specific yarn that was used in that specific photo. Now, this is not the only yarn you can use, but if you look at this photo and you go, that's it, that's what I want, I want those colors, I want that contrast, then, you know, you're gonna go to the brand, that is mentioned in the pattern and buy that yarn. But over here, so this is like the generic version of the yarn, and this is the more specific version of the yarn. So it doesn't mean you have to use that, but it means if you want that exact look, that's exactly what was used. Then of course we have abbreviations, which would be all the abbreviations that are needed for the pattern, and if there's anything unusual in there something that's not super common, it is written out. You have directions on there on how to do that stitch, so when you come to that, you will be able to come back and look and see, and generally speaking those are usually in alphabetical order, like they are here. Now for the instructions, there's going to be a header for each section. So here it says body of shawl, and that tells you how to do that. And then there's here is one that says edging, it's gonna tell you how to do that. There's finishing, it's going to tell you how to do that. If you were knitting a sweater for example, it might say front and then there'd be a header that said back, and then maybe one that said sleeves. So generally speaking there's a header every time the section or part of the item you're knitting changes. In the shawl obviously we're doing the body and the edging. But there can be more pieces there. A lot of times not always, but a lot of times, we'll also give you a little stitch diagram right there. Now some people prefer to only use the stitch diagrams and not read the text, some people prefer to read the text and not the stitch diagrams, I personally feel like going back and forth works for me. I might read the text to make sure that I know what I'm doing, and then as I'm knitting along and I'm watching a movie or whatever, while I'm knitting around talking on the phone or whatever I'm doing, I can just glance at the chart and make sure that I'm knitting the proper stitches in the proper order, also, you'll see, oftentimes not always but often you'll see one of these red boxes on top and that lets you know where the repeat is. So for this pattern, you have a one, two, three, four, five six stitch, repeat by one, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 rows. And again, we have your row markers here, and here and that is to remind you that you are knitting from right to left, if you're right-handed on the odd numbered rows, and you're reading the chart from left to right and knitting from left to right on the even numbered rows, and having the numbers for the rows reminds you which way you're reading. Here at the Knitting Circle, we've included a note page so that you can write some notes down here, on things that you have done adjustments you might've made, what yarn used, what knitting needle, that kind of thing, those kinds of things are good to keep because if you decide you want to make it again you wear the shawl out and your best friend wants one or your daughter wants one, or your husband wants one, or somebody at work wants one, you're gonna go back to where you kept your notes and know exactly what you did and how you did it in case you wanna do it again. Having notes is also helpful if you wanna do it again and maybe change some things. Say maybe I would like it to be a little drapey a little looser next time, and I'll look at my notes and say, well I use the eight US or five millimeter knit knitting needle, this time, maybe I wanna use a nine or a five and a half the next time, make it a little drapey. So keeping notes on your pattern, because let me tell you we always think we're going to remember, and we never ever do. So those are the parts, all the pattern here at the Knitting Circle. Now that you know the parts of a knitting pattern you'll have an easier time selecting your next project. Thanks so much for joining me, I'm Mary Beth temple, and this is the Knitting Circle.