Photo by Margarida Afonso
Now that you know how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind, you can make anything you want. A short-sleeved sweater? Easy. Let’s just take your measurements. Make a sample to know how many stitches equal an inch. Let’s do the calculations. Okay, cast on 120. The loops, honey, count the loops. Not too tight or too loose, like your holding a baby chick.
Knit four, purl four, at the end of the row, turn it over, and follow the pattern. Your starting side is your right side. You need to keep track. How are you going to keep track? If you don’t keep track, you’ll lose the pattern.
Wow, you’ve done a lot! What’s wrong? Mmmm. What happened here? Let’s see. No, honey, don’t worry, you don’t have to start over, you don’t have to undo the whole thing. Let’s see. Here, you dropped a stitch, and here it looks like you added an extra knot. At least you knew to stop. We can fix this.
Put this needle through the hole, move it back to the left. Now for this other one. Look at the knot, see the direction it’s going in, and just pick it up like this. There. It’s gone. You’re on row 43, okay, that means you’re on the right side. Keep going.
The Author
J.C. Eavenson was born in Chicago and raised in the surrounding area. Growing up with two siblings during a time when children running feral was normal, provided fertile soil for her imagination. She started writing poetry and children’s stories in high school. Eight years ago, she helped start a writing group at her local library. In those eight years, she attended several workshops at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. She has written poems, several short stories, and two novels currently in the revision stage.
By day, J.C Eavenson is a Special Needs Teacher at a middle school. She enjoys walks, bike rides, cooking, and spending time with loved ones.
J. C. Eavenson, Des Plaines, IL