Thursday, December 6, 2007

My Left Or Yours?

I'm still pluggin' along on the Bed Jacket from Romantic Style. I'm actually flyin' through if you consider how fast/slow I knit. I'm stuck on this bit of pattern instruction and really need some help. Here' s my question....

I'm to the point where your supposed to go back to the stitches you put on a holder (read: length of cheap-ass acrylic) and put them back on the needle. This is to be done, first on the left front and then on the other a-waitin' stitches for the right front. I've done the first 2 rows, in pattern as established, then put it down as the directions have that horrifying "do this every 4 rows and at the same time do this other business EOR". sigh.

Even more frightening is my apparent lack of knowledge as to what constitutes the left or right front! I'm supposed to start with the left front. Now - is that the piece that will be the left when I'm wearing it (but when it's laid out is on the my right as I'm looking at it)? Or the piece that, when laid out and I'm looking at it, is on the left side but will actually be the right when I am wearing it??

We used to have this drill sgt., while I was in Basic Training, that liked to mess with us about left and right. I've always had trouble with it as it is (looking to see which hand makes the proper 'L'). He'd tell us HIS left, but the next day (or whenever there was another drill sgt. around) it'd be OUR left. He'd also tell us that our hats were to be off inside and on outside at all times (which is true) - but when it was just him, he'd fuck with us by saying if you were inside and 5 feet from the door, going outside, the hat should be on and vice versa for coming in. He was a funny guy. ha. ha. ha.

I think he wrote this knitting pattern.

Left, right, mutha-fuckin' left, Ruth!

4 comments:

Yarnhog said...

"and at the same time..." are the scariest words in the knitter's lexicon. I can't tell you how many times I've been screwed by noticing them only after I've finished whatever was written before. One would think I might learn to read ahead.

Anyway. When it says "left front", it means "left front when you have it on," NOT "left front as you're looking at it." Yet another hard-earned lesson, and I'm happy to share it.

Throws Like A Girl said...

Ditto what yarnhog said, especially the part about "and at the same time". I know that phrase has caused much angst for many a knitter. :) Perhaps we all learn our right fronts from our lefts the hard way...

pigbook1 said...

yep, it should be the left front when you are wearing it.
Congrats to you I don't knit patterns that have "at the same time" in them. I just figure you can only do 1 thing at a time :-D Good luck!

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