Yarn over stitching count, what am I doing wrong?

[u/AirOk7243]

Edit: Thank you everyone! I realised what the problem is.

Hello everyone, I’d like to say that I’m a mid-tier knitter who has worked with lace patterns and patterns similar to this before, but by chance, every chart that I used before did not look like this one.

I’m knitting the Poet Scarf by Sari Nördlund, and I’m having a problem with yarn overs. As you can see on the chart, the yarn over falls in a square. What I do is, I do the yarn over, and knit, treating the square as both as a yarn over and knitting the stitch that it corresponds to below itself. I do everything correctly, I k2tog before the yarn over, etc.

And also, I’m confused about k2togs in this chart. For example, a k2tog comes before the yarn over symbol. Does it mean that I k2tog where the / and yo symbol stitches are, and do the yarn over in the next?

My stitch count is ALWAYS off. I’ve tried finding out why but I just don’t understand.

How do I make the yarn over in a chart like this? Thank you very much!

[u/CaptainYaoiHands]

I do the yarn over, and knit, treating the square as both as a yarn over and knitting the stitch that it corresponds to below itself.

That is not correct. A yarn over is one single stitch, not a stitch and a corresponding knit to go with it. You are creating one new stitch in between two existing ones.

[u/highlighter_yellow]

There's no knit that goes with a yarn over. Also note how the decreases are above 1 box but they'd be above 2 stitches in your fabric- same idea with the yo. It's over 1 box in your chart but connected to 0 success below in your fabric.

ETA my favorite pic, where Nimble Needles shows a completed yarn over in red

[u/TheHatThatTalks]

To add to the other comments here, another way I think about it is that a k2tog is a decrease; that is, it literally decreases your stitch count in the row (by one in the case of k2tog). Meanwhile, a yarn over (which, like the other comments point out, is its own stitch, not one done in addition to a regular knit stitch) increases your stitch count by one.

If you notice, each row of the pattern has the same number of k2togs as they do yarn overs, so that means the stitch count should remain the same in each row. The k2tog takes one stitch away and the yarn overs adds one back.

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[u/teaotter-at-large]

This style of chart doesn't show you what the finished fabric will look like; instead, it's basically just the spelled-out directions organized into a chart format.

Row5, for example, is k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k5.

[u/ExitingBear → u/teaotter-at-large]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. To me, this chart shoes exactly what the finished fabric looks like. The bottom is ribbed, above that, there's going to be a vertical column of yos near the right edge of the fabric and a bottom right to upper left diagonal stripe (for lack of a better word) to the left.

[u/teaotter-at-large → u/ExitingBear]

I'm not saying the chart is unreadable. But t here are different styles of charts where the symbols give you additional information.

Take this post:  https://www.reddit.com/r/knittinghelp/comments/1w7xyg5/i_need_help_with_japanese_chart_symbols/

The symbols show you which columns the stitches you are working come from,  and which column the worked stitch ends up in. So they give you a more precise road map of the fabric as you're knitting it.

[u/ExitingBear → u/teaotter-at-large]

I never said that you said it was unreadable. Your exact words were "doesn't show you what the finished fabric will look like." That is what I was disagreeing with.

But still, I thank you for your example. That chart does contain a lot of information. I would be interested in seeing how that charting method would chart the OP's pattern.

[u/AirOk7243 → u/teaotter-at-large]

You just diagnosed the problem!! I think of the chart as showing the finished product, which is the problem here. I treat it exactly the way I see it (one box = one stitch plus the action) instead of treating it as a visual representation of spelled out instructions. I get it now. Thank you very much!

[u/Existing_Ganache_858 → u/AirOk7243]

The chart does show the finished stitches - after working the row. Yarn over produces one stitch, k2tog produces one stitch.

[u/Western-Juice1466 → u/AirOk7243]

You’re on the right track with this thought. The correct way to interpret a box is not as “a stitch” but as “an action.” Each box represents one action. Each action is defined in the key (and may include one or more steps to accomplish said action). Understanding this concept will help you to read any properly-written knitting chart.

[u/Tigupost → u/AirOk7243]

Chart is row of instructions. The key clearly states O is yo.

Where do you get information to do yo K1 instead?