Back to the Numbers

So, possessed by the concept of another neck cozy for my Harley man, I began what I hope will become a very easy beginner's piece.  Knitted flat and seamed in back, I see this one as using garter stitch exclusively--knit, knit, knit, knit, nothing more.  Easy enough, right? 

The rub (for the designer) comes with the short rows.  How else are you going to morph a 16" neck into a 42" chest, using only garter stitch?

It's not that short rows are difficult; they're quite simple, actually.  The trick lies in getting their interval right.

So I kept borrowing Hubbest's broad back:  knit and measure, knit and measure.  (He gets an award for patience, because I interrupted him when he was cooking.)

And I did get the first quadrant, from the middle of his back to his left shoulder, to come out looking good.  Problem is, I had to do a lot of "fudging" with the short rows to get there. 

Fudging won't work when you're designing a pattern for beginners.  It's got to be perfectly accurate and consistent so they can see the plan developing.

So it's back to the numbers.  Beautiful, consistent, logical numbers.  I'll count them for you:  you just do the knitting.