what do you even mean by 'repeat'?

This is one of the biggest problems in pattern writing, a super easy way to be very confusing! When the pattern says ‘repeat’, are you repeating a row/round, or are you merely working it? This is such an important distinction.

Repeating it means it’s being done again and has already been done. Working it just means it is being done. ‘Repeat Row x, x times’ is often used in patterns I work on, and that number of times to be repeated is sometimes wrong.

If a row/round is to be worked a total of four times, it isn’t being repeated four times. It is being worked once, and repeated three times. Sometimes this isn’t clear, as the pattern might say, ‘Repeat Row x, four times,’ and the knitter has to figure it out on their own how many rows/rounds they have to work, or they simply do as it says (however they interpret that), and sometimes they make the wrong choice (unbeknownst to them). We don’t want that.

Take control.

Let’s not leave pattern instructions up to personal interpretation. Let’s do what we can to be sure things are as clear as they can be.

The pattern states:

Round 1: K2, p3, k3, p3, k2.

Repeat Round 1, four times.

Quite often, a look at the picture, or a check of the measurements, or simply looking at what happens in the next section after those rounds, leads you to realize that the designer only means for you to work Round 1 four times total, and not to repeat it four times. This mistake is common. Or it could mean that the round is worked five times, as it states, but sometimes this isn’t what is intended. If it is not meant to be worked five times, but only four, there are a couple different ways to make this clearer:

Round 1: K2, p3, k3, p3, k2.

Rounds 2-4: Repeat Round 1.

or

Work the following round four times:

K2, p3, k3, p3, k2.

or

Round 1: K2, p3, k3, p3, k2.

Repeat Round 1, three more times.

or

Round 1: K2, p3, k3, p3, k2.

Work Round 1 a total of four times.

Sometimes ‘Repeat Round 1, four times.’ is exactly what the designer means, and is exactly what the knitter should do, but so frequently, the word ‘repeat’ is simply being used incorrectly.

Because this mistake is often made, using ‘repeat’ alone without other guidance, and explicit instructions of how many times to repeat, just isn’t enough.

When it really matters.

One round might not be the end of the world (although many times it would be), but:

· If it were a group of rounds – Repeat Rounds 1-4, four times?

· Or if it were a row, and working that extra row would put the knitter on the incorrect side of their work?

The word ‘repeat’ these days has become too ambiguous. Let’s just strip that away altogether and have all manner of interpretation solely be the designer’s, by making sure the instructions are as clear and concise as they can be.