Hitofude Tips

The Hitofude Knit Along is scheduled to begin February 1 and some of you are probably wanting to start early. 

I have a couple of tips to share with you that I found helpful. By no means do you HAVE to do it the way I’m suggesting but I found it helpful. If anyone else has any tips to share, please leave them in a comment and I’ll go back and add them to the main part of this post so they’ll be easy for everyone to see.

If this doesn’t make sense to you now, please read it again once you are ready to begin and have read through the pattern. Don’t struggle with any of this . . if you can’t figure out what I’m talking about, it may make more sense once you get started and you can go back and do my suggestions as you go. 

Again . . don’t let these tips frustrate you if you haven’t started yet. They should all make more sense when you get to each step.

Tip #1:

Stitch Markers – I used 3 stitch markers that are different from my other stitch markers. One on each end to mark where the edge stitches change and one to mark where the two different cast on stitches meet. (This is where Chain A meets Chain B.) The stitch markers I used here are the pink glass markers. 

The pattern is a 12 stitch repeat so I add a wire ring marker (any marker that’s different from the three above mentioned markers) every 12 stitches. This makes it really easy when I’m doing the even numbered rows to count 12 stitches between the markers and know that I have the right number and my pattern should be lining up. You’ll get in the habit of counting purl 5, knit 2, purl 5, in between each marker.

Based on placing markers every 12 stitches, SET UP ROW 2 (WS) will read: [P1, K1] x3, PM, *P5, K2, *5, PM*; repeat from * to M, SM, [K1, P1] 3x.

This is how your piece should look with all the markers.

Tip #2:

Suppose you forget to do a yarn over. Maybe you won’t but I do every now and then. When you get to those even numbered rows, you’ll be counting and you should be saying purl 5, knit 2, purl 5 . . but then you’re going to come across one where you counting purl 5, knit 2, purl 4.  Oops!  And you’ll realize that you forgot to do a yarn over. Just look at the next repeat and see where that yarn over should be . . say between the 2nd and 3rd stitch. just knit 2, lift the little bar between the stitches and knit through it, then knit the remaining 2. This works perfectly and once you’re past it, you cannot see where you did it.

Tip #3:

Keep those stitch markers in place as you continue to work. You are going to do the bind off for the sleeves, then you will do a 1 x 1 rib and then you will go into the LOWER BODY section. Keep the markers in place so you will be sure that the lower body lace design is lining up with upper body lace design. When I was doing my first Hitofude the first time, I messed up with the bind of stitches and the lower body design didn’t align with the upper body design. With the markers in place, you’ll know right off if you have a problem. 

Tip #4:

If you want to add length to your cardi, there are all kinds of examples in the Ravelry projects as to how folks did it. My project notes are here. On my first Hitofude, I added an extra repeat of Rows 9 – 16 of Charts D and E. 

I am short and those two extra repeats were plenty. For this one, I’m going to add a couple of extra repeats of Chart A (before BEGIN FRONT BODY INCREASES) and then one extra repeat of Rows 9 – 16 of Chart E. That will make the cardi longer but not give quite so much fullness at the bottom and it will result in the fullness beginning a bit lower in the cardi.

You can add increases anywhere along the way that works for you, or you can add no increases!

Anyone who has done or is doing a Hitofude and has additional tips to add, please let me know.