Frequently Asked Questions

My stitch count after knitting round X in the chart does not match the total stitch count listed in the pattern. Is there a mistake in the pattern?

No. The issue usually lies in the interpretation of the symbols. The important thing to know is that the symbol for increases only counts for the actual increase you make and not for any of the original stitches on your needles. In other words, your new stitch is drawn separately with an increase symbol on the round you actually make that increase, and the original stitch close to the increase is drawn as one of the other plain squares in the chart.

Take this chart as an example:

On round 1 you have three stitches. If you have 60 stitches on your needles before knitting the chart, you will repeat this chart 20 times. On round 2 you turn every three stitches into four stitches, and on round 4 you turn every four stitches into five stitches, so that once round 4 is completed, you have a total of 100 stitches.

Let's go back to round 2. Here you must *knit 2, make 1 new stitch, knit 1* repeatedly until the end of the round. This turns three original stitches from the previous round into four new stitches, which means that your stitch total goes from 60 stitches before you started round 2 and turns into 80 stitches after you have completed round 2.

When people ask about the chart, they have typically done this instead: *knit 3, make 1 new stitch, knit 1*, which gives only 72 stitches at the end of the round. It sounds like it adds up, but it also means fewer chart repetitions than intended. If that were the way the round should be knitted, the chart would either have had 5 white squares instead of 4 white squares, or there would have been more squares on round 3 than on round 2. Neither is the case.

If you struggle to keep track of your increases, one way to stay organized is to add stitch markers that mark every chart repetition before knitting the chart, in this example after every third stitch on your needles. If your chart's first round looks like round 2 in this example, count the number of plain squares without any drawn symbols in them to figure out how many original stitches you have in each chart repetition (often it will be six, but not always).

I am knitting one of your mittens. How do I cast on stitches when making the thumb hole?

This YouTube video might be of help: Cast on over thumb opening. In other words, you make a simple backward loop cast on, and then while doing this you twist the two strands of yarn around each other after the second or third new stitch to avoid getting a long, loose strand of yarn on the wrong side that the fingers could catch when putting on the mitten.

Once you are done with the hand section and are ready to knit the thumb, you pick up new stitches along the thumb whole. To figure out how many you need, count the number of stitches you set aside before casting on over the thumb opening and subtract this from the total number of stitches on the first round of the thumb chart. In other words, if you set aside 13 stitches before the thumb hole, the first 13 stitches of the thumb round is made up of these set-aside stitches and the rest will be the new stitches you pick up. 

Often the number you need to pick up is higher than the number you cast on over the thumb hole. For example, you might have cast on 7 stitches for the hand, and now you need to pick up 9 stitches. There is usually a gap between the set-aside stitches and the cast-on stitches, and this is where you pick up the extra number of stitches - in this example, one in each side plus 7 in the loops = 9 new stitches.

Why can't I purchase any patterns from www.tonjeinoslo.no?

This is for tax reasons. VAT rules for digital products vary from country to country, and especially in the EU where many of my customers reside. Tonjeinoslo is a one-woman business and sorting out VAT bills on a global scale is too much for me! Ravelry keeps track of the rules for me and charges all necessary sales taxes as needed, so this is why any customers outside of Norway are sent to Ravelry.com instead.

Do I need Paypal to buy your patterns?

No. You are sent to Paypal's pages to pay whether you want to use a Paypal account or not, but if you use a computer you may choose to check out as a guest using a card instead of using a Paypal account. For some reason, this feature is not available from a cellphone. On some cellphones it will help to enter desktop mode in your browser, but in other cases you actually need to switch devices. I am so sorry for the inconvenience!