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Tree of Life Knit-Along #3 – Dividing Rows

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Tree of Life Knit-Along #3 – Dividing Rows

- Corinna
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Wheh! After a few long days of chart following, and cabling for the Twin Trees pattern, the simple knit and purl rows of the Dividing Rows pattern were a welcome relief.

I like to have a few different knitting projects going at all times, of varying levels of skill, to be able to switch back and forth, and never get overwhelmed. The Dividing Rows between the more complicated pattern sections of this project provide that same break from thinking too hard.

knitting group, knitalong #3, Tree of Life I was even able to leave the house and take my project out to a weekly knitting circle that I run at a café on Sunday mornings. Spending the afternoon with friends, knitting, drinking coffee and chatting is a weekly necessity and break from my busy work week. I realized several years ago when I started the group that too many knitters felt isolated by their projects, and loved having the support of the other knitters in the group to get through those challenging patterns. The ease of the stockinette and garter rows allowed me to sip coffee and chat while flying though the section. Until that is, everyone was so amazed by the beautiful Twin Trees, that the afternoon turned into a group tutorial. What fun!

We’ve gotten almost 500 comments on the knit-along posts so far. Here are a few common questions that people have been asking:

Do I continue the knit/purl 4 between repeats throughout the pattern?
While there is a knit/purl 4 between each repeat of the Twin Trees motif as stated in the afghan pattern, the Dividing Rows and Flower Garden motif should be worked as stated. You should have 180 sts at the beginning and the end of each section.

In the Flower Garden section, what yarn do I catch to draw up in a “long, loose loop”?
You catch your working yarn and draw it through.

Do I have to sew on the Tulip-Bud Border?
Because of the way the border is made, sewing it on will make it look best. If you’re concerned about sewing the border, take a deep breath and look at your afghan! You’ve made it through the all of the tree cabling and the Flower Garden motif, so you can definitely sew on the border! Consider it an opportunity to practice seaming, which is an important skill for all kinds of projects from sweaters to bags and more. For more on sewing, visit our illustrated guide.

While you’re here, take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back for all of your progress so far! And a special congratulations to everyone who has finished their afghan already!

Good luck and happy knitting!

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26 Comments

  • Also, for those of you who haven’t seen yet, we’ve created a Flickr Group for the Tree of Life Afghan Knit-Along.

    If you’re confused as to how to share photos in a Flickr pool, Zontee explained in an earlier post.

  • I just wanted to say that I’m glad I gave this a go rather than be intimidated by the suggested Experienced skill level rating. I’ve been learning so much from both the pattern and being forced to figure out how to fix my own careless mistakes without frogging the whole thing and starting over, that this has really become a personal growth project for me.

    Thanks!

  • Thank you all for your comments. they have been soooo helpful. i also used markers for the dreaded row 16 and beyond and i am counting stitches paranoid-ly. finally this seems to have done the trick. GREAT idea for the knit along and i’m glad i joined although i’m not very far. i’m relatively inexperienced but figured with all of you it wouldn’t be bad and that’s true! thanks again!

  • Corrina:

    Maybe you could help all of us who are struggling with the Flower Garden. As several of us have blogged we are having trouble getting smaller loops above the long loose stem that is created in Row 7. This smaller loop is coming in Row 8, any advise because my stems aren’t looking like the pictures on Flickr.

  • Maybe someone else has commented on this problem not sure. Once you get the flower garden done and you do your dividing row pattern you’ll need to get your work to the opposite side you ended with. What I did, not sure if I should’ve done something else, was work row 1 of the twin trees pattern doing the opposite of what it says for row 1. Then once that’s done work the stitches as normal in the pattern.

    I’m nearly done with the body of the afghan not sure how the border will go with sewing it on as it’s worked. I’ve never done that before.

  • I now have my husband over in the states and am reading avidly how the rest of you are doing and hoping it will all be of use to me when I get the yarn back home next weekend and can make a start for myself.

    Rebecca
    England

  • What does the “Tree of Life” pattern look like?
    Can you give me the pattern?

    Cheryl DiMauro

  • Things are going along well for me with the ToL afghan… now that I am paying more attention to what I am doing! I’ve taken a few days off of doing anything on it, busy with knitting a couple of summer tops, but I am sooo loving how awesome the trees look! I have decided, tho, that I will knit a swatch and practice the flower garden section separately, before do the “real” thing… that way, i can figure out what to do so that i like it, and be consistent,and so on, and then, hopefully, won’t have troubles on the afghan…
    i’m also really glad for ‘lifelines’ where I strung dentalfloss through a particular row (usually WS as it doesn’t have cables) and it makes me feel better knowing that I can’t mess up so bad as to drop a stitch all the way to the beginning, etc!:) psychologically, truly a lifeline! heh.

    happy knitting all!

  • Thanks for answering these questions!! These were my main concerns up till now.

  • I love working on tree of life I had a set back took it all out started over its looking good now I’m on row20 now not to fast but I love reading everones progress

  • Knitting along. I’m almost through the second set of trees. I’ll see if this link will work to show my progress. I am really enjoying the cable part of this pattern…. The flowers, not so much. lol It’s a lot of fun actually! I’m learning a lot.

    http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/kellyrobertson/Knitting pictures/TreeofLifeAfghan002.jpg

  • wow, kelly! took a look and must say, you’ve really got some neat knitting there. thanx for sharing.
    tried posting my progress pictures to the flicker group, but failed.

  • Can The Tree of Life knitting project be transformed for crocheting?

    Zontee says: Hi Annie, while I think some people have done similar projects in crochet, I’m not sure if there is a direct way to “translate” the project. However, we’ll be having a crochet-along later in the summer, so keep an eye on the Notebook for that. We hope you’ll participate!

  • Anita is right about the dividing pattern ending up on the incorrect side for continuing the twin tree pattern. The Twin Tree pattern starts on the WS and dividing pattern ends on the WS (should end on the RS). So, I liked your solution of reversing the first row the the Twin Tree pattern stitches. I considered adding another K row to the Dividing Patter so that I could start the Twin Tree pattern with a WS row, but I like Anita’s solution better.

  • Please Help!!!
    I just started the KAL. I am having trouble with row 16 on the tree patern. If I do the repeat 4 times that only takes 168 stitches, I have 12 remaining. If I purl/knit 4 before each repeat and 4 at the end, that would require me to have 188 stitches, which I don’t have. I am starting row 16 with 180 stitches not 188. I know that that I end up with 188. Am I missing something here? Please, somebody, HELP!!!!

    Zontee says: Hi Sandrie, you may want to see my response to Terri’s comment on Corinna’s last blog post. Hope it helps!

  • Please help with row 7 of the flower garden. When I wrap the long loop do I wrap it Knitwise? Also which stitch exactly do I go through beside and do I do it on the right/left side of the afghan or my right and my left side????? Really confused.
    Thanks
    Kristi

  • [IMG]http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/kellyrobertson/Knitting pictures/TwinTrees007.jpg[/IMG]
    Kristi this is an image I tried to show how the loops went for the flowers. I grabbed the working yarn, then took the loop up and onto the needles. Just keep it from twisting.

    Sandrie:
    I think you are missing the four stitches between the twin tree pattern
    *K4, work Row 1 of Twin Trees pattern or follow Chart Row 1 for 40 sts; K4, Repeat row 1 of Twin Trees pattern (40), K4,repeat row 1 of Twin Trees pattern (40), K4, repeat row 1 of Twin Trees pattern (40), end with K4.

    4 40 4 40 4 40 4 40 4

    Four tree patterns = 160
    Five dividing stitches of four, three between and one at each end = 20

    so 160 20 180

    I put markers on mine after the four and each pattern repeat to keep my head straight on the pattern.

  • Sorry, I put the wrong html code in for the photo… should be this —–> http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/kellyrobertson/Knitting pictures/TwinTrees007.jpg

    🙂

  • After completing the flower pattern and then starting the 1st row of the dividing pattern reversed (as suggested), to begin row 16 I am then on the wrong side again. I just did one extra row of knitting the knits and purling the purls. This gives me an extra row before starting the pattern for row 16. Is this right? Thanks for your help.

  • HELP!!! I am a bit confused about the loop part of the flower section. I have done one but am not sure it is correct. There should be loops on the wrong side of the fabric as well…correct? I am a visual learner and have been having a few issues putting the directions into pictures in my mind…ugh

    Please help. Thanks!!!!

    Zontee says: Hi Alie, Corinna will be posting step-by-step pictures of the process on Wednesday, so look out for those. Hope that helps!

  • I’m still working diligently (the wedding is only a week away – YIKES). I have made a few mistakes like making the wrong cross, but it isn’t too noticable. I ripped out several rows last weekend because I think I got jumbled on the rows and it was a real mess. I’m almost finished with the second set of trees. I loved the flower garden section and am looking forward to doing it again. It should go pretty quickly.

    Zontee says: Good luck! I’m sure you’ll get it done! If you have a chance to share photos, I’m sure lots of people would love to see your progress. (For directions, check out my how-to post.)

  • Well….I made it through the forest! First section done. I loved the complexity of the cable patterns…I did them without a cable needle. What a great sense of accomplishement. I am loving this KAL! It is so helpful to get everyones tips and tricks. I am hoping someone will post a video for the flowers…i am nervous about not getting how to do them correctly. I guess I will do with a swatch as I am using cashmere blend yarn so my throw will be extra soft when it is done and given the cost I don’t want to mess up with the “good” yarn. 🙂 Thanks to all for your support along the way!

  • my pictures did get posted! and now i’ve added a new one. it was much easier to post this time. like the rows of flowers. lol!! the second row was a snap; but got over confident or something, cause i made every mistake that could be made in the third row. yikes! for awhile there, i didn’t think i could finish ….. but i did it!

  • Alie,
    Yes there are loops on the back side too. 😉

  • […] Tree of Life Knit-Along #3 – Dividing Rows […]

  • Thank you Anita and Donna, I too was seeing the problem after the dividing row before the next row of twin trees. I think I will try making an extra row, with reversing the instructions for row 1 and then start row 1 as written. (this pattern can be so confusing at times)
    Thank you.

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