Congratulations! If you made it this far, I think you have the knitting bug and are going to finish your first sweater.

Before we go on, please make a note to purchase another 24" circular needle in the size for the body. We need two to work the sleeves. I didn't want you to buy the extra needle until you knew you were going to finish your first sweater.

The next section of the directions reads:

Begin Neck Shaping

On next row, work 31, attach another

ball of yarn, bind off center 16 sts,

and work across row. Working both

sides at once,

dec 1 st at each neck edge, every

other row 3x.

Continue until piece meas

24.5"[row 88].

Bind off 28 sts across each shoulder.

There are actually 4 steps in the above set of directions. Let's do one at a time.

1. On the next row work 31. English: Knit 31 sts and Stop.

• Drop the working yarn. (The yarn that you have been using to knit.)

• Take another ball of yarn and find the start.

• Using the second ball, knit the next stitch.

2. Bind off center 16 sts. 

• The stitch just knit with the second ball is the first stitch of the bind off.

• Knit the next stitch. Now you have two stitches knit with the second ball.

To bind off one stitch, insert the left needle into the stitch second stitch on the right needle. Lift the stitch over the first stitch and off the needle. One bind off complete.

Knit the next stitch and repeat the above.

Continue until you have bound off 16 sts. Since the 16 sts are the center stitches of the sweater body, I always count the remaining stitches to be sure that I have the correct numbers. Be sure to stop binding off when you have 31 sts remaining.

Tip: Don't panic if at this point you find out that you do not have the correct number of stitches on the needle. The important thing is that there are 31 stitches on each side and center stitches. We have to match the shoulder stitches. If your center stitches are 17 or 14 it is not going to affect the outcome.

Now you have two sets of 31 stitches on your needle, each with a ball of yarn attached. Turn. Purl the first set of 31 sts with its ball of yarn. Stop. Drop the yarn from the first set and pick up the yarn from the second set and purl the 31 stitches.

This is called working both sides at once.

3. Working both sides at once, dec 1 st at each neck edge, every other row 3x.

• Interpretation: dec stands for decrease. The neck edge is the inner edge of both sets of stitches. The outer edge is where the sleeve will go.

• Decrease: There are two types of decreases that are used on the neck edge, knit 2 together and knit 2 together through the back loops. The decreases slant in different directions, therefore you use one on left neck edge and the other on the right neck edge. 

• Just by looking at the way the decreases slant, you can see where to use them on your neck edges.

Ok, let's try it.

You are on a right side row. You have two groups of 31 sts. Knit  the first 28 sts . There are three sts remaining in the first group and you are at the neck edge. Knit the next two stitches together. (dec 1)

K2 tog. Insert the right needle into the next two stitches on the left needle as if to knit. The needle is inserted into the second stitch, then the first stitch. Complete as with any other knit stitch. You should now have one stitch remaining on the neck edge. Knit the stitch.

Drop the yarn. Pick up yarn for second set of stitches. Knit the first stitch. Knit the next two stitches together through the back loops.

Insert the right needle into the the next two stitches on the left needle though the back loop of the stitches. Then complete the knit stitch. Decrease is made. Complete the row.

You have now completed the first set of neck decreases: 1 of the 3. 

Purl the next row.

Work the above decreases on the next knit row: 2 of 3. 

Purl the next row.

Work the above decreases on the next knit row: 3 of 3. 

You now have two sets of 28 stitches on the needle.

Continue working until the piece measures 24.5"  [Row 88] from the beginning.

Break yarn.