I'm very new and very inexperienced with knitting but have had some good success with scarves and hats. However, I picked up a pattern book for Koigu Take Along scarves with some Koigu yarn and I am stumped. What does the "Multi. of 6+1, selvage 2Sts" mean? Also What does (RW) mean? Finally, how do you "k drop all extra loops of previous row"? I would really appreciate any wisdom in this!

It's always easiest to help with instructions if you include the entire instruction for a particular line, because then we have some context to work with.

"Multi of 6+1" would mean that you are working with a multiple of 6 stitches, plus an additional stitch. So, if you could choose how wide you wanted to make something (like, say, if you decided to work with a thicker or thinner yarn, or were using the recommended yarn but wanted a wider or narrower scarf) you could knit 37 stitches (6x6)+1 stitches or 61 stitches (6x10) + 1.

"Selvage 2 sts" *probably* means one selvage stitch at each end.

If I'm guessing correctly, they're asking you to figure out how many stitches you want to cast on for the item--so you'd take that multiple of 6 + 1 and add 2 stitches to that to take into account the selvage stitches. So let's say the yarn you're using gives you 7 stitches to the inch, and you want an 8 inch wide scarf. 8x7 = 56, but you need to take into account the pattern repeat and the selvage stitches, so you get as close as you can to 56 stitches using the (mult of 6)+1 + 2 selvage stitches. In this case, 9 multiples of the pattern repeat works best (9X6)+1+2=57.

Without seeing how "RW" is used in the pattern, I can't tell you what it means.

"k drop all extra loops of previous row" *probably* means (again, I'd need to see more of the instructions from the pattern) that in the previous row you wrapped the yarn around the needle after certain stitches, or did a yarn over (YO). On the next row, you'd knit the stitch that had been knit in the previous row, and you'd take those wrapped loops/YO off the needle to create a lacy effect.

If you can include more of the pattern instructions to give us some better context, we can probably give you more help!

Rox

Rox is right. I have seen the pattern book and if the scarf is the one I'm thinking of, I have a copy that I rewrote to understand it better. Since I don't have the original I don't know either what RW stands for. It isn't a hard pattern except that it may be confusing for you with the extra winds around the needle. This one calls to cast on 44 sts, K2, *Kw(wind)2, (Kw3) twice, Kw2, K2*, repeat between *'s to last stitch, K1. Going back you k across, dropping the extra winds. The 3rd row is a little different and the 4th the same as the 2nd. In the beginning, if I were you, I would count after the even rows to make sure you have the original number of sts, at least until you get used to it.
In case the wind process isn't clear to you, all it means is to wrap the yarn around the right needle 2,or 3, times before you complete the st. You end up with 2, or 3, extra sts for each st you do it to.

Thanks - that is the pattern - I've just about decided it is a typo - I can't find any reference anywhere else to RW. To help me understand the pattern, I wrote out each row stitch by stitch. I would love to know if others find the patterns and yarn difficult to work with. To me - it's a little frustrating!
Thanks again.

If you give us the whole line of instruction, we might be able to help figure out what it is. It might be a typo--RW, instead of RS (for Right Side--the W is right above the S on the keyboard).

Don't give up, just give us the entire line of instruction!

Rox