Getting a HUGE loose loop at end of row.

From one Aussie to another - HI!

Not sure I fully understand what your knitting problem is but there are experts here who can probably help. But let me tell you - your munchkin will love those loopy blocks to make a nest in far more than a jumper!! LOL You have just described cat heaven!

Hello!

It IS a weird problem isn't it? Maybe I should throw in a few more details, um I was using 100% wool Panda Woolbale 8ply with 6mm straight needles and it was happening when I was knitting garter stitch and stockinette stitch. Were the needles too big?

Haha I sprayed some catnip on the swatches and threw 'em all into his hideyhole and he went nutz!!

I can't say that cats and yarn don't mix in the play, but it sure is war time when I'm trying to knit! Me on one end and him on the other and my hubby in between rescuing what yarn he can LOL!

In article , aonaich wrote:

A blanket might be better. Kittens rarely wear sweaters, though maybe you could train it. (check out

I've been running into a problem however. I cast on loosely (though not>too loosely) and knit with an okay tension (the needle goes in through>the loop on the other needle fine) but I realise that as I progress>down each row, the yarn just seems to get looser and looser, no matter>how tight I loop the yarn around the needle. This happens regardless if>I knit or purl. What I end up with at the end is having a swatch with>perfectly even texture but this incredibly huge loop of yarn that I>just can't gather up. Trying to pull the yarn from the skein side>doesn't budge it. It's like, stuck or something. I end up having to tie>off a huge loop at the end of every row, This seems very odd to me. I once taught someone to knit and their project used bulky yarn; since you say (in the other post) that you are using 6mm needles (US size 10), it's probably about the same weight. She also had a large loop at the end of the row, but only at the end, not along the way. Her problem was that she didn't tighten the stitch again after turning at the end to start back. The solution was to (1) turn the work (2) put the needle through the first stitch (3) hold both needles with left hand and use right hand to yank that last/first stitch tight (4) put the yarn around the tip of the needle that is through the now-tightened loop (5) grab the appropriate needle with the right hand and make the stitch (6) continue down the row

Maybe if you take care to tighten each stitch along the row, immediately after making the stitch, the tension would stay even. Tugging on the skein end of the yarn after every stitch is how I keep my knitting tight.

Now I'm confused. If you can tug it so that you get the "perfectly even texture" you said you had in the paragraph up top, how can it be that pulling on the skein side doesn't budge it? You can't easily tighten an _entire row at once_, true; that wouldn't budge. But you can tighten _each stitch as you go along_.

Are you using a mohair type of yarn? Mohair does "grab" more and is very hard to adjust or rip.

=Tamar

Purl your last stitch. Then when you turn, slip your first stitch. and... WELCOME, from Tennessee, USA! Hugs, Noreen

For an 8ply wool I would normally work on 4mm needles, and you could try slipping the first stitch of every row.

Is there a reason you chose 6mm needles?

How long are your needles? If they are super long and you are a beginner they may be a bt awkward.

How many stitches are you working on?

Hello!

"A blanket might be better. Kittens rarely wear sweaters, though maybe you could train it."

Oh Cooper's already used to wearing his turtleneck woolen sweater. It's actually a dog's sweater but I got a smaller one so that it would fit him.

"This seems very odd to me. I once taught someone to knit and their project used bulky yarn; since you say (in the other post) that you are using 6mm needles (US size 10), it's probably about the same weight. She also had a large loop at the end of the row, but only at the end, not along the way. Her problem was that she didn't tighten the stitch again after turning at the end to start back. The solution was to (1) turn the work (2) put the needle through the first stitch (3) hold both needles with left hand and use right hand to yank that last/first stitch tight (4) put the yarn around the tip of the needle that is through the now-tightened loop (5) grab the appropriate needle with the right hand and make the stitch (6) continue down the row

Maybe if you take care to tighten each stitch along the row, immediately after making the stitch, the tension would stay even. Tugging on the skein end of the yarn after every stitch is how I keep my knitting tight."

Oh I do that, but the problem is that the loose knot is *not* connected to the skein-side yarn, rather it seems to be the yarn of the

*previous* row that I knitted/purled. Um, let me try to give a "walk-through":

1) I insert the right needle into the top loop on the left needle to knit.

2) The top loop on the right needle (skein-side, so to speak) is kept nice and firm all the way. 3) It is the yarn under the top loop on the right needle is loose, and to tighten it, I have to pull the top loop on the left needle to gather in the slack. That results in the huge top loop on the left needle. 4) So I keep gathering up the slack from the resulting fabric all the way down the row like this until I get to the end of the row with this loop sticking out, large enough for me to put four fingers through. 5) I tried the method I quoted above but if I don't tie off the loop with a dead knot at the end of each row, it just gets bigger and bigger and more and more unmanageable.

"Now I'm confused. If you can tug it so that you get the "perfectly even texture" you said you had in the paragraph up top, how can it be that pulling on the skein side doesn't budge it? You can't easily tighten an _entire row at once_, true; that wouldn't budge. But you can tighten _each stitch as you go along_. "

See that's the confusing bit. I do tighten each stitch of the row that I am currently knitting as I go along, but the slack is not coming from the row that I'm currently knitting. It seems to "materialise" from the row below! I just don't get it. And no matter how tight I make the current row that I am knitting, once I start on the next row, the same problem materialises. ARGH!!!

"Are you using a mohair type of yarn? Mohair does "grab" more and is very hard to adjust or rip."

I think it is crepe yarn, it doesn't say on the label, it's just 100% wool 8 ply Panda Woolbale yarn that I got from Spotlight.

"Purl your last stitch. Then when you turn, slip your first stitch. and... WELCOME, from Tennessee, USA! "

I'll give that a shot thanks! And thanks for the welcome!

"For an 8ply wool I would normally work on 4mm needles, and you could try slipping the first stitch of every row.

Is there a reason you chose 6mm needles?"

No reason actually LOL, I was just messing around, trying all sorts of combinations with my swatches while practicing.

"How long are your needles? If they are super long and you are a beginner they may be a bt awkward. "

I think they are the "normal" length? Um, I don't have the slip that came along with the needles any more but it seemed like all the needles hanging on the row in Spotlight was of this length so I'm assuming it's average? LOL man I sound so NEWBISH! Harhar

"How many stitches are you working on? "

At the time I was doing 35 stitches.

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I've given up and tossed that horrible swatch! I'm using 4mm needles now and practicing a swatch in two by two rib that I got from here

using 100% woolCleckheaton Machinewash 8 ply Crepe, and I haven't been having any ofthat previous problem. I'm starting to think that I may have createdthe whole problem myself by trying to play around with 8 ply yarn onking sized needles (6mm) to produce fabric looking like it was knittedon 4mm needles. I mean, you knit yarn on needles too big and it is sure to produce loose fabric isn't it?

Thanks for all the time and advice! I'm going to go do some reading on slipping right now, cuz I haven't the foggiest as to what that is! LOL!

Sorry,"aonaich", I tried to think of a solution for you but all I could think of was smaller needles and I see in your later post that you have been successful by doing just that so all is well - do no hesitate to contact the group if you run into any further problems as there is always someone here who can help.

Now a big welcome to the group from another Aussie to you and "cats", So you are from the most beautiful of all states, Tasmania ? I just love it down there. I am from the Gold Coast Qld. - my ambition would be to spend summers in Tasmania and winters in Qld. e mail me off line so that we can get to "know" one another - I have always felt it just amazing that it would appear that I was the only Aussie on the group. God Bless Gwen

Hello "Cats" here is another Aussie - where are you from - I am in QLd God Bless Gwen

Gwen, I am down south in Victoria. I mostly lurk here, as my main interest is quilting. But I am getting back into knitting, and am currently madly making socks for the coming cold months.

Have you seen the picture on

of a cat wearing a crocheted hat with earcovers, and a scarf?

Oh, I think I see now. Once you take the needle out of the stitch, it won't be as tight as it was with the needle in it. Just leave the "slack" there.

Yup. :-) I'm glad you figured it out.

Just what it says - slip the old stitch over to the other needle without actually knitting it, while holding the yarn in back (usually).

=Tamar

Well, hello to a Victorian - I do not think we have ever had one in the group. Our two daughters live in Vic. one in Collingwood and the other at Bacchus Marsh - a bit cold for me but I love to go down every January to escape a month of summer here, see the daughters and see the Aust.Open tennis God Bless Gwen

LOL - we hit 47C here in February and well into the high 30s through most of January. But at least we don't have the humidity.

I am way out west of Melb - about 200km west! So way past your daughter at BM. But I think BM is one of the coldest places in the State during winter.

Cats, I have just finished watching the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony and I want to congratulate you as a Victorian as I think the ceremony was just wonderful. Melbourne certainly did you proud. I have a great interest in the Com Games as I did a lot here in1982 - I arranged all the accommodation for the visitors and as a result they gave me a bronze medal - I always tell everyone I won a bronze for running a three year marathon, as that is how long it took to organise it all - well to attend all the meetings anyway.

Personally , I could have done without three years of meetings !! At that time I had a reservation service into the Gold Coast and so it was no different to me than any other holiday time when we are full anyway.

However I think there is something about the Com Games - I guess it is because it is kind of "ours" instead of the whole world..

I cannot quite picture where 200ks west of Melbourne would be but I guess wherever it is Colleen ( Bacchus Marsh daughter) would have given lessons or clinics in the area as she teaches dressage and body bio mechanics all over the country and a lot of overseas countries a well. Shauna in Collingwood is a real city girl and contracts in the area of finance and IT - at present on contract with the Department of Premier and Cabinet and also does a lot of work, which she gets off her web site, for clients in America.

So that is the run down of the other Aussie on the group -I joined four years ago, when Shauna gave me a computer , as I was looking for one ball of wool to match a shortfall !! It is such a wonderful group - so caring of each other and a lot of good humour, as well as advice for beginners or even veterans in trouble !

Bye God Bless Gwen