uneven knit and purl rows

Douglas Paulley spun a FINE 'yarn':

>

Practice, practice.

Blocking fixes a lot of apparent "problems".

Start knitting in the round.

Many people have uneven tension on their knit and purl rows; some when they start out, others later on, and some only occasionally. It may help to use different size needles, and it's usually the purling that's looser. Experiment to see what works for you.

sue

hiya,

thanks. They are size 4mm (which I assume is continenntal?)

cheers

Thank you. I didn't know about blocking until I googled it - looks like it may (to some extent) hide a multitude of sins! I asume that "in the round" would only work for other projects with specific patterns, not like I have been doing?

Good to know I'm not the only one! With me it is definitely the knit that is looser - I had to buck the trend eh!

ah right, I am showing my ignorance I am right handed, and at the start of each row the needle with the stitches on is in my left hand, and the yarn in my right

Your change in tension is every third row, so it is not just knitting differently than purling. With the two cables crossed 3 rows and 8 stitches apart, I suspect is related to the cables pulling on loose background fabric. If it is wool, block it and all will be well with the world.

Blocking works better for wool than for synthetics. For wool, blocking really does make the knitting look more uniform, and can help with getting a better fit.

Some people around here do not like "blocking" so I do not really block. I wash finished objects because they got dirty while I was knitting them - then I dry them carefully!

Knitting in the round is fast and easy. With "steeks" all kinds of things can be knit.

Aaron

"Douglas Paulley" wrote >

Ummm, yesbut... English and Continental are two styles of knitting. In English the yarn is held in the right hand, and in Continental it's held in the left.

sue

Douglas Paulley wrote: I asume that

In the round, or circular knitting, is a method of producing things that are tubular in a tubular fashion: you knit a tube for the sweater body, knit two tubes for the arms, put them on a single needle and do the yoke shaping. Presto a sweater - with no purling at all if you're disinclined to purl.

One also knits socks in the round. It's a handy skill to have.

hiya,

it's probably my poor picture taking, but from the actual item, it is very definitely every second row, not every third

thank you, I will give it a try!

yes, so do I - I wash in soap flakes (comes several shades lighter!) and then air-dry.

thanks very much

Doug

If it is every other row, it is surely a difference in tension between knitting and purling. Almost everyone has different tensions for knitting and purling. Usually, as I think someone said, the tension is looser on the purl row. If you think this might be the case with your knitting, get needles in a couple of adjacent sizes, and knit a swatch (about 4" x 4") using the larger needle to knit onto (i.e. in your right hand, on the knit rows, if you are right handed) and the smaller needle to purl onto (in your right hand on the purl rows). If this alleviates the problem, hurray, and you'll see how to tweak it if necessary. If it makes the problem worse, try knitting onto the smaller needle and purling onto the larger needle.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

BTW, for future reference, "C>

I knit sweaters in the round , from the top down ,,, i strat with the Neck opening and increase in several methods [ depends on the style ] , than when i come to under arms divivde into arm , body arm ,, and knit DOWNWARDS , in Sleeved i decrease in body depends on pattern ,,,, NO SEAMS is the THING !!!! mirjam

Thank you. I shall buy knitting needles.

Ah right, yes I have seen people doing that, I am always awed by their dexterity

I am very much a beginner; so far, I have knitted two baby cardigans, a baby hat and two sets of baby mittens. Previously (15 years ago) I knitted half a T-shirt... and that's been it. I feel like I still have a lot to learn!

Thanks again

Doug

That looks like what's called "rowing out" (unless I can't see the picture clearly on my small screen). As the other posters mentioned, it's usually caused by tension problems where your purl stitch and knit stitches have different tension. The easier way to fix it (besides purling with a smaller needle) is to knit Combination style. That's what Annie Modesitt suggests. A quick info page can be found here:

find knitting with two different size needles to just end up confusing me. Play with English or Continental style knitting, or Combination (eastern un-crossed is what I believe the technical term for how I knit is) and see what works best. Knit small swatches and see what is best to start off -- and which feels easiest to work to improve. Once you've been knitting for awhile you almost completely forget about it until you go to do something really picky (like a Master Knitting swatch) and suddenly it's all you can see! Or, of course, you knit an entire project in reverse stockinette or garter -- that really makes it stand out more.

Joseph