Troubles with Tension

January 22, 2010| Lindy| 0 Comments | 3:15 pm

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The first three swatches for the Master Knitter Level I require you to knit 2 X 2 ribbing, 1 X 1 Ribbing, garter stitch, stockinette stitch and seed stitch. As I have been knitting the first two swatches for the Master Knitter Level I, I have discovered that my tension is not what I thought it was: I thought I knit fairly evenly– but as I looked at the examples from TKGA — I began to realize that my knitting tension is not the same when I knit as when I purl. This seems to be a common issue among those who are working on the Level I Master Knitter swatches.

I have tried several different things to correct this problem — but so far I am still not knitting as evenly as I want. I have discovered that my knitting is less even with bamboo needles than with metal needles. I have also determined that it is very important to tighten up my tension at the end of a row — especially on the last stitch, so that I get more even stitches on the edges of the swatch. However — I have yet to achieve the even stitches for ribbing that I’d like to have.

Did you know that tension in ribbing — that it is, tension differences between knit and purl stitches — can really make a difference in the way your ribbing appears? I’d never given this much thought — but it really does effect how the ribs in the ribbing are formed. I have read (very recently) that this more of a problem for English knitters than for Continental knitters — but that it happens with both styles. The problem is often due to the excess yarn used in forming the purl stitch. The next time you are switching between knit and purl stitches — pay attention to how you wrap the yarn for the purl stitch — you actually do use slightly more yarn when doing a purl.

I am still seeking solutions for my tension problems — I’ll post about how I resolve this.

1 thought on “Troubles with Tension”

Amanda says:

January 23, 2010 at 6:37 am

More yarn for a purl stitch? Hmm that’s interesting. You’ll have to show me what you have been working on sometime.

I’m working on a dishcloth right now just using continental knitting. I can tell that my tension is VERY different from when I knit English.

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Stitch Patterns – Garter Stitch, Stockinette Stitch & Reverse Stockinette StitchStitch Patterns – Garter Stitch, Stockinette Stitch & Reverse Stockinette Stitch

August 1, 2009| Lindy| 0 Comments| 2:28 am

I have decided to blog about various stitch patterns from time to time. So I am starting with the time honored basics: the garter stitch, the stockinette stitch and the reverse stockinette stitch.

This discussion assumes you know how to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch. If you are new to knitting and are not familiar with these two stitches, click on this link: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knit-stitch.

Garter Stitch: this stitch pattern is made by knitting every row, turning your knitting at the end of each row. (You would get the same effect if you purled every row – but most knitters prefer to knit every row). If you want to knit garter stitch “in the round”, you would knit one row and then purl one row – so most patterns using garter stitch are for flat pieces rather than circular knit pieces. The pattern produces a knitted fabric with ridges on each side that is essentially reversible – it looks very much the same on the right side as the wrong side. It takes two rows to make 1 ridge. The garter stitch is great for borders because it will not curl and lays flat once knitted. Many afghan and baby blanket patterns have a garter stitch border and it is often used as the basis for wash clothes and placemats.

Stockinette Stitch: this stitch pattern is the most commonly used knitted fabric. This stitch pattern produces a fabric with flat “V” shaped stitches on the right side and bumpy stitches on the wrong side. It is also known as flat knitting, tricot or jersey knit. Stockinette stitch consists of knitting one row, turning your work and purling one row if you are knitting a flat piece. If you are knitting in the round, you knit every row. Stockinette stitch fabric curls on the edges and at the top and bottom – it makes a good fabric for the body of a garment, but usually requires another stitch pattern for edging and or borders. It also stretches lengthwise when worn.

Reverse Stockinette Stitch: this is exactly what it sounds like – it is simply stockinette stitch fabric used with the purl side as the right side. It has all the properties of the stockinette stitch, but in addition, it will also stretch widthwise. You can see how the 3 stitches differ in the picture below:

If you look at the pictures of my teddy bear baby blanket – you will see how the teddy bear is formed by using the stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches together to form the pattern. This is a good example of how they can be combined to form textured patterning. Aran knitting patterns often combine stockinette, reverse stockinette and garter stitches as part of the textural patterning. Again, here are examples where the stitching is actually very straightforward and easy – but produces a fabric that looks complex because of the wonderful textures.

Note: For information on tension issues occurring with garter stitch, stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch, see my post on Master Knitter Level I — Swatches #1, 2 & 3.

Tubular Cast OnsTubular Cast Ons

June 13, 2021| LindyBeir| 0 Comment| 1:53 pm

There are several versions of tubular cast ons. All tubular cast ons give the appearance of a rolled edge. The basic Tubular Cast On starts with half the number of stitches needed. You cast on with waste yarn followed by 4 rows of stockinette stitch in your main color of yarn. Then you increase by picking up stitches from the first row of the main color knitting. This cast on has an elastic edge and is good for K1P1 ribbing used in socks, gloves, and hats.

The Provisional Tubular Cast On begins with the Provisional Cast On before starting the tubular rows. Starting with the Provisional Cast On eliminates having to pick up stitches. It can be used for both K1P1 and K2P2 ribbing and has a matching bind off (Tubular Bind Off).

The Yarnover Tubular Cast On starts with a Chained Cast On in half the number of stitches needed. Yarnovers are used to add the remaining stitches. This cast on is good for knitting in the round and works for both K1P1 and K2P2 ribbing. Most sources recommended using a smaller size needle to do this cast on and prevent flaring out.

The Italian Tubular Cast On is similar to the Provisional Cast On. It does not require the use of waste yarn. You begin this cast on with a long tail about four times the length of what you are casting on. As with the other tubular cast ons this one works well with K1P1 and K2P2 ribbing and matches the Tubular Bind Off.

Links for videos on these cast ons:

Tubular Cast On

Provisional Tubular Cast On

Yarnover Cast On

Italian Tubular Cast On(flat)

Italian Tubular Cast On (ITR)

WIP: Pi Shawl — Hibernating Since 2008…WIP: Pi Shawl — Hibernating Since 2008…

July 16, 2010| Lindy| 0 Comments| 2:13 pm

In the Knitter’s Almanac, Elizabeth Zimmerman suggests doing a Pi Shawl during the month of July as a perfect knitting project to take along with you on your summer travels. Well, I started a Pi Shawl following her instructions in the Knitter’s Almanac in July of 2008. Umm, yeah. July 2008. I took this project with me during that summer on various trips, including a trip to Spain in September. But then, for some reason I don’t fully remember, I set it aside — and left it sitting until July 2010.

As you can see from the above photo, I had made quite a bit of progress on this shawl. In fact, I had made it all the way to the last set of increases, with 576 stitches on the needles. If you are not familiar with the concept of the Pi Shawl — it is simply this: you start out with a small number of stitches (9 in this case) and double the number of stitches every so many rows. The number of rows between increases grows by 3’s or thereabouts and you end up with a circular shawl made up of a whole lot of stitches. (EZ writes that you can keep increasing as long as you wish — but she stops at 576 as it seems to be enough. I think I agree.)

So — after I figured out where I had left off, I started knitting away on those 576 stitches using the lace patterns given in the Knitter’s Almanac. When I started this shawl, my plan was to knit it per EZ’s instructions. Knitting the lace patterns required knitting 42 rounds and I decided to knit an additional 2 rounds after that. Here’s what it looks like at this point:

Here a two additional views. The first is looking down at the center of the shawl with the circular needle underneath and the other is looking down with the circular needles on top.

It looks like a big lacey bag at this point. And it is really difficult to tell exactly how large this shawl actually is. I’m estimating that it is somewhere around 60″ in diameter, but I really won’t know until I get it off the needles and get it blocked.

Now, getting the shawl off the needles is going to take some time. This is because I am knitting on a lace border and using up the edge stitches as I go. I am using the lace border pattern on page 82 of the Knitter’s Almanac. Now, this was a bit tricky to get started — because it doesn’t really tell you how to incorporate knitting off stitches when you knit the lace pattern. EZ does describe the basic process earlier in the chapter — but the specific directions are not given with the lace border pattern itself.

It took me a little while to figure things out — and since I don’t want to have an issue with dropping any of those 576 stitches, I started by putting in a lifeline. From this point forward, I am using the right needle of my circular needle and a dpn to knit the border, so I put a point protector on the left needle to prevent stitches from sliding off and cast on 11 stitches for the border:

The lace border pattern consists of 4 rows, and you K2Tog each time you knit back toward the shawl’s edge stitches, incorporating 1 edge stitch into the border. This means you use up 2 stitches every 4 rows of border. (Yeah…it’s gonna take awhile.) Here’s the start of the border after 20 rows:

I like the border… Only 566 stitches to go. I hope to finish this before the end of July. I will post pictures of the finished shawl when I get it blocked.

Here’s a link to Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac