This is driving me crazy… I have ceased to knit because I simply cannot figure out why my knit stitches don’t look like knit stitches but instead look like purl stitches!! No matter what I do this is the problem. I’ve watched videos, read books, and looked at so many forums it’s killing me!! And I cannot figure out why. Can anybody possibly explain to me why this might be happening?? PLEASE??? I am doing EXACTLY what the videos are doing, FOR SURE. Am I missing something?? Please help!!!
If you’re knitting every row, you will get garter stitch–which can look a lot like all purls, but is really a row of knits and a row of purls.
The back of a knit is a purl and vice-versa, so when you knit a row, you create a purl on the back. This becomes your front when you knit the next row, so you’re seeing purl ridges on both sides.
To get stockinette stitch, where all the knits are on one side and all the purls are on the other, you have to knit one row and then purl one row.
Thank you so much for that!! Just one more question then… how do I make it look like the smooth side of stockinette stitch on both sides? I have three different scarves that have the smooth stitch on both sides… how can I do that? Thanks!!
For hand knitting, you can knit in the round so all the knits are on the outside of the tube and all the knits are on the inside. You can also try double knitting, which essentially creates a tube, too. Commercially made things use knitting machines which do things we can’t do.
Well, I know that one of the scarves that looks that way was done by hand (I watched her do it) so I know it can be done by hand, but I can’t seem to figure it out… I may end up taking a scarf apart to see how it’s done… but if anyone can help it would be much appreciated. Thanks Ingrid for all your help!! If you have any other suggestions please let me know!!
I guess what I’m asking is this (thanks to my husband for putting it into better words for me): my scarves all have the lines going across the scarf, and I want them to go the length of the scarf. Does that make sense? Is there a way to do that? Thanks!
hmm, i’ve never done this, but i understand that to make a scarf lengthwise, u have to cast on a large number of stiches (i dunno, somewhere in between 200 and 300) onto a circular needle about 29" long and use it like u would use straight needles
btw, welcome to Knitting Help! i noticed that u’ve just joined today
the long stripes the length of the scarf
and Ribs the length of the scarf BITH at the same time is when you cast on 300+ stitches on a Circ, then knit every row
or you can knit evey stitch for 30 stitches, and 10 rows, then knit and Purl, or Knit 2 Purl 2 across
its so cool
you will love leartning what different combinations do to your knit fabric
I think they were talking about knitting a scarf width-wise on a circ–not in the round, and playing with the stitches to get different patterns on the scarf.
I’ve knit a scarf width-wise on a circular needle before, because I wanted color stripes to run vertically versus horizontally (there was a pattern for it on the Lion Brand site). You’re basically just using the circular needle since most straight needles won’t hold the full number of stiches on it. It works up flat, just turn the needles at the end of the row and knit like you normally do instead of joining across the gap like you do in circular knitting. The k1 p1 ribbing may be the easier way to go though.