Arrgh, Frustration!

I’m working on a piece right now using cotton yarn, which I’ve never used before. It’s a lot thinner and more slippery than the kind of yarn I usually use, and I’m having trouble making my stitches tight enough. Even when I take a second after each stitch and pull it tight, by the time I come back around to the next row, somehow the loop has loosened quite a bit. I’m wondering if it’s the nature of cotton yarn or if because I’m using circular needles (it’s not a round piece, they’re just the only needles I have open right now in the size called for) and they loosen when pushed onto the thinner circular section, or if my tension is off. I probably just need to give it up and use the next size needles down but I don’t actually HAVE the next size needles down and I want to knit it NOW!

If anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them. Otherwise I might have to spend tomorrow actually finishing up my older projects while I wait for my husband to get home from work and drive me to the store to get more needles (we recently moved to his hometown and I’m not familiar enough with the area yet to trust myself to not get lost, lol.)

I can’t answer your question, except to say that having them on the cable of your circular needle is highly unlikely to cause the loops to stretch. The sts are formed on the needle, and that is what affects them. I always knit on circular needles, even when knitting flat, and I’ve never had a loop change size because of the cable.

I have found that when working with cotton, that I always have to go way, way down in needle size. It just doesn’t grab the way wool and acrylic do. The other thing is that you might want to try needles made of wood. They are better with slippery yarns. And as for going shopping for them?-- I say, make sure you go to the bathroom, take bottled water and snacks and your cell phone, fill up your tank with gas, and then go for it!:slight_smile: What a great way to learn your way around a new area, by looking for places to by yarn!:yay:

[SIZE=“4”][FONT=“Courier New”]Hi, I just had something similar happen to a new project I started yesterday. I was using a metal needle,(because it was the ONLY one of the size I needed in the store,and I wanted to knit NOW :inlove: After starting it I thought this is way too slippery…I thought bamboo’s would work better for this yarn,and lace pattern. So I made a special trip to pick some up,and the difference between the two is amazing,and worth the wait/cost/etc. so as to enjoy the whole project. cloud9 …Good luck w/your decision.[/FONT][/SIZE]

Cotton doesn’t stretch much, you might try a needle of different material, or go down a size.

Well, I tried again this morning but I was still having the same trouble. So I waited until DH came home and we went to the store. I ended up going down two needle sizes to size 5. It’s still a little “messy” looking but I think at this point that’s due to my technique (I’ve not done a lot of seed stitch, which is the border of this particular piece) but the stitches are actually close together, the way it looks in the picture of this piece, whereas with the 7 there were way too many holes.

I’ll definitely have to keep wooden or bamboo needles in mind. They seem to be a little bit pricier so maybe I’ll put them on my Christmas list and someone can get me a whole set, lol.

You may be using a cotton yarn that’s thinner than worsted, so you do need the smaller needles.