I’m new to knitting but loving it! Tonight when I was knitting tho it suddenly seemed I was knitting backwards, like the yarn I was grabbing was slanting in the wrong direction. It seemed I was really having to fight to grab a piece of yarn because of this. Is that possible or is it just in my head?
Backwards
It sounds like you may have twisted your stitches when you worked them on the previous row.
Make sure that you’re inserting your needle correctly and wrapping your yarn correctly.
So is there a way to fix this
Are you fighting with your needles? I was, the other day. I had #7 x 16" bamboo needles, and I had to fight for every stitch. I finally had absolutely HAD IT UP TO HERE! with those needles and replaced them with sharp-pointed #7s (metal!) and now I’ve almost completed the 2x2 ribbing for tomorrow night’s class.
But, yes, while I was still fighting with the bamboo needles, the yarn seemed to be going every which way but the right way. I lost soooo much time with those !@#$^&$%# needles.
Could this be part of the problem?
DCM
If you have a row of twisted stitches, you can correct that row by knitting through the back loop, and start correctly on the next row.
However, if you’ve twisted more than just the row you’ve corrected, those stitches will look different if you’re working in stockinette. If you’re working garter stitch–knit every row-- then I don’t think the twisted stitches will show.
If you’ve worked the entire thing in twisted stitches in stockinette, you could continue working them twisted for the rest of the project and call it a design. A pain-in-the-butt design to work, maybe, but it will be consistent.
I don’t think the needles are the problem because I have 54 rows done and it’s just these last few that have felt that way! I know it’s probably in my head! I was tired and should have put it down! Plus while I was knitting I was helping my daughter fix some on her knitting project:-(
It does sound like twisted stitches. You can knit through the back loop to correct a few or even a whole row. If you’ve done multiple rows then you may have to rip it out to the point they aren’t twisted or rip the whole thing. Check the videos for how to do the knit stitch so you can make sure you’re knitting through the front of the stitch and wrapping it correctly.
The interesting thing is there actually are times when a pattern calls for twisting a stitch so it’s good to know what they look like and how to do them.
Yeah, go with Jan in CA’s analysis if it’s not the needles… sorry!
DCM
Look at both the knit and purl videos but watch how you wrap. If you wrap the purls backwards, then knitting into the front leg is what’s twisting them. Just knit or purl into the leg closest to the tip of the needle however you wrap the stitches, and that leaves them untwisted.
Well you were all correct! Of course! Being the beginning knitter that I am I had started wrapping my yarn around the wrong direction when I was purling! I did what some of you suggested and went back to watch the videos and sure enough found where I was making my mistake! But I learned something from it so not all is lost! I had to tear back about 10 rows:-( for a beginner that hurts! Thanks for your help!
I’ve ripped out finished or nearly finished items because something wasn’t right. That’s part of knitting and you learn from it too.
:yay: Glad you figured it out! Every mistake is a learn experience.
BTW…that wrapping the purls the wrong way…it has value as well as twisted knit stitches. I’m not going to confuse you now, but you may need or want it someday. 