I’m playing with doublepoints and knitting a tube just to get some experience.
I read that when knitting in the round, using all knit stitches (no purling) gives stockinette stitch. Yet I’m knitting and getting reverse stockinette. On the outside of my tube are all of the ‘purl bumps’ while the smooth stockinette side is on the inside of the tube.
When I knit, the needles are at the top and the tube of fabric flows down below the needles. The ‘feeder yarn’ is on the outside of the tube. I knit into the stitch from the inside of the tube toward the outside, pick up the yarn on the outside of the tube, and pull it toward the inside of the tube.
To see the smooth stockinette side, I need to turn the tube inside out. I’m really confused by this.
A lot of people knit that way, then just turn the item inside out when they’re done.
I prefer to keep the right side on the outside, so I always knit on the bottom of the circle, instead of knitting on the top of the circle like you’re doing.
I knit with my needle tips at the bottom of the circle, so my stockinette is always on the outside.
I just made a little drawing to show where my needles go when I’m knitting in the round. The red lines are my needle points. The green part is the outside of the fabric, which is stockinette. The yellow part is the inside of the fabric, which is reverse stockinette.
Thanks, all. That was EXACTLY what I was doing wrong. Amazing how you can stare at something and can’t visualize the solution, then when it’s pointed out you go “DUH!”
Sandy, great drawing and explanation. I like the ‘bottom of the circle’ image. Made total sense.
I’ve done two things on circular needles and, looking back, even then I was knitting at the ‘top of the circle’. But in one case it was a flat project, so even though my needles were away from me and my completed work was against my chest it didn’t matter. In the other project I was doing seed stitch, so front…back…no problem.
Thank God I caught this and y’all explained it to me before my motor skills got too ingrained.
A couple of observations: Looking at my knitting ‘how to’ books, they are NOT clear about this whole point. Some of the illustrations seem to indeed show knitting ‘at the top of the circle’ vs. at the bottom. Others are totally ambiguous and could be construed either way.
But it leads to a question (or a related series of questions): are patterns all written assuming the ‘right’ side is out? Sandy said some people just turn the project inside-out when finished, but would that always work for every pattern?
And thanks for taking the time out to help this newcomer. I’m enjoying this new-found hobby but there is a LOT to learn!!! (In other words, it probably won’t be the last time you hear from me!! (grin!))
About your other question. It WILL affect the outcome of some patterns. Because you might need to turn it right side out before continuing the design sometimes. Like, with socks - before you start working on the heel.
I guess it’s how you hold your work. I knit on the outside, but the tips are at the top; the bottom and my knitting sit in my lap. Basically, the tips are closest to me.
Well, the knitting lays in my lap too. The tips of my needles are closest to me too.
Some people knit at the top of the circle, with the “open” part of the hole facing themselves, so the right side of the garment is on the inside of the hole. You’re holding it with the “open” part of the hole facing out to the the rest of the room.
