Gettinf rid of ladders in the round

How-to Questions
1

ive had a small attempt at knitting in the round, with magic loop and another with 2 circulars at the same time. both attempts had ladders in them.

i cant decide which method i like best so far and this ladder issue is bothering me

a question about 2 circulars at once, in the video the lady leaves the spare needle n the loops and only pushes those other stitches onto the cable after a couple stitches or so. im finding doing those first stitches with the second needle there a bit tricky, can i slip the 2nd set of stitches onto the cable at the start of each row? - hope that makes sense :slight_smile:

im planning on buying some dpn’s so i cantry that too, with a view to trying some socks from silvers socks class.

thanks

Julie

2

The only tip I can give you, and that was given to me, is to knit the first stitch very tightly, when doing magic loop. And so far, no ladders.

Good luck

3

That may work for you, but generally tight sts make it worse. I’ve heard you work the first st normally, but then give the yarn a little purl and knit the next stitch tight.

4

i tend to knit the first two stitches tightly, and so far no problems :wink:

5

With magic loop I had some laddering, but my only attempt lasted for like 5 rounds or so, so I am no guage about that.
With dpn I have no laddering - I try to knit all my stitches with even tension - I only pay attention to the needles not being pulled aside / pushed appart or anything.

With dpn it can help to hold on to that last needle you are just done with while working a few stitches. I can not explain how exactly you hold it, but I just clamp it between some spare fingers on the right, if I fear laddering. (but really,… not so much my issue, mostly.)

When working with 2 circs, I guess, you should not use the heaviest cirs on the market. And you should not pull down on the spare set “more than necessary”.

I see laddering mostly with lose knitters. Is that assumption right? Suzee, you always know stuff like that.

6

When working with magic loop I have found that if the cable is not long enough the stiffness of the loop in the cable will cause extra tension and ladders. It seems to me that as I knit the tension at the loop will pull a little of the yarn through the stitches to try to relieve the pressure and ladders will appear. I will frequently move the point where the loop(s) a few stitches over and back to ease this tension.

When using two circular needles I also find that if you drop the first needle and let it hang as you move to the second needle, this will lead me into ladders. When I switch needles I will hold/lift the first needle against the second needle as I knit the first two or three stitches on the second needle. I’m also in agreement with Blueygh2 that it is the first two or even three stitches on the second needle that should be pulled a little tighter to offset ladders.

However, I have found the best solution, if at all possible, is to use one circular needle. The cable should be a little smaller than the finished piece. In this way all the stitches fit on one needle and it is continues knitting no switching between needles and no ladders. I find the 9 and 10 inch circular perfect for the socks I knit. since I have US male size 13 feet once I have increased the cast-on past the toe all the stitches fit nicely on a 9 inch needle and away I go.

7

This is with DPNs but it works with every method.
I bet what blueygh2 is pulling the previous stitch tight against the cable.

8

um…i think i know what my problem was. i had only one about 2 or 3 rounds before checking it.

ive started again and during the first3/4 rounds it didnt look good, but now its about an inch long the ladders have gone.

i also figured out which needle to word off to get the right side on the outside. the video i watched meant it was on the inside.

now that ive done a few rows im not sure about getting some dpn’s or not. maybe i should anyway, never know i may like them better :slight_smile:

i realy appreciate the replies :slight_smile:

thank you very much

Julie

9

I like DPNs for socks just because they replace the need for markers. Ladders will be more of an issue with DPNs because there are more places for them.

10

I’ve heard if you use a 4 needle set, there’s less laddering because the angles aren’t as acute. But you can still avoid them by knitting a couple more sts off the next L needle before switching to the empty one.