Help: Have a "ladder" & I'm NOT knitting in the round

Hi yall,

I am an advanced beginner knitter (have done a few basic projects) and I have a problem I’ve never encountered before:

I am knitting a baby blanket (“Checkers Baby Blanket” pattern from Lion Brand Yarn) on size 11 circular needles. I am using the circular needles to accommodate the large number of stitches in each row, turning the work as though I were knitting on straight needles. The pattern alternates k10/p10 over and over across the row.

In a few places when I am going from knitting to purling, there is a “ladder” appearing there. It’s right where I go from the 10th knit stitch to the 1st purl stitch. The yarn looks sort of “stretched out” between those two stitches while I’m actually working the row.

I have tried knitting the final knit stitch extra tight and then knitting the first couple of purl stitches extra tight but this isn’t helping. I have pretty good even tension when I knit, so I don’t think it’s due to an inconsistency in tension. Any suggestions?

This is a bit like the ladder that may show up between cables and the flanking purl sts. Don’t tighten up too much on the last knit and first purl, just a little extra tension. With any luck, most of this will even out when you block the blanket.
If you do something like this in the future, you could try knitting the 10th knit st through the back loop but I wouldn’t try it part way through a project.

salmonmac: What do you mean by knitting the stitch through the back loop?

That’s pretty normal in ribbing and alternating knit and purl sts because the yarn has to travel a slightly longer path than between all knits or all purls. Pulling the yarn or sts tighter sometimes makes it worse. Usually it blocks out or evens out with washing. If you can, put the sts on one edge on some scrap yarn, give it a little wash/swirl and let it dry, then see how it looks.

Here’s a video.

Thanks, yall. I guess I won’t worry too much about it until I finish the blanket. It’s not terribly noticeable or anything right now; just makes a little hole in the fabric. Hopefully it will look ok when the blanket is finished. :slight_smile: