How Exactly Does This Work?

#1

I’m a bit of a newbie…here is my pattern question:

The pattern I am doing is for a newborn baby hat. It calls for straight needles and then to stitch it up afterwards. I’ve done a couple of hats already on dpns and decided to use dpns on this one too, as I didn’t want the seam.
The pattern is to stockinette stitch until it’s about 5 inches. Well, I’ve never done stockinette stitch before so I didn’t know what it would look like. But I’ve been doing the knit a row, purl a row (I put a stitch marker on the beginning of my row to know when to switch), etc for about 3 inches now and all it looks like is that I’ve been doing purls the whole time…there is no difference in the way it looks row to row…
Is this something that happens because I’m using dpns and not flipping my work like I would with straight needles? How would I correct this for next time if I wanted it to have the stockinette stitch look?

Thanks, hope I am making sense!

Tiffany

#2

It makes perfect sense.

When you work stockinette in the round, you’re always working on the ‘right side’ of the knitting, so you’d knit every round. If you knit a round, purl a round, you’ll get garter.

#3

Thanks Ingrid…

So, let me know if I am reading your post correctly - if I wanted to get the stockinette stitch look next time just knit every row instead of switching back and forth?

Thanks again!

#4

Yes, when you knit in the round you knit every round.

#5

I’ve never done stockinette stitch before so I didn’t know what it would look like. But I’ve been doing the knit a row, purl a row

What you describe here is stockinette if it is knitted flat. The stitches are named for the way they turn out looking not the way they are worked. Knit a row, purl a row is stockinette knitted flat. To get stockinette in the round, you knit every row.

Garter stitch flat is knit every row. Garter in the round is purl a row knit a row.

To get the back side of stockinette in the round (if you work stockinette with the RS out in the round), called reverse stockinette, you have to purl every row, or just knit every row and use the inside as the RS if that works in a particular pattern.

Isn’t knitting interesting? :wink:

#6

Thank you ladies - that makes things much more clear…I realize (obviously by looking at it) that using the circulars is changing the look - which is no big deal - but I now get HOW it changes. I’ll write this down and stick it with my knitting notes so if i do another project on circulars that is made for straight knitting I can do it right!

Thank you Thank you!:yay:

Tiffany