Knitting a sweater

#1

Hi, I’m starting a sweater, I did the back part and I think it’s looking good. This is my first time knitting. I’m used to doing things very precise and just wondered if when your doing stockinett stiches , if the loops on the needle after completing a knit row are tighter than the loops after completing a purl row? If so, does that matter. On the video on knitting purl and knit stiches, the person has the loop on the needle loose even though she wraps the yarn tight around the needle. whenever I wrap the yarn around the needle tight the loop becomes tight too on the next row.
Please help. I will try to post a picture of what I have done so far to see if it looks ok.

#2

It’s very common to have different tensions when knitting vs purling. As long as you’re happy with the result it doesn’t matter at all. :thumbsup:

#3

You sound like my ‘kindred spirit’! Uneven tension also bugs me!
You might like to read this article aboutUneven Stockinette Fabric!

Here is another article I love! It is a PDF, so I hope you have Adobe Reader.
It’s titled “On Your Way to the Masters-[I][B]Tension Problems [/B][/I]by Arenda Holladay”.

I’m NOT on my way to the Master Knitter Certificate anymore than you are, but…this was a most enlightening article! I don’t think it is ever too soon to be aware of what (any kind of) knitting stitches are supposed to look like.

You are obviously already aware of good-looking stitches as opposed
to hinky-looking stitches. You’re my kind of gal! :thumbsup:

#4

Thanks for those links, Dollyce! I’m picky, too. :teehee:

#5

Thank you for that article, it has helped me on my stiches. By the way, I’m a guy. I’ve just started to knit but I’ve been crocheting for 18 years.

#6

No problem! The 2nd link I posted (On the Way to the Masters-Tension Problems by Adrena Holladay) was compliments of Globaltraveler (Zina Lee). She had posted that link a few months ago…and I enjoyed it so much!

#7

I also have the problem of tension. The links are great thanks.
The way I do my tension is, I English knit and purl continental. It works for me and my knitting is a lot better since I started doing it that way.

#8

I remember reading something from Elizabeth Zimmerman about this. She saw some really old knitted garments with perfect tension. She was kind of jealous until she realized that over time the tension had basically readjusted to fix itself. Even Elizabeth Zimmerman had problems with this. One cure, at least for sweaters, is to knit them in the round.

#9

Also, I’ve read (and experienced) that single ply yarns are more prone to making wonky stockinette stitch. I knit with single ply yarns a lot. I just love them. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to them, but I am!

#10

[COLOR="#330099"]
I was just reading a [B][U]web article[/U][/B] [S]book with a section[/S] about ply and how it affects the look of the stitches. It had excellent pictures.

[COLOR=“Red”][Edit to say I got it wrong, it was not the book I mention below it was the web article on knitty.com to which Sue links][/COLOR]

Some ply make St st appear as if one side of the V is a vertical column or ridge:

\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|  or  |/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/
\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|      |/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/
\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|      |/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/
\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|      |/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/

The book is:
[B][U]Knitting beyond the basics : skill-building lessons and must-have projects / Rebecca Lennox.[/U][/B] at Amazon

ETA: But the book is a good read even if it doesn’t talk about ply.
[/color]

#11

Yep, and for those who can’t get to the book, knitty also has a brief article with some illustrations.