I searched a few similar posts and still feel like I need some guidance. I am knitting the Honey Cowl pattern by Antonia Shankland and have run into this a few times…a ladder without a loop. The pattern is knit a row, then Purl 1, slip 1 wyif or Slip 1 wyif, Purl 1.
I took photos of both sides of my work. The “fluffy” ladder rung is just the yarn…it is alpaca twisted wool.
Thanks for any advice!
Is your stitch count correct?
No. I count 5 extra stitches!
It’s one of those patterns (waffle like look) that I think hides mistakes well because I don’t see any other issues.
My guess: When you’re moving the yarn from front to back or back to front you’re getting accidental yarnovers that are then worked on the next row and so you have extra stitches. Make sure the yarn always goes between the needles and not over the right needle. That doesn’t explain the long strand in the picture. If you realize you had a yarnover and dropped it off, that would leave a long strand. I sometimes will get a loose stitch after slipping with the yarn in front or if I’m not careful there is just extra yarn there for whatever reason. Be aware of your tension and see if maybe that’s what’s happening. Sometimes the extra yarn can be adjusted by pulling it into the stitches on either side. If your stitch count is right and you’re still seeing the long strands sometimes, you can try that. Since your stitch count is off you might want to rip out the rows with extra stitches and redo them. It might not be that important in this cowl that your stitch count is off as long as you don’t add more stitches. HTH
One other thing to add to GG’s good suggestions. It looks like the stitch nearest the tip of the right needle in photo #1 is a slipped stitch? Are you leaing too much yarn along the front of some sts when you slip? You don’t want to pull that strand tightly but you don’t want it too loose either.
Thank you both for your advice! I switched to Continental method of knitting about 1/3 of the way back so maybe that is contributing to yarn overs…but i don’t recall discovering any and dropping them off like you suggested may have happened. I don’t think I am going to frog rows with extra stitches because I fear that it might have started closer to the beginning! So if it really isn’t a problem, I think I will just proceed and pay more attention.
Salmonmac: It is a slipped stitch on the tip of the right needle…not sure I understand your comment “Are you leaing too much yarn along the front of some sts when you slip?”
When you slip a stitch with the yarn in front (wyif) you creaste a loop of yarn across the front of the slipped stitch. It shouldn’t be so loose that it drapes across the slipped stitch but more like this:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kokopelli99/honey-cowl
There are many projects on Ravelry that show this and may be helpful. Just in case, here’s a video for the process:
I think you’re probably right that switching to Continental was the culprit. I didn’t realize until I watched the video that salmonmac posted how different the work looks when you knit English. I can see how it could cause problems. I hope you’ll post a photo of your finished project.