Loose First Knit Stitch in K2 P2 Ribbing

#1

Hi Fellow Knitters :slightly_smiling_face: I am a long-time English flicking-style knitter who started learning Continental just over three months ago. Despite plenty of practice, my K2 P2 ribbing still leaves a lot to be desired. However, contrary to everything I’ve read, it’s the first knit stitch of the pair that’s loose rather than the second, and I’m flummoxed as to why :woman_shrugging: I’ve tried tensioning the yarn in four different ways, taking care to work only on the tips of my needles, not stretching the worked stitches out, going down a needle size…all to no avail. I’m aware that there are options to wrap the yarn differently which I have yet to try, however I’d really like to understand why this is happening as I’m almost ready to go back to English knitting (which I think was causing some elbow pain, hence the switch to Continental). Now my hands ache after doing Continental ribbing which kind of defeats the point of switching. Any advice would be gratefully received :pray:

image
image4032×3024 2.47 MB

#2

Welcome to KH!
If I notice this happening, I snug up the loose stitch after completing it. I don’t try to change my overall tension, just the loose stitch.

2 Likes
#3

Hello
I can’t helpmwith the tension problem but I just thought I’d stop by to say I changed to continental a little while back due to a very sore hand from my regular English knitting, and just like you I ended up getting different pain problem from continental style. For me I worked out 2 things

  1. I realised it was the yarn type which was causing me pain. I’d done 2 full sweaters in acrylic with zero pain but rapidly got problems after switching to 100% cotton yarn.
  2. I went back to english style but changed how I tensioned the yarn to reduce the pressure.
    Now I seem able to knit with cotton and cotton bamboo mix without causing pain.

Well, I just thought I’d share the experience as it might help in some way.
I hope you are able to resolve the problem soon and do t get any more knitting pains.

1 Like
#4

Thank you - never thought of doing that! When I get to the ribbing at the top of the cowl I will give it a try!

1 Like
#5

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. What you say is really interesting - I don’t knit with cotton because I’ve crocheted with it and found it really hard work, however I do almost all of my knitting with fingering-weight yarn on very small-gauge needles, which might be part of the problem. I’m also trying to be more mindful of how I sit when I knit, because I read online that English-style knitters tend to lean to the right, which can cause issues over time. Thank you for prompting me to take a more curious attitude to what’s happening - I think it may be time to start practice swatching again :thinking:

1 Like