All right, I’m new to knitting and am having some difficulty. I have learned the long tail cast on and that seems to go well, although I think I might be using too much tension as I have a hard time getting some of the stitches to line up after my first row - different problem.
The problem I need help with right now is the last stitch. After casting on, I knit the first row and it look ok - not great, maybe not even really good, but I’ve only been at this for about 3 days, so, I’m cutting myself some slack. The last stitch (especially when I was using a slip knot) always, and I mean every time, is lose and floppy. Sometimes it’s a gaping hole and there doesn’t seem to be any way of tightening it up. The working yarn always seems to wind up on the wrong side of the needle.
I’ve looked at all the videos on youtube (makes me sick to see how easy they make it look), but no one ever seems to have this issue. What am I doing wrong?
It’s probably hard to know what I’m talking about without pictures, so I’ll try to take one tonight and post it tomorrow. In the meantime, if anyone has some suggestions on things I can try, I’d really appreciate the help.
Welcome to knitting and welcome to the forum!
The last stitch of a row is often loose and a bit loopy. As you knit more rows, that extra yarn usually works its way into the adjoining stitches. Your tension will also even out as you practice.
When you work the knit stitch the yarn is to the back. When you start a new knit row, be sure to take the yarn to the back under the needle. That will leave that last stitch looking loose but ignore that for now. If you take the yarn to the back over the needle, there will appear to be 2sts and your knitting will keep increasing at the ends.
Ok, so just ignore it. I made my first patch of knitting and it did seem to work itself out. Still looks kinda lumpy and wonky, but passable for knitting - at least you can tell it is knitted.
First of all, relax… Relax your fingers & hands. Force yourself to loosen your grip on the yarn & the needles. They’re your friends & they’re not going anywhere. That loose loop will fade into your work with practice. Keep your working strand(the strand yarn from the skein) down & to your left. One trick that I use is wrapping my working yarn around my left pinkie. It keeps my yarn tension steady & where it should be. The main thing to learn here is to relax. Knitting is supposed to be fun & relaxing while letting your creative side explode in beauty, resulting in priceless knitted wonders that came from a single strand of thread & two straight needles. Happy knitting!!!
Yeah, I’m not there - nowhere near relaxed. So far all this has been is frustrating and tiring. I wanted a hobby that I could do instead of sitting in front of the “idiot box”. I thought this might be good as it might produce something useful as well as taking up spare time. Not sure I made the right choice. Thankfully I haven’t spent a lot of money on this.
I’m beginning to think I have the wrong yarn and needles. I can’t even seen to get the first row started very well. The aluminum 11 needles won’t slide under the yarn (looks like the tips are too big) and wind up poking through it in the back. Then I have to figure out how to unload that stitch and usually wind up pulling multiple stitches off the needle. Then I just give up and start all over. The yarn (says 4 medium on the label somewhere) seems to be getting “fluffy” at that point so I whack off the foot or 2 that are messed up and start over just to repeat the same process - I think that’s called insanity.
I’ll admit I’m writing this after several minutes of failures to launch, so I hope I’m not offending anyone, but I’m frustrated and a little angry with all this. I haven’t decided if I’m going to try again.
Knitting can be frustrating in the beginning, like learning almost anything new. After you learn and practice the mechanics you begin to develop muscle memory in your hands and you don’t have to concentrate so hard on the basic steps. That’s when knitting becomes much more enjoyable and relaxing.
Size 11 needles may be a bit large for a worsted weight yarn (#4). Usually an 8 needle is fine with a smooth, worsted weight yarn when you begin. If the aluminum isn’t working for you, try bamboo or plastic. That said, the sts should slide most easily on the metal whereas other needle materials tend to hold the yarn more.
It’s fine to put the knitting down and come back later. And it’s OK to complain here too. We’ve all gone through the initial steps when we learned.
I taught myself also and almost gave up until I found Liat Gnat of knit freedom. She has many free videos and free beginner patterns with step by step instructions. She is very calm and easy to follow. Please view some of her beginners videos. You won’t be sorry. Keep knitting https://knitfreedom.com/
Carolfield, Thank you. I’ll look those videos up and see if I can glean something from her.
I appreciate the encouragement. I did find that the size of the needles and the yarn need to match in some way. I went down to 5mm needles and the patterns now loon much nicer. I’m also using bamboo which is nice as the yarn doesn’t slide off before I can catch the stitch.
I’ve been working hard at this for several days and even started my first blanket using 11mm plastic circulars and some bulky yarn. It looks pretty good. I’m pleased with it so far. I even had to figure out how to pick up some dropped stitches after I pulled to hard and the work slipped off my needles. I panicked for a few minutes figuring I was going to have to start from scratch - I’ve got 3 skeins i it already and I REALLY didn’t want to start over.
Good for you! Another forum you may want to join is
Knitting paradise.com I have learned a ton of things from this community of knitters. They are ready to help anyone.