Loose top stitch?

#1

Hello all :slight_smile:

I just started to learn to knit yesterday :slight_smile: I am enjoying it so far.

My question is this. I am just doing a garter stitch with the english method. When I finish a row, the final stitch I make, which end up at the top of my row, is very loose.

Am I finishing the last stitch correctly? When I poke my right needle through the hole after rapping the yarn once around it, I do not put that final loop around my right needle. It goes behind the needle. But then when I turn my work over to do the next row and bring the string of yarn so that it’s coming out to the right, that top part is so loose! Is that supposed to happen, or am I doing something wrong?

I hope this make sense. Please let me know if I need to clarify. Thanks everyone :slight_smile:

#2

There’s a video under the Free Videos tab at the top of the page, Demo of a Small Project that may help. Even though it’s not garter stitch, Amy does show the end of the row and how to begin the next row with a knit st. It may help with that last st at the end of the row which is sometimes looser than you would like. She also shows you how to slip the first st in a row which will neaten up the ends if you are making a project like a scarf where the ends of the rows will show.
Also, I find that the sloppy end sts go away or tighten up with practice. Enjoy your knitting!

#3

The last sts are usually a little loose, especially the first row or two. Instead of slipping the first st, which doesn’t work for me, I knit it then pull the yarn a little and knit just the next couple sts a little tighter. That usually makes the edges nice and even. Slipping just makes them looser and messier for me. But yeah, they should get less loose with more practice.