Messy, uneven stitches

#1

whenever i switch from purl to knit on the same row i end up with a big gap. so that when i’m looking at my work and the purl section is on the right and the knit on the left, right between them there is a gap. like i didn’t keep enough tension when i was on the other side. but even if i keep all my work super tight i still end up with the gap. this also means that when i’m looking at the knit section that one side of the little “v” is bigger than the other. does this make sense? gosh i hope so. i am at my yarn’s end so to speak. i hope someone can help.

~cry

#2

purl stitches take more yarn than knit stitches but … tell us more. How long have you been knitting … English or Continental … kind of needles … etc.

#3

This is actually pretty common and sometimes the tighter you pull, the more gap you have. Also, if you’ve only done a few rows it doesn’t look as good as several inches. The stitches also even out a lot when you wash or block it after you’re done.

#4

i’ve been knitting for a few years now. i taught myself from books. i use english style. i’ve tried using the size of needle the yarn suggests as well as a size or two smaller. i’ve had this problem ever since i started knitting and i just can’t figure out what i’m doing wrong. i recently learned how to do cables and so now i really want my work to look nice. i’ve tried to just continue knitting but no matter how much i do they are still uneven. do i maybe just need more practice?

#5

I’m not sure if you are knitting tighter than you purl or if you purl tighter than you knit. I knit continental and I wrap the yarn from the ball around my pinkie so I hopefully have a constant tension on the yarn. Do you have someone who knits evenly to sit down with you to observe just what you are doing? I’m not sure if there are any videos that talk about this or not. Good Luck.