My finished diagonal baby blanket isn't square

How-to Questions
1

Hi, I’ve just finished knitting a lovely baby blanket, knitted on the diagonal. (Pattern from the Lion Brand website)
It turned out to be a diamond shape instead of square. What did I do wrong, and can anyone suggest a pattern to use…???
Thanks, Linda

2

i’m a little confused, but that could just be me and the fact that i have had very little sleep lately…

but…

isn’t a diamond a square on the side? could you post a pic at all? :??

EDIT: i just had a quick look at the lion site, and there are a few diagonal baby blankets… which pattern did you use? Can you remember the pattern number?

3

If it’s what I’m thinking of, you start with a stitch and then increase one stitch at the beginning of every row until you reach the right # of stitches and the decrease down in the same manner.

Not too long ago there was a similar post, but regarding a dishcloth. The poster had been increasing at both the beginning AND the end of every row, so the stitch count increased twice as fast as it was supposed to so when she reached the right number of stitches, only half of the rows had been completed (without realizing it) because the increases had been worked twice as often as they were supposed to. It ended up a very oblong shape rather than square. I wonder if this is your problem as well??

4

I had the same issue and I’ve made several blankets like that. I would increase at the beginning of each row until the number of stitches than begin to decrease. I’ve also tried just knitting one row in between the increases and decreases but it still came out like yours. It’s not a perfect square. I ended up giving one of the blankets to my dog (which he loved).

I wish I knew how to fix that problem…Good luck!

5

My dishcloths using that pattern all look like diamonds when I finish, but washing makes pretty square again. Unless you were having an issue like the ones in the above replies I think it’s just the weight of the yarn pulling down as you work.

6

hi. I just watched a show on Knitty Gritty this week with Barry Klein who showed how to knit on the diagonal. The instructions are here http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_5139232,00.html or go to diynetwork.com and search Knitty Gritty for diagonal. I remember on the show one of the guests had the same problem-- her knitting was more diamond shaped than a square even though she knitted correctly. He said she probably pulled the yarn too tightly when starting the next row so suggested she wrap the yarn around one finger first and then knitting the first stitch and then letting go of the yarn on her finger to leave the edge looser.
Hope this helps!
Kristy

7

hi. I just watched a show on Knitty Gritty this week with Barry Klein who showed how to knit on the diagonal. The instructions are here http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_5139232,00.html or go to diynetwork.com and search Knitty Gritty for diagonal. I remember on the show one of the guests had the same problem-- her knitting was more diamond shaped than a square even though she knitted correctly. He said she probably pulled the yarn too tightly when starting the next row so suggested she wrap the yarn around one finger first and then knitting the first stitch and then letting go of the yarn on her finger to leave the edge looser.
Hope this helps!
Kristy