My rows, stitches, just about everything!

#1

Hello!

My stepmom was very sweet and sent me a wool soaker to put over my cloth diapers, so I thought I’d give it a try. I have always considered myself crafty; I know how to sew, have done cross-stitch, woodworking, and do holiday crafts all the time but my first knitting project isn’t going so great!

The sweet ladies at a wool knitting group on Yahoo! told me about the free video’s on here, so I returned the DVD I borrowed from the library because it was all available here. Thanks so much!

Anyway - I did the Simple Baby Bib from this site; it’s a square, what could go wrong? LOL

I did the cast on for 25 stitches, then I knitted every row until it was 8 inches. I cast off 20 stitches, but that left me like 9 short of the edge. Since I started with casting on 25 stitches and was supposed to cast off 20, I stopped with 5 open stitches and started the strap there. Was that OK to do? LOL

But before then, I obviously have some issues! I’m looking at it and I see rows that run crooked and what looks like two rows coming out of one?! :??

I think the edges are curling because I was knitting too tight, but I know that’s a newbie thing and think I have that toned down now. Sometimes I’d have to set my work down in the middle of a row to tend to my boys and I’d pick it up and forget which hand was doing what. And sometimes I’d be going along and then I’d do a knit stitch and it seems there is a bigger span between the two needles than there was the previous stitch. I do that one and then yes, the next stitch keeps the needles closer together. :???:

I took a picture of my work so far, hopefully you can tell me what I’ve done wrong.

The pattern asks for size 9 needles, I’m using 8. How important is it to stick to the needle size?

I have no idea what kind of yarn this is. My mom left behind quite a few skeins and this had no info on it.

Where do I pull the yarn from if it hasn’t been used? Apparently I pulled from the wrong one with this yarn because it started coming from the middle and would eventually get all tangled and I’d have to unknot it. Very time consuming!

If you read through that all, I thank you so much!

#2

It sounds and looks like you made short rows by mistake. A short row is when you turn your work and start knitting the other side without knitting all of the stitches on the first side. This could have happened when you picked up your work in the middle of the row and worked the wrong side. When you do create short rows, you get a gap between the stitches where you turned your work.

One way to prevent this is to remember that when you’re in the middle of a row, the working yarn is coming from the needle held in your right hand. Only when you turn the work to do the other side is the yarn first coming from the needle in your left hand.

Creating extra stitches is common for when knitters first start out. The key to preventing them is to go slow, and watch what you’re doing. Extra stitches can come from accidental yarn-overs (look under the videos on the site if you’re not sure what a yo is) and from knitting into one stitch twice.

Needle size is important when you need a certain gauge, stitches per inch. Also, you need to make sure that you like the fabric your needles and yarn are producing. Smaller needles will produce a tighter, denser fabric than larger needles. It isn’t crucial that a bib is an exact size, so as long as it’s not too huge or too small, and you’re happy with the fabric, it doesn’t matter if you use a size smaller needle.

I normally try to pull the yarn from the center of a skein. However, that tends to result in some “yarn vomit,” the clump of yarn that comes out of the center. It’s usually easy to untangle, though. Did you pull it from the center? If you did, you have to make sure that the loose, outside end is free because they usually tuck that into the center on the other side. If you don’t pull out that end, it tends to get caught and tangle with the working yarn.

#3

I think you continue knitting the leftover stitches for the neck strap. Take another look at the pattern. And yes, it does look like you picked it up in the middle and knit the wrong direction for a row. If you start up in the middle of a row, make sure your yarn is on the right needle. Or just finish a row before you put it down.

#4

I think that’s exactly what I did! I remember looking at it after I sat back down and flipping it around, thinking it had to be, the working yarn, on the left hand. Oops!

Thanks so much! I’ll finish it to finish it and then try again! :muah:

#5

End of the row, yarn on the left needle, middle of the row (and working in the round by whatever method) yarn on the right needle.