My Yarn is Separating! Advice Please (:

#1

Im new at knitting, and I’m embarking on a pretty difficult (seeming!) project for a newbie. Thats all fun and good, but the yarn I bought is splitting, and by that I mean my one single thread is separating into the individual strings that make up the entire thread.
Add knitting in the round, size five titanium needles and slippery yarn thats suddenly disintegrating… That equals one frustrated chica!
I would really appreciate any advice you can offer, and of course i know “Buy a new skein!” but thats a last resort.

Please and thank you!

#2

Some yarns just have a tendency to that, plus when some people knit the yarn seems to untwist. you might try holding onto the yarn at the skein and letting the work hang and retwist. It’s not a permanent solution, but all I can think of right now. What kind of yarn is it?

#3

I’m not actually sure. It was around three or four dollars, so that might give you a clue as to the quality of the yarn.

#4

I’m having this problem with the current yarn I’m working with, however mine only does it on the purl stitches. My advise is like above let it hang and retwist, i had to take my skein/ball and twist it back to shape a few times before I realized that when I do my purl stitches I just let it hang down while working the stitch then just pick it up and wrap it around the needle making sure not to untwist it. Also make a note to try and avoid that yarn in future. Hope I could help.

#5

The price of the yarn is no indicator of its quality, some expensive yarns split or have knots in it, so it happens in all types of yarn.

You might be using too small a needle. A larger needle or looser tension makes the sts bigger and easier to get the needle into so it’s less likely to split.

#6

It has more to do with how it’s spun and plied than the price.

Since you’re knitting in the round this doesn’t apply, but sometimes when knitting flat if you turn the work the same way every time you can can end up with it twisting as well. It’s just something we have to learn as we go along and live with a certain amount.

#7

It can depend on how you knit. Are you a Continental Knitter? English? Combined? Eastern? When I knit Eastern I notice the yarn, regardless of brand or type, separates. It sometimes happens when I knit combined, but depends on the brand of yarn and the ply. I’ve not had it happen while knitting Continental, so really, it’s a crap shoot.

#8

Thanks guys(: Im knitting an octopus stuffed animal for mothers day, so its very important to me that this project is neat and well done. Naturally Ill try the dangling advice, and if you have any more ideas, feel free to pitch in. Wish me luck!

#9

Hi! :waving:

I don’t know if this will work but if you’re pulling your yarn from a center pull ball, try unwinding it from the opposite end, the one that unwinds around the outside of the skein. On some yarns I’ve noticed a difference in the handling depending on whether I’m pulling from the center or from the outside.

It might be worth a try.

Good luck!

Ruthie :hug: