hi im a crocheter and hae decided to try to learn to knit.
ive got dk yarn and some 4mm needles and am trying to lern the continental style as i was told this might be better for me.
so far ive tried the long tail cast on and a row of knit. however im havng problems with couple of things.
my tension is tight leaving little room to work with.
also when it comes to pulling the loop through to the front ive having a hard time “hooking” it and keep wanting to pick up a crochet hook to do the job.
You don’t ‘hook’ the yarn the same way you do in crochet, it wraps around the needle the other direction. When you do it as you have been and knit into the front leg of the stitch on the next row it twists the stitch which also makes it tighter. Take a look at the continental knit video here and watch how the yarn travels around the needle. It starts in back, goes under the needle to the front and over to the back again. You’re probably going over the top to the front and under to the back.
You may want to look at the ‘combination’ video where you ‘pick’ the yarn like you’ve probably been doing, but you knit into the leg of the stitch that’s closest to the tip of the needle.
Hi, I knit Continental too and actually do it pretty much exactly like the videos. As you work you have the yarn tensioned out a bit with the left hand like when you crochet. Insert your right needle into the side of the first stitch fartherest from the tip of the left needle, on the side of the needle nearest you. With the right hand needle go over the top of the yarn in the left hand and scoop down, grabbing the yarn and drawing it back through the stitch.
If you have a tendency to knit tight you can pull each stitch loop up a bit after you have formed it onto the right hand needle. But I find that with a little practice most people loosen up anyway.
Last tip… don’t give, up; keep practicing and it will get easier. It is hard to learn a new skill and since you already know how to crochet, this newness seems pretty annoying, so you want to grab that crochet hook and “fix” things, but you’ll get it.
its this scooping down part i think im not doing very well. i re watched the video and i am trying to do it right. when i try to scopp down to draw the yarn through it keep slipping off the needle.
to be fair though i kept at it and my little swatch looks neat. i did try the english method and hated holding my yarn that way. but noone said i could do this in one sitting did they.
as for my tension after 2 hours my arms were hurting a bit and i realised i had been tense myself so i reckon that was my problem.
i carried on a bit after i posted and found it easier and bit more relaxed so i will just keep practcing the knit stitch.
ive got it, its working. now im relaxed it working. going to practice a while before i try to purl though
something ive noticed, my cast on bit is tighter than the rest of the work. if this was a crochet piece i would do that part in a hook 1mm larger than the rest. is this true of knitting also?
Yes, many people often use a larger needle so the cast on remains loose. But you can also learn to cast on loosely with the same needle - just don’t pull the yarn tight. Those nice even stitches everyone wants come with practice, and blocking; pulling the yarn tight is not what produces them.
I’m glad it is coming together for you now. I like to cast on with a larger needle. Some people cast on over 2 needles of the size the item is made with. I don’t like doing that, it is awkward for me, but I sometimes use a needle 2 or 3 sizes bigger than the gauge needle.
There are different ways to do the Continental purl. I do it like the videos here at this site, but some folks have trouble with that. If you have trouble let us know and I’ll offer some options.
The Lion brand website has lots of kids patterns. You have to sign up, but don’t get pestered with junk email. Another site to look at is www.knittingpatterncentral.com
i tried to purl last night and it worked kind of. i managed the stitch but found the way i was holding the left needle when i pushed the yarn down with my middle finger made me grab the needle with my knuckles which hurt them. i suppose theres a lot for the left hand to do. however ive seen some people put the left needle between their arm and body. so i tried that and it gave me the extra support i needed to purl happily across a row. not sure how im going to work ribbing but for now am just going to practice stockinete stich till im confortable with it all
