I’m having a problem that I can’t seem to work out and it’s happening across a range of yarn, but they tend to be 4-stranded cotton/acrylics. When I start my knitting, the individual strands in the yarn are all the same length, as they should be. However, after knitting for a few rows, one of the individual strands keeps ending up longer than the rest?
This has happened to me now over several different patterns and yarn brands, so I know it must be something I’m doing wrong. When it happens, I haven’t cut the yarn or changed colours or anything, it just happens as I’m knitting and I’ll notice one of the strands is suddenly longer and sort of hanging loopy? I usually end up sort of rolling the yarn in my fingers so that the excess kind of loops around the others, but it keeps happening and it’s really starting to drive me mad.
I’ve tried searching but everything I turn up is to do with that extra loop you sometimes get when knitting the cast on row and this is not that problem.
I’ve mainly used super-fine to light weight yarns, because I overheat really easily, and it has happened with every skein I’ve used.
As far as I can tell, I’m not splitting it, but at these weights for a 4-strand cotton blend, they aren’t terribly tightly wound together, at least the ones I’ve been using aren’t. And yes, one ply of the yarn starts hanging loosely. I’ve really only knit thing recently that was a heavier weight and I didn’t have this problem with it.
I just don’t know what is causing it and everything I’ve tried to do to fix it hasn’t worked.
Do you always knit from the centre or side of the yarn? There are reference pictures you can google to see which direction your yarn was spun - there are S-twists and Z-twists and how it’s knitted can add or subtract twist, like engblom said.
It’s not always noticeable, but in your case it may make a difference. This might be a useful link: https://yarnsub.com/articles/twist
As far as I can tell, I knit right-handed, western style. The worked kneedle is in my left-hand. I tend to use a lot of yarn that gradually changes colour, so I’ve worked from both the centre or the side. The skein I am currently using, I started from the side.
I looked at the chart and my stitches do currently look like the eastern method examples, but this yarn I’m working with (and that I tend to work with) doesn’t really have much of a twist for all the ply together. The individual ply are clearly twisted, but they aren’t all very twisted together.
For some reason, your 8-ply yarn was meant to divide into 4 2-ply strands. I’ve never seen this on knitting yarn, only on embroidery floss and crewel yarn, which both divide into as many strands as you need.
The fault is certainly not yours. One strand gets longer because it’s not tightly plied around the others. Did the ball band say this was designated for knitting? What’s the name of the yarn?
I’ve two balls of this and they are both exactly the same. It’s Ice Yarns Cakes Ombre 50% cotton/50% acrylic. It says it’s meant for knitting with 3mm needles and I’m using 4mm because I wanted the lace to be more loose. But I’ve had this problem with other lace-weight yarns that I’ve used, though this one seems to be the worst.
Thanks for the photos. If it were a knitting yarn, all the plies would be wound tightly around each other, forming one strand. This is too thick for laceweight, a nd lace yarn shouldn’t have 8 plies. Email Ice Yarns about this being mislabeled.
Have you continued your work since you wrote? You would have to cut some slack out or start rewinding the ball to take in some slack.
I’m wondering if these two cakes were seconds or something, because I was looking at the wrapper and it doesn’t even have a shade name or a dye lot on it. I didn’t purchase these myself, someone bought them for me as a gift, so I don’t really know a lot about their provenance. This is my first time using this brand.
I have continued knitting with it. I’ve started sort of twisting it in between my fingers and that has kept the one strand from escaping and getting longer again, but I did have to stop and cut the yarn to take out the excess before I did that. I’m hoping the twisting keeps it from happening again. It has so far. fingers crossed
You are very rude. I’m not embarrassed to have to ask questions and frankly, I think it’s really disgusting that you want to gatekeep who can call themselves knitters or not.
Yes, I have looked for classes and in my area they run around £35 per class, which I do not have. I have learned every bit of my knitting AND crochet from Youtube, so you have no idea what you are talking about. I have been knitting and crocheting for over 9 years at this point and am very happy with the numerous items I have made. This is the first time I’ve had a question that some basic googling couldn’t fix.
It is impossible to get ripped off when I didn’t pay for the yarn, simple as. My gifter may have done, but I did not get ripped off by receiving a kind gift from someone who didn’t necessarily know what to look for.
Please stop spouting nonsense that’s going to steer beginners away. Why would start shouting at someone who is asking for help on a forum designed for precisely that purpose? Maybe you should get off the internet until you can get your feelings under control.
I agree with you on this. Luckily this kind of rudeness is not common. Today I have been on this forum for 300 days and it is the first time I saw something as rude as what paddi wrote. I hope you will enjoy the stay here despite of what paddi wrote.
I’m honestly not really that bothered by it because it’s such an overreaction that it’s just kind of funny to me. My only worry is for people who are just starting out and then being scared away by someone who decides to act like that toward strangers who just need a little bit of help.
Everyone else has been very nice and extremely helpful, so thank you!
Just because you may know a few things it doesn’t make you an expert or be entitled to put others down.You come across as an angry,opinionated know all. Not helpful at all!
I disagree. I’ve been knitting for approximately 40 years and if it wasn’t for YouTube I wouldn’t be able to join in the round or do German short rows or Japanese short rows or knit in my yarn so I don’t have to weave in the ends…and probably quite a few more things I’ve yet to learn!
You are right on this one! I learned knitting by watching youtube videos and now, thanks to youtube and other online sources like knitting forums, blogs etc, I have reached that level that I could even teach a knitting course myself.
I do think courses have their place. I could probably have progressed faster with a skilled teacher, but it is nothing necessary if someone has decided to learn to knit.
Maybe this article will help: https://techknitting.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-two-strands-of-yarn-wound-together.html?m=1
You’re using more than two but the principle is the same I would think. It offers multiple clever possibilities for fixes when yarns work up unevenly. Since you’re only dealing with noticeable slack every few rows it seems totally doable if one or more of these work for you. It should make for a pretty and mesmerizing fabric.
Edit to add: I’d like to emphasize I don’t think you’re doing anything “wrong.” This is just the nature of dealing with two separate yarns together: they inevitably will never work up at exactly the same rate. (Working from separate balls is helpful to control slack–but isn’t always practical if the yarn has already been wound (as here) or if for instance you’re frogging and reknitting something or reusing yarn from fabric that was created with two or more strands knit together.) BTW there’s also navajo chain plying, which is a cool related trick to know, though not relevant to your specific issue here…
Cool, glad I could share it! I like their page generally; lots of interesting stuff. I stumbled across that particular article just the other day and so I immediately thought of it when I read your post… hope it makes your life easier.
