Hello!
I’m currently trying to make a variation of this:
itsastitchup.
/index.php/patterns/iphone-cosy
I’m fine with normal knitting and purling on double pointed needles in the round–however, purling [I]between[/I] needles always leaves me with a ladder.
What do I have to do so this doesn’t happen? This is quite frustrating and I can barely find any info online. Please help :shrug:
If the ladder is due to less tension on the yarn between needles, I just tug [U]slightly[/U] more on the first st on the new needle. I have to do it both knitting and purling but now it’s become so routine, I don’t even think about it.
It also seems easier to me to use 5 dpns instead of 4.
So it seems that even though I pull pretty hard, the laddering still happens. Thus, I’m thinking it’s a positional thing. I’ve looked around and haven’t seen much on it.
When I’m knitting on dpns and I get the the first stitch on the next needle, instead of knitting onto the empty needle I knit onto the previous needle I just finished with. It ends up slowly rotating the stitches so a ladder isn’t likely to form.
Couple things you can try -
Try holding the needles together at the join for about 5 stitches so it doesn’t stretch.
Adjust the stitches so you aren’t starting with a purl on each needle. I always do this.
You can also wrap the purl under instead of over thereby twisting the stitch. It won’t show on the outside so as long as the project isn’t reversible it helps a lot. I often do this, too.
Here’s my blog where I show a photo and explain how I did it.
Thank you both, I will try these and see if it helps! I’ve been trying to pull everything tight on my first stitch and it looks like that is working as well. Once I find a method that works well, I’ll just stick to it! Thanks again for your suggestions!!
I’m just learning how to use DPN’s and love any tips I can get! Thanks!
Pulling the yarn tighter can make the ladders worse, so don’t pull on the first st, pull a little as you make the 2nd st.
Pulling a little tighter on the first stitch on the next needle does help, but I’ve found that after you finish your project and it’s off the needles, washed, dried, the ladders will become less evident, unless they are really prominent during your knitting. They seem to even out over time. But keeping the ladders to a minimum is always a good thing, but not the end of the world if yours show just a bit. As you can tell…perfection is not my forte. I used to worry about every teeny tiny mistake (even though a ladder is not a “mistake”)…not any more. I just love to knit and don’t sweat the small stuff. In the big scheme of things, no one will usually ever notice.
When I’m switching needles on double points or circulars, I push the first stitch on the left needle as close to the tip of the needle as I can without its falling off. Then I knit the stitch and pull the yarn as tightly as I can for the first one or two stitches. This seems to help eliminate the ladders.
The method I use is rotating the stitches around to different needles every so often, that way it’s not always the same stitches at the corners and hides the slight different in tension pretty well…It can be a bit confusing if you’re following a complicated pattern, but you can use stitch markers to help you with that…good luck and hope this helps…
If possible, I tend to put purl stitches at the end of a DPN instead of the beginning.
This happens because you have to put the yarn underneath the needle. If you can’t avoid purling the first stitch, try positioning the working needle higher so that it’s as tight as possible.
The working needle is held in a different position when starting with a purl stitch on the next needle. When starting with a knit stitch, the working needle is held in front of the previous needle. When starting with a purl stitch the working need is above /behind the previous needle.
Also, to prevent ladders, I don’t tighten up the working yarn at the completion of the first stitch; I tighten up the working yarn when I start the second stitch. What this means is that the working needle is inserted into the second stitch, tighten up, then complete the second stitch. I have never had ladders using this method. Why does it work? If you tighten after completing the first stitch, it slacks up when you go to start the next stitch. Hope this helps.