Hi, everybody, I am knitting the wonderful Irish Hiking Scarf, a beloved free Ravelry pattern. I feel like I understand what I’m doing, but I can’t understand why what I have knitted so far is of uneven width! I counted the stitches and I have not added or decreased inadvertently. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Scarf widens/narrows — same number of stitches — why?
The issue seems to be with the ‘length,’ i.e. the number of rows knit on the left vs the right, as opposed to the number of stitches on the needle. Did you, maybe, accidentally turn the work? Put it down mid-row and then pick it up backwards?
That is entirely possible, I wouldn’t put it past me. I really appreciate your response. Would you suggest that I start over?
I’m certainly no expert (You could wait for a second opinion). If you can identify a “good row,” maybe three or four rows in, there are some good videos out there (including on this site) on how to go back and start there. If you do start unraveling, you will see if your working yarn goes partway across one row and then turns around again!
Congratulations, you learned how to do short rows. When you want to do them on purpose you’ll have a head start on understanding what you’re doing. I wasn’t being snarky, short rows present a real challenge so having had this happen you really will have more concept of what they’re all about when you want to do them. I say you didn’t make mistakes, you created a learning experience. Notice how they change the shape of the piece with more rows lengthening it faster. I agree, if you’re wanting nice, straight edges you need to go back to at least what you determine is a full row with no more short rows before it.
Hello
It does look like you have accidentally worked short rows, by putting down your work and when you come back you have reworked the same partial row rather than continuing to the end of the row.
It’s great you noticed as it shows that you are reading your work enough to spot it (although not quite enough to avoid it). Reading the fabric is part of knitting that develops over time the more you knit and is super helpful.
As you are so early on in the pattern I would unravel and start over.
Try to finish a row before putting your work down but if you can’t avoid it mid row then:
- try to place it down in a way which keeps right on the right and left on the left to make it easier to pick up the correct way around when you come back to it
- when knitting, the working yarn is always (apart from when purposely making short rows) joined to the stitch on the right needle so if your work gets turned around mid row and you aren’t sure which way you should be holding it check where the ball of yarn is attached, put that needle in your right hand. The only time (apart from purposely making shortnrows) your working yarn is not attached to the stitch on the right needle is when you have finished a full row and then turned the work ready to start a new row. At the start of the row the yarn is attached to the first stitch on the left needle. Once you work that stitch the yarn will be attached to the right needle again.
The other option here is to undo the few short rows until you get to a full row. Depending on your ability to count the rows, read the fabric and follow the pattern this might make it harder for you as you might not know which row of your pattern you are restarting at.
Here’s a video for tinking (knit backwards) which is undoing one stitch at a time in a controlled way so as not to lose stitches or pull too much apart. This is a great skill to learn and your scarf could be just the place to practise it. At some point you would arrive at the short row and the next stitch won’t tink because the yarn ball won’t be attached to it. At that point, turn the work, tick to the end of the row and have a look to see if it is all even again.
Hope this helps
Thank you and I love your take on “mistakes.” I have read about short rows and how hard they are and didn’t really understand. I still don’t, but I’ve definitely learned a valuable lesson here. I so appreciate your guidance.
Thank you so so much. You are my knitting fairy godparent. I am going to rip back but this is definitely a valuable lesson in several ways and before I unravel it I will study it further.
I will try it! Thank you again!