Several question (knitted stitches bunching; starting a skein ...)

#1

OK, I decided to give y’all one super-sized post with all my current questions.

Current WIP is a basic hat, on KP Harmony #9 needles, 40" cable, doing the Magic Loop. It’s going well… I’ve done 2.5" of the K1P1 ribbing (which I used #8 needles for) and about an inch of the body.

  1. When I knit, the stitches tend to all bunch up on the right-hand needle. Every 8-10 stitches I need to take a moment to “stretch” them and slide them down a bit to make room for more stitches. Is this normal? Should I consider making an effort to knit a bit looser? (The stitches are definitely snug, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem to slide them back & forth, and I don’t have problems getting the needles in and out when I change sides of the loop.)

  2. I’ve now reached the end of my current working yarn & I’m ready to start another skein (Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed Charcoal). Is there supposed to be an end to this stuff in the middle of the skein?? This is the third skein of this yarn for me, and for the first two it was just impossible to find it–I ended up ditching the wrapper and using the outside end to knit with.

  3. Is there a way to set a stitch marker for the beginning of a round when doing Magic Loop?

  4. How about a handy way to use a row counter? (You can’t just stick it on the needle… can you?)

Thanks!!

#2

i get bunching too with my needles as well, but I know I knit tightly. As for a row marker I use a small safety pin and just pin it into the first stich and then just let it hang there. And i put my row counter on a long piece of extra yarn and just let it hang off my neck.

#3

  1. Bunching happens a lot… it could be mean you are knitting to tightly or sometimes when I’m knitting the way I hold the right needle causes the sts to stop and then become bunched up…

  2. :teehee: There is one somewhere…I have a hard time with most plymouth yarns…some say try the opposite end that the other end came out of… some say if you put your finger in the skein and give a twist this will help you find the end… some say have the label where you can read it and that is the end you pull from…

  3. you can put a safety pin on the first stitch to mark it… I’ve put one on the needle and just had to watch that it wouldn’t slip off when I wasn’t paying attention…or you could place one in between the first and second stitch

4.I always just use paper and pencil… but I do know they have some that have a hangy thing for circs…they also have some that you set near you and click…

can’t wait to see the hat! :thumbsup:

#4

All good questions!

Yes, that “bunching” is totally fine. If you’re able to slide the stitches fairly easily and the whole magic loop thing is working, then you’re cool. I knit quite loosely and the fabric moves along as I knit, and still, every several stitches I slide the “bunch” down.

I really prefer soft little brightly colored plastic rings for markers. Clover makes them in various sizes. http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd32214 and http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd30094. In my experience, they work the best and most easily. You just place it between the last stitch of one round and the first stitch of the next.

For marking places in the fabric, I like the quasi-safety pins, and the points are soft and don’t split the yarn (or me:) )-- http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd32215 and http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd12012.

The stitch counter. Some people use pencil and paper and keep track that way, but for me, just clicking away is the fastest, on one of these http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd35772. But this kind, you are supposed to put on the needle: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd32009 and http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd31822, and this kind is even better I think, because it doesn’t drag on your needles the way the other 2 do: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2874&PRODID=prd31116

And finally, that annoying beginning of the skein thing. What I do, is if the center pull is readily obvious, then fine. But if not (and more often not), it’s just not worth going on a hunting expedition for it and messing up your skein. So I, too, take off the paper band and just start outside. It’s a little more of a pain to work that way because the skein will roll around every time you pull off more yarn, but whatryagonnado.

#5

PS-- I don’t particularly love Joann’s, it’s just that I know where to find those links on their site:) . You can get this stuff in most places that sell knitting supplies.

#6

I don’t use magic loop but some of the things I use on dpn would work for any type of knitting.

You could make a stitch marker and a row caounter together. And put it between the first and second stitch, that’s what I do.

To make it take some scrap yarn and a needle that’s a little bigger than your needle (like a 10 would work for this one).

Loop the yarn around the needle and tie a good tight square knot. Turn the needle over so the knot is down now and tie another one, making another loop.

Clear as mud? I hope it make sense… but I have found it’s the easiest way for me to keep track of the rows. With paper and pencil I forget to do it. But with this it’s right there and I don’t have to remember to do, I HAVE to do something with the marker to keep knittting.

And this was NOT my own idea, read it somewhere on the net, but I don’t know where now. It was a really funny blog, too. I wish I could find it…

#7

Thanks to all… I merged in the new skein last night, and totally failed to find the center pull! Oh, well, that’s the least of my worries at the moment.