I just started knitting this weekend and am making a scarf. The pattern calls for 4 rows garter, 8 rows St. Then repeated many times. The problem is, when I start the St and purl the first row, it starts to feel tight. By the time I finish the next knit and start the next purl, I can’t move the needles anymore! I don’t think I’m pulling the yarn tight, so I’m not sure what’s happening. I’ve unraveled and started again about 5 times, same thing each time…any advice?? Thanks!!
So tight by 6th row I can't move needles
Have you watched Amy’s videos here??? They are great, and should give you a good idea of whether you are actually doing something incorrect, or if you are just knitting tighter than you think you are.
Good luck.
I agree. Check out the videos or a book source to make sure you’re doing your stitches correctly and not twisting them. Also, don’t pull the yarn tight after each stitch. Let it develop it’s own tension.
THERE it is…i was looking all over for this article yesterday Julie! i was pretty sure i had found it in Knitty but couldn’t for the life of me remember what it was called! 
Julie,
It sounds like you do the exact same thing I did when I first started… chances are you (subconciously) pull the yarn after completing your stitch. I still tend to be a tight knitter… (on my last project my needles were 2 full sizes bigger than the yarn recommendation) but it took me forcing myself to really analyze what I was doing and then conciously working on not pulling the yarn after completing a stitch. I had been pulling it without even realizing what i was doing. This is a very common issue among new knitters. My only suggestion, slow it down, and actually take note of what you are doing. Only then can you fix it.
I am wondering, though, whether tight knitting is the only problem. I think you’d have problems before the 6th row if your knitting was really that tight. Do you find that you are tense, or relaxed, when knitting?
WOW, I thought that I was a tight knitter until I read that article!! I guess that I am not, I’ve never done the extra tug or needed to buy extra yarn to complete my project…I would NOT like that!! But, my gauge is always tighter than that ‘recommended’ on the label and/or pattern…but I never change needle sizes, rather recalculate the pattern bc I like the look of the st that I’m knitting! Goodness, I would imagine if you knit so tightly that you have to buy extra yarn…that your hands HURT :crying: a great deal!
I will look tonight and evaluate if I’m pulling the yarn. When I bought my supplies, the craft store did not have the right size needle (10), so I had to buy a 13. Should that make a difference?
I also wonder if my problem is the “purl” stitch-I will look at the video for that! Thanks, Julie
It’s quite possible that you’re purling through the back loop. I recently showed someone at work how to knit (or she showed me how she was knitting) and she was purling wrong. Her work was very tight.
Ingrid,
Please explain more about purling through the “back loop”-I think I may be doing that…
When you purl, your yarn is in front and you needle should go in through the front ‘leg’ of the loop from right to left. You bring your yarn up over the top of the needle, counter-clockwise and then pull it through the loop away from you.
http://www.stitchguide.com/stitches/knitting/stitch_pages/kn_purl.html
If you’re purling through the back loop, you’re bringing your right needle around to the back of the left needle and inserting your right needle into the back loop from left to right. This IS a real stitch, just not one that you do across the row.
I am making a conscious effort to make sure I don’t give that tug…either deliberate or subtle. The denises are a bit more glidey now after making conscious attempts at watching and after shorting my cord…
This is such a great site!
I know I had this problem. My knitting was fine. I purled very tight mostly because I was holding the yarn very tight. My garter stitch was the BOMB. But my stockinette was very tight. I loosened up once I felt absolutely comfortable with purling. Another problem I had was that silly loop at the end of my knit row so I would purl the first stitch extra tight then subconsciously keep that extra tension through to the end of that row. But I started slipping that first stitch.