Stitches to use?

I’m new to knitting and am designing and making an afghan for my daughter. It will be individual blocks consisting of a turtle on a solid color background. I’ve crocheted for years so working from a chart and changing colors shouldn’t be a problem. However, this thing is going to be huge and I’m worried about it stretching out of shape due to its own weight. Can anyone suggest any stitches that will produce a fabric that doesn’t have a lot of stretch to it?

Thanks for your help!

KJ

Well, knitting just naturally stretches. A smaller needle might help, but it will also make the fabric more dense and less soft… :think: That said, there are a lot of afghan patterns and I haven’t really heard of that being a problem.

Also… In case you aren’t sure …you’ll use intarsia to do the turtles if you aren’t adding them after with duplicate stitch.

I’ve made some pretty large blankets, and stretching has never been a problem. If you were making a large wall hanging, then gravity could get in the way, but with a blanket, I really don’t think it would be an issue.

I agree. I’ve made a couple of afghans and even though they’re rather soft and see frequent use, they haven’t stretched out of shape.

You’ll most likely (if you’re wise) use borders to keep your stockinette stitch from rolling. Borders keep things from stretching, too. This is because different stitch patterns stretch different ways, so when you combine them, it keeps stretching to a minimum. A border around the entire blanket will help, but I would think that borders around individual squares in conjunction with a border around the blanket would be even better.

Some common border stitches include garter stitch, seed stitch, and moss stitch. Seed stitch and moss stitch are very similar looking, but I find seed stitch easier since you don’t have to keep track of rows. I suppose you could also use some form of ribbing for a border, but that might give your afghan more of a sweater feel. If you’re not familiar with the above mentioned stitches, you can search for them online and see what they look like and how to do them.

I admire your ability to tackle such a large project. Here’s wishing you tons of inspiration to carry you through, and I hope you’ll show us not only your completed project, but also some of your progress along the way.

Thanks, everyone! :slight_smile: