I had this prob before. I have 4 stitch max for floaters. Only 1/4 of the way done, so I wouldn’t switch to DPNs anyhow. How do you make it so it’s easier to knit. My hands are starting to hurt from pulling the (tight) stitches over.
Untwisting fair isle hat on circ needles
The stitches in fair isle shouldn’t be anymore difficult than knitting a plain stockinette hat. Which stitches are tight?
The whole work is twisting on itself. The tension is high, it feels. (the pic was a failed attempt to show that the work is wrapping on itself)
Can you straighten out the hat to get rid of the twist or was this hat twisted from the beginning? I can see the twist but I can’t tell if it can be straightened out into a tube. If the twist happened when you joined in the round, you won’t be able to recover. The hat should look lik an continuous, open tube.
If the sts are tight because of the floats, the knitting will pucker. Try to stretch out the sts and floats on the right hand needle as you are doing them.
Ya, it was easier to knit when it was starting-off and was only one color. A couple of rows after I introduced white, it started to bunch. I think it has to do w the floaters, but I thght 4 stitches would be fine.
Almost getting to a portion in the pattern where it will be a solid color. Once this happens, should I discontinue both so I can unfold, or should I just continue with one color and hope it untangle itself?
Is Ingrid on here still btw?
Yes, Ingrid is here. I think your floats are too long. Try doing what it shows in this video. It seems like 4 should be fine, but you might be pulling them too tight. I usually don’t have longer than 3 stitch floats.
http://www.philosopherswool.com/Pages/Twohandedvideo.htm
Like this hat I did. -
http://forum.knittinghelp.com/t/fo-mri-hat?t=106930
Present and accounted for!
Are you having a problem at the needle join? That’s where I’ve seen ‘tightness’ of the contrasting color stitches. The only real solution is to change your needles to something with a better join–knitpicks and addis are my first choices because of the joins. I recall having a hair-pulling time on different needles when I first got back into knitting.
That’s actually the only thing that I see that would really make the cc stitches tight.:think:
So, you’re suggesting I get a better pair of circ needles (they are metal, and connected with plastic…but I’m wondering why it would make the work twist on itself).
If it’s really twisted, then there’s no fixing it. You’ll have to start over or, if you really are committed to what you have so far, you [I]could[/I] steek it, but then you’d be left with a seam.
We’ve all done this at least once, so chalk it up to a lesson learned.
My comment about the needles was more to do with your stitches being hard to slide on the needles. A twisted hat wouldn’t be any harder to knit, except for the yarn twisting around the work as the hat twists around the needle. (Don’t ask me how I know.):teehee:
The twist often happens when your cast on is twisted and you maintain the twist as you join to knit in the round. Watch the video for large diameter circular knitting to see how to check the sts to make sure they are all aligned before joining. That will prevent the twist. See also Shandeh’s video.