Why is my tube inside out?

#1

Hello all, I am a newbie knitter who picked up the knitting bug after falling in love with Peru, which led to falling in love with Alpacas, which led to finding alpaca yarn at a store and buying it for the sake that it was soft. Then, instead of just wrapping it around my arm, I went online learn how to knit it. Now instead of just making scarf after scarf after scarf, it’s my goal in life to learn mittens, and I have to say, I am totally stuck on how to use DPNs.

I understand how to divide the stitches, to join (kinda) and to knit in the round, but what I am finding is that my round tube is knit inside out. Which is fine if I’ve making a tube because I can just invert it, but why is it doing this? How can I NOT knit inside out? The patterns I’m following show them knitting right side out…

I’ve also noticed that I think I knit left handedish. I thought for ages that I was knitting continental, but then was told I was still throwing my yarn, only with my left hand…is this why my knitting is inside out?

I would appreciate any help! Thanks very very very much!!!

xx

#2

You’re probably knitting with the needle tips on the circle away from you. Just flip the tube inside out with the tips toward you. Do you knit the stiches off the left needle to an empty right needle, or the other way around?

#3

Thanks for getting back to me. I have no idea what it means to knit the needles farthest away…it seems like the only place to knit them. After dividing them on the needles, the working yarn is on my right, the end is on my left, and I have some in the middle, so upside down triangle. But the working yarn and my first cast on stitch is at the bottom of the triange, aka the needles clostest to me at the time, but in order to knit them I have to move my cast on stitches down the needle, then turn them so that what was the closed bottom of the triange is now facing my lap and the open ends are facing my face. This in effect I guess makes the needles that were close to me now far?

xx

#4

What Suzeeq is essentially saying is that you’re knitting it correctly. It’s just that the Right side of the work is facing the inside. It appears inside out, but it won’t be in the end. If it bothers you, you can ‘flip’ the tube so that the orientation of the knit stitches appear right side out. If you do this, you’ll see that the orientation of the needles to you and to each other will flip around, so that you’ll be knitting with the point of the triangle facing you instead of facing away from you as they are now. But the way you’re doing it isn’t wrong per se and won’t make much difference for now. If get to a place where you’re shaping the work, like decreasing for a hat or knitting a glove, then it will matter more.

#5

Ahhh, okay…so just keep doing it and try not to freak out and jump to any conclusions…

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens with my knitting as I follow the pattern for mittens…it’ll be a surprise!
xx

#6

For the mittens, once you get to where you’re increasing for the thumb gusset, it will start to matter. Particularly when you go to knit the thumb. The knit stitches will definitely have to face out for that. I suggest you go ahead and flip your mitten right side out.

#7

Leashie, I understand your question is, “Why is my tube inside-out and how can I get keep from doing it this way?” I believe it has to do with the way you joined your work right at the beginning. All the advice to turn your tube right side out is fine, but how can you avoid getting it wrong next time?

I have tried to understand how people who get the tube inside out to start with get started. On a knit-a-long under the able direction of ArtLady1981, she was leading us in making a sweater top in the round. At one point it became obvious that she was not doing her knitting in the standard way, although if you go to this post I give, you will see that she likes it that way and it works fine for her. :slight_smile: But it does cause issues once in a while, and did on the top, but she was an experienced enough knitter to know how to adapt what the pattern was saying, to what she actually needed to do working it her way. (There are quite a few posts over several pages where we hash this out)

Here is the link to the thread Go down to post #423. She is demonstating how she gets started so that it comes out with the right side on the inside. She is not really starting a project, but is trying to explain it from a knitted piece she was doing at the time. I noticed that she says she knits a round and then joins. I always join right after the cast on, but I think some people like to knit a row flat and then join so they don’t twist the work. It isn’t that that gets it going inside out, I don’t think. LOL It is pretty confusing for me to think of.

Anyway you could see if that has any similarity to what you are presently doing if you want to. I suggest you go to the video section of this site and watch how Amy Sheldon joins to knit in the round on circulars and double pointed needles. She does it so that the outside is on the outside of the tube. After watching her and trying a sample join, see if it comes out right, if not hollar and maybe we can help staighten you out, so to speak. :wink:

#8

Here’s some pictures that show where the needle tips you’re knitting with should be placed - http://community.knitpicks.com/notes/Knitting_in_the_Round
It may not matter until you get to doing the thumb gusset as Liz says, then you may want to flip it so the knit side is on the outside.

#9

I’m glad you found that. It’s so hard to explain what they should look like in words!

#10

Wow, thank you all so so so much! I don’t seem to have this problem on circulars, just dpns. And I think I have watched the video on this site 4,000 times…I tried it again today and think I did it correctly…or maybe I just confused myself and flipped the stitched rightside out after a few rows to trick myself into thinking that I did I right from the start. Anyway, I am a visual learner, so thank you SO much for the pics!
xx

#11

I knit inside-out with DPNs all the time. I knitted a sweater in the round and just did the whole thing inside out and flipped it when I was done.

It just doesn’t feel right to me to knit with the needles closest to me, so I am like you.

It will get tricky with those fingers though. I have never done gloves.

Good luck on figuring it out.