Would casting on with a bigger needle help this?

#1

I got help knitting this weekend from my SIL, and it helped a great deal, but I noticed my knitting gets really tight if I cast on myself and do the first few rows, but when I worked on something SIL started, I did fine and it didn’t get tight.

Should I cast on with bigger needles? would that jelp? And do I just do the cast on with the big needles and then switch to the right size? I am a tight and nervous new kntter… LOL

#2

That’s a great idea. You can cast on with a bigger needle, or hold your two needles parallel and cast on to both at the same time, then slide one out when you’re ready to knit.

#3

Thanks Ingrid. :slight_smile: I got my Addi’s from ebay today and I must say for this fuzzy yarn they are just wonderful… my plastic ones were snagging the yarn but these aren’t AT ALL. No wonder everyone loves them… Anyway, I’m off to try casting on with them held together :smiley:

#4

It seemed to help, but I think that homespun yarn is just a pain in the butt. :frowning: I was wanting to make her that toddler poncho but I am going mad with the fizzy yarn. I knit much better with worsted weight yarn… the cheap stuff. I want to make her a nice pretty poncho… with soft yarn that is not as annoying as that darned homespun yarn… anyway that is a whole other post.

#5

Homespun can be a real PITA. I’m knitting a sweatercoat in it {pattern from an issue of Knit.1}. My best tip for knitting with this stuff is to have a needle with a tip that’s more blunt rather than pointy. A pointy tip seems to catch the loops of the yarn a lot more than a blunt tip. Metal tips are more slippery, but I don’t have any other materials in needles that size to be able to say whether or not bamboo might be a better choice.

#6

I call it Homeshun! :wink:

#7

I have worked with the homespun alot. Mostly because it is cheap and pretty. But it is the very yarn that made me think that beginers (like myself) should not use nappy yarn. In any case I find I do best with a circ needle with the homespun. Even if I am knitting flat. And because I tend to knit tightly - it works best for me to use a metal needle.
The reasoning with the circ needle is that I have more room to let the stitches fan out a bit - its easier to see what I am doing and to correct mistakes faster.
Having said all that I am currently knitting a cardigan with the homespun (on circs) but the yarn is so knobby that I did not realize I had switched my knit / purls until I had knit about 1/3 the back. I am leaving it and calling it a design feature! :smiley:

#8

So glad it’s not just me with this homespun yarn! I love the feel of it, and it was cheap… but it’s a pain to knit with for me (a beginner). I’m knitting just fine with my worsted weight yarn, so I may just look for someting in a WW weight for this poncho because this homespun ios making me insane!