Friend who has been knitting for YEARS...said that she knits in a different tension with purl than knit stitch. (that I get)

But then to make up for that difference, she uses 2 different needle sizes when knitting. Say 5 for the purl, and 7 for the knit.

She said that you can tell if you do this by turning your work inside out,(so you see the purl side) tug a bit at the pattern so the rows separate a bit, and if you get two rows together, then you are in fact getting your tension wonky.

We were working with worsted weight yarn so any tension issues were really apparent.

Now...my ?? does this REALLY REALLY matter in the whole scheme of things?

I'm about to tackle a cable knit sweater in the near future..no real plans...but if this is an issue, I'd like to get it worked out before...if it isn't, then I just won't worry about.

I certainly wouldn't start out worrying about it. If in the future you find that you have a lot of trouble getting proper gauge, maybe. There's so much to learn initially, why make it even more complicated. I have never even considered that my tension is different front and back.

My motto is--if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Same with this--wait and see if you have an issue rather than trying to prevent it somehow.

SOME of my stiches are goofy....but that adds to the character of the uniqueness of the project...lol....but really, not that I REALLY care. I seldom work with worsted, but if it is a gift, and it isn't "right"....

but thanks for the confidence...I haven't REALLY knit anything where guage was all that important. But every time I do check, it is fairly close, if not right on with the guage chart thingy.

Everyone gets a wonky stitch once in a while--it IS handmade, after all.