Hi
I have just started knitting recently and am mostly teaching myself. I;ve got the knit and purl stitches down. I can do the stockingette stitch and cast on and all. But I seem to keep adding on stitches inadvertantly. I'll cast on 24 stitches, stay at 24 for a while then for some reason I keep picking up stitches and before I know it I have 30 or 32. And they always seem to add on to the same side and only one side...the other side looks fine.

What am I doing wrong? How can I figure this out?

what is the pattern you are knitting?

I'm just doing a stockingette stitch in a square. I'm just practicing and trying to keep a consistant # of stitches

You're not alone. . . .

http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32886

Did you look at the sticky thread - Mysterious extra stiches? (http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32886)

The most common reasons are: taking the yarn over the top of the needle when starting a row, which pulls up the first st and the 2 legs of it look like 2 sts. Hold the yarn out to the side when you start a row. Another happens if you're doing knits and purl on the same row and you move the yarn over the needle instead of between the tips. And sometimes you don't finish pulling the st you knit into off the left needle.

edit - Ingrid was faster than me, probably because she typed a shorter reply....

Thank you!

This has happened to me too as a new knitter and I learned to keep counting stiches when my 'scarf' became a bit triangular. I have learned just to pay attention when putting the yarn between the needels and not getting over confident!