cables

[agelfon]

I am in the midst of knitting a sweater with a lot of cables in it. I find that my cables are somewhat lopsided--that is, on the beginning of the cable, my stitches look nice and tight but on the far side of the cable (where I switch from knit to purl) the knit stitches appear loose. Is there something I'm doing wrong and is there a way to remedy the problem so that all the stitches look uniformly neat? Thanks for help from anyone.

[Jan in CA]

No, you're not doing anything wrong. The "problem" is the switch from knit to purl and that's common even with ribbing. It may be fine once you've washed and blocked it, but there's a few things you can try.

When you do that first purl try wrapping the yarn under instead of over the needle. It twists the stitch making it tighter. Then on the back of the work when you get to that stitch you can knit it through the back loop to untwist it. This works if you're knitting flat. So if it's a cardigan you can try this.

If you're knitting a pullover in the round where you won't work on the back you can twist the stitch as I said before. Leave it twisted the twist really only shows on the back and since you are knitting in the round it'll never show. Read here where I posted on my blog about it. It's about ribbing, but you can see that it doesn't show really.
http://knittingandmore.blogspot.com/

[agelfon]

Thanks for your feedback. To clarify, do you mean to purl through the back on the first purl stitch? Thanks again.

[Jan in CA]

Thanks for your feedback. To clarify, do you mean to purl through the back on the first purl stitch? Thanks again.

No, I meant wrap the yarn the other way when you wrap your yarn to do the purl. Normally the yarn goes over the top of it, but this way means you bring it under. Look at the way you normally purl and bring the yarn the other way.

Also.. you could try purling through the back loop, but I find this works better and PBL is slower and more awkward.

[agelfon]

Thanks so much, Jan. I've tried it and I think it works!! By the way, I love the picture of your (?) kitty--We have two ourselves, plus one big dog. THANKS!!!

[Jan in CA]

Thanks so much, Jan. I've tried it and I think it works!! By the way, I love the picture of your (?) kitty--We have two ourselves, plus one big dog. THANKS!!!

Oh good, glad to help!

Thank you, she was the sweetest kitty. Being a Ragdoll she was so floppy and relaxed. I miss her. :/