knitting with ribbon

Hildegard_von_Knittin · 01-17-2005, 01:09 PM

Thanks to Amy's video of the drop stitch pattern, I have made a few big chunky scarves with the drop stitch. I saw some really cool rainbow ribbon in the LYS and, of course, thought it would be *perfect* for the drop stitch. My problem is the ribbon keeps twisting on me, and folding over itself, so instead of a nice flat wide ribbony rainbow, I have a skinny twisty stringy rainbow. Any ideas?

Anne · 01-17-2005, 08:29 PM

Great question. I have wanted to knit a throw that calls for ribbon. The reason i have not made it is i was afraid the ribbon would twist. Hope someone can answer your question.

Hildegard, what size needles did you use to make your chunky scarfs?

yellowness · 01-18-2005, 04:06 PM

I read somewhere that when knitting ribbon, one should knit extra loose... that it will not seem to look right when you are making the stitches, but will work out by the end of the row. Let me know if something works, cause it seems interesting.

amy · 01-18-2005, 04:53 PM

It's probably twisting because of the way it's being pulled off the ball. If you pierce the ball through a central post, and pull it out from the side, so that the ball itself turns, then the ribbon won't get twisted. A nice portable tool for this is the "Knitty Walker," which is a bracelet that suspends the ball from the wrist (I'm using one on the front page of this site, although it's hard to see it). The ball holder pivots and turns, free from the bracelet, so it works great. I have a close up picture of it on this thread: What are your favorite knitting accessories?

Amy

Anne · 01-18-2005, 05:32 PM

Hildegard, This is the reply i received from a friend i correspond with..

Hi Anne - I've knit quite a few ladies tops with ribbon and, unfortunately, it does twist, but I found when the garment was finished you don't really notice the twisting of the ribbon, in fact, it looks very attractive. Hope this helps. Rgds - Kathryn

Hildegard_von_Knittin · 01-19-2005, 03:41 AM

I tried putting the ribbon spool on a spindle-type apparatus and my cats went CRAZY and I ended up with a mess! It was funny though. I'm going to try to knit extra loose and see if that helps, otherwise I'll just deal with the twists and let it go. *accepting reality*
Anne, I used lion brand jiffy thick and quick to knit up some fast easy chunky scarves for Christmas presents on size 17 needles; they went super fast, and were a great mindless distraction from other bigger UFOs i have going...