What the heck?

[Yvonne]

I bought one lonely skein of Lion Brand Microspun to see if I liked it. I made a stockinette swatch with it, and a weird thing is happening. On every stitch, the left side of the "V" is totally vertical while the right side of the "V" is.......well, V-shaped like it ought to be. I don't get it. It's happening on both the knit rows and the purl rows, it doesn't seem to matter.
I've been knitting for over 30 years and this has never happened before. Has anybody else tried this yarn and gotten similar results? What causes it?

[ekgheiy]

Got me ...
I've never worked with it.

[beldaraan]

This was a question that I was going to ask!!!! I've seen this in knitting before. I also have microspun. I will find some pics. BRB!!!

[beldaraan]

Ok, here is a practice swatch in stockinette. I've seen this on other knitted projects. You can see it on page 51 in Stitch 'N Bitch as an example.

[Sara]

That is exactly what I was posting for help with a few days ago. I just couldn't get a picture posted to show it. My first project (in 2003) was microspun and it did EXACTLY what Beldie's pic shows! I'm not alone! Unfortunately, I'm seeing this twist in other things I've done. It isn't as noticeable with heavier yarn, but my merino sock yarn has a vicious little twist in it, too. My LYS says that my knitting technique is great, she thought maybe it's a question of tension. Yvonne, can you do a test to see if you do this with other yarn? I would really like to know what the heck is happening with my yarn. It occurs in both English and Continental. I think I'm going to call the Schoolhouse Press people and ask for help. (Elizabeth Zimmermann's posse) It will take me a couple days to get to this, but I'll let you know what I find out. UNbelievable! This forum is GREAT!

[Kiri]

You could try adjusting the bias...

er... take hold of it on opposite corners (diagonal - i.e. top left, bottom right) and shift it (move hands in opposite direction, and then back the other way. Like adjutsing bias in a woven fabric.

[Yvonne]

No, in all my years of knitting I haven't had any yarn behave this way.
It's downright weird.
It looks exactly like Beldie's photo. What does the S'n'B book say is the problem, anyway?
I frogged it, rolled the skein into a ball and started with the other end of the yarn, thinking it was the twist of the yarn, but got the same results.
Pulling it bias-wise does help, but only temporarily.

[MommaBear]

I bought one lonely skein of Lion Brand Microspun to see if I liked it. I made a stockinette swatch with it, and a weird thing is happening. On every stitch, the left side of the "V" is totally vertical while the right side of the "V" is.......well, V-shaped like it ought to be. I don't get it. It's happening on both the knit rows and the purl rows, it doesn't seem to matter.

I've used microspun and haven't gotten those results myself! I have, however, only knitted holding two strands at a time and on larger needles.
Sorry that I can't really help too much. But I hope someone can help you troubleshoot!

[Flappy]

Look at the stockinette stitches in the closeup below... I think I see a similar pattern in this hat I just completed.

Actually, I'm holding it in my hands right now, staring at it. I definitely see a similar pattern. The top-left-to-bottom-right stitch sides are forming vertical lines. It's most pronounced at the bottom, in the knit part of the ribbing, but the lines continue all the way up.

[Flappy]

I keep checking back on this thread to see if there are any updates, because I've noticed this problem in a few of my completed projects. I'm still a newbie, so I suspect the problem might be with my technique instead of a yarn.

Here's a closeup shot of some stitches in a different yarn from my blue hat above. There's clearly a problem here-- those aren't V's!

What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?