Length between stitches?!?!

[plastictoytruk]

So i'm working with this silkier yarn (it's my second scarf so maybe not the best idea...) and I keep getting length between my stitches (like when you pull a stitch off, i have a bunch of length between it and the next stitch on the other needle) so at the end it ends up with this little loop and i have no clue what i'm doing wrong because it hasn't done this to me before and i'm getting terribly tired of restarting every five minutes.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Ingrid]

Silk isn't stretchy, so that could be part of it. Maybe you need to knit on a smaller needle?

[Jacklad]

Just a theory - are you knitting the first row after casting on, and did you use a backwards loop cast on? If so, that could be the problem right there (same reason I won't use that cast on when casting on in the middle of a project - you always seem to end up with that extra length, no matter how snug you try to make it).

Switching to a long tail cast on, or even a cable cast on, would probably fix the problem if that's your situation.


If it's not, then smaller needles might help, so I'll second Ingrid.

Jackie

[Sunny_Singer]

I get a lot of excess between knit and purl in the same row when following a pattern. Have you a suggestion for eliminating some of that slack? Purling is new to me, so I am thinking at least part is just beginner error, but any help to avoid these "holes" would be appreciated.

[Ingrid]

I get a lot of excess between knit and purl in the same row when following a pattern. Have you a suggestion for eliminating some of that slack? Purling is new to me, so I am thinking at least part is just beginner error, but any help to avoid these "holes" would be appreciated.

Many people (including me, sometimes) get a long thread when going from a knit to a purl.

What I've found works well is to purl the stitch through the back loop on the one side. It twists the stitch, and I believe uses less yarn and avoids the stretch.

However, on the next row, you need to knit that stitch through the back loop to untwist it.

[plastictoytruk]

Just a theory - are you knitting the first row after casting on, and did you use a backwards loop cast on? If so, that could be the problem right there (same reason I won't use that cast on when casting on in the middle of a project - you always seem to end up with that extra length, no matter how snug you try to make it).

Switching to a long tail cast on, or even a cable cast on, would probably fix the problem if that's your situation.


If it's not, then smaller needles might help, so I'll second Ingrid.

Jackie

thanks, i'll try that, i've been using a slipnot then a double cast-on (i have no clue what any of this really means, i'm REALLY new to knitting) but i have that stitch n' b*tch book which seems to be helping me a lot. i'll look through and try the other type(s) of cast-ons, thank you,

hilary

[suzeeq]

If you're using the double/long tail CO, you maybe just need more practice at getting the stitches on evenly. Set aside the scarf, take some scrap yarn, and just practice casting on... over and over. See if that helps.