Space b/t Stitches when changing from knit to purl

sweetgal4203@mac.com · 12-04-2007, 10:23 PM

Hi there! When I knit things with ribbing or cables, I always end up with "spaces" (large gaps of yarn) when transitioning from knit stitch to purl stitch. This always happens on the reverse side of the piece too because there I am also going from knit to purl. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks so much!
Stefanie

brittyknits · 12-05-2007, 03:38 AM

You're probably not doing anything really wrong-- just try tugging the yarn and making sure it's pretty tight when you go from a knit stitch to a purl stitch. If you knit in the round on dpns, that is also when that problem shows up-- and the same solution applies. By the way-- some yarn and needles are more slippery than others and so it's more of an issue then. But still, just tug and tighten and you should be okay.

Ingrid · 12-05-2007, 04:11 AM

When you go from the knit to the purl, purl the stitch through the back loop. On the other side, knit that stitch through the back loop to untwist it. It's supposed to use less yarn that way, and it minimizes the strand between the knit and purl.

yarnrainbow · 12-05-2007, 07:21 AM

Originally Posted by Ingrid

When you go from the knit to the purl, purl the stitch through the back loop. On the other side, knit that stitch through the back loop to untwist it. It's supposed to use less yarn that way, and it minimizes the strand between the knit and purl.

Does this trick work if you're knitting in the round (i.e., would you just always purl thru the back loop as you're never on the "other side" when you're knitting in the round)?

suzeeq · 12-05-2007, 04:18 PM

You can try that. That was the advice given to someone in another thread.

Ingrid · 12-05-2007, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by yarnrainbow

Does this trick work if you're knitting in the round (i.e., would you just always purl thru the back loop as you're never on the "other side" when you're knitting in the round)?

I was unsure of this myself, but I did it through the back loop on every purl--very uncooperative yarn--and it seems to work.

Jan in CA · 12-06-2007, 01:23 AM

I may have solved the problem. I wrapped the yarn clockwise around a twisted purl stitch. I'm going to make a sample with photos and blog it and share here when it's done. Soon....

sweetgal4203@mac.com · 12-06-2007, 02:27 AM

When I purl in the back of a stitch, (or knit in the back) the row below comes out twisted, but the new row is just fine. Maybe I'm missing something. Can you explain further how to do this? Or point me to another thread or website that might explain it? Thanks so much for helping, I think this just might help with my space problem.

Jan in CA · 12-06-2007, 04:01 AM

There is no other website that I'm aware of that has the answer to this problem.

I looked and finally figured it out on my own!

After the the last knit stitch you purl into the back of the first purl stitch and instead of wrapping the yarn the usual way (counter clockwise) you wrap the yarn clockwise. On ALL subsequent rows you purl the stitch as you normally would, even though it's twisted, and wrap the yarn clockwise. Wrapping clockwise uses less yarn and the twisted stitch also helps tighten it up.

I am so happy and proud of myself for figuring this out! I will get more photos and post it on my blog in the next few days.

suzeeq · 12-06-2007, 04:03 AM

What you do on the needles this row, shows up as the row below the needle. Stop in the middle of a row and look at the sts you've just done compared to the ones you haven't done. Don't drive yourself crazy over it, that's just how knitting works...