Double Pointed Needle Problem

[JanetJo]

I recently completed a lacecap from knitty.com
It is beautiful, but my version has "seems" between each of the dp needles. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong?

I tend to have a "loose" hand. How can I avoid this in the future?

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

This is the link to the pattern:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/PATTlacecap.html

[sfmichael]

This is not an uncommon issue with dpn's. It has nothing to do with you, but the fact that the needles are not connected creates a little continuous pull between the stitches at the ends of each needle which creates these little ladders.

I usually get around this problem by kntting 2-3 additional stitches from the following needle -- that is when I reach the end of one needle rather than using the now empty needle to start knitting from the next needle, I knit a few more stitches with the recently filled needle -- this makes the point between needles migrate a few stitches.

The good part of this is that you avoid the ladders. The bad part is if you are following a pattern that uses the number of stitches on the needle to inform you of pattern changes (socks are a good example) you will have to use markers instead to keep track of the sections.

This threadalso has additional suggestions.

[clarkeee]

I agree with the previous post, but have never tried this method. For me, I have just tried to give the first and last stitches on my DPNs a bit of extra pull. But sometimes this can disrupt the "flow" of my knitting.

You might also try using circular needles if the hat is wide enough. When it's at its most narrow, try magic loop or using 2 circular needles.