Spirals and Circles - yargh!

[2geekygirl]

I've been poking around trying to find out what I did wrong to no avail, so I'm hoping that you all can give me some advice.

I'm making a basic hat (stockinette, on circular needles) and had to rip out a row. After I did this I noticed something strange.
When I completed the row, I was a row higher on the right needle than I was on my left. Somewhere along the line I went from knitting concentric circles to knitting a continuous spiral.
Since the yarn is variegated, it is really difficult to trace each row around, so I threaded a piece of yarn through a few rows down and, yep, the rows still do not match up.

So my questions are:
(1) What am I looking for mistake-wise that could have caused this?
(2) Can I even it out without ripping it all out?

Thanks !!

[Jan in CA]

You didn't do anything wrong. When you knit in the round you ARE knitting in spirals. That's why when you do stripes you do the what is called a "jogless jog" so the stripes match up a little better.

So what you do is put a marker or use the tail to denote the beginning of the row and just rip back to that spot. It will look off, but it's the way it's supposed to be.

[2geekygirl]

You know, sometimes I love being a newbie because the answers to your "problems" are so easy - especially when there isn't really one lol !

Thank you so much Jan!! :D

[Jan in CA]

You know, sometimes I love being a newbie because the answers to your "problems" are so easy - especially when there isn't really one lol !

Thank you so much Jan!! :D

You're welcome!

[OffJumpsJack]

You know, sometimes I love being a newbie because the answers to your "problems" are so easy - especially when there isn't really one lol !

Thank you so much Jan!! :D

Yeah, Jan is good at answering those problems that really aren't problems.

She does a good job with the ones that are real problems too.

[Jan in CA]

Yeah, Jan is good at answering those problems that really aren't problems.

She does a good job with the ones that are real problems too.

Thanks Jack.

[pinktoque]

This was good info, thanks Jan You mentioned the jogless jog -- is that something I can read more about somewhere? I love doing hats but have always noticed that when doing stripes it looks kinda off -- (you explained why already in this thread, so helpful!) -- so now I'm wondering how to do a jogless jog so I can make my stripes line up better

[Mirl56]

Here's some jogless jog info:

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/200...s-stripes.html
http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/d...s-stripes.aspx

[Jan in CA]

This the method I usually use. I don't know that it's the best method, but it does work. Try all the methods on a circular swatch to see which you like best.
http://tiajudy.com/jog.htm

[OffJumpsJack]

Edited: Pay no attention to these babellings. I was apparently a little off my game yesterday.

I also started differently with Becker's magic cast on. So this isn't a tube but a pocket or toe. Think of a tube with a Kitchener (grafted) bottom.

The page that Jan linked to mentions a similar realization that I had. If at your first join you don't join but slip past and then continue to knit in your pattern, when you come back around the second row will join the first row. Use your CO tail to duplicate stitch the first row to close the join. Now each time you complete a row slip a stitch or two. You will have a short float at each end of round and if you slip from right to left on every odd numbered round you will bring the

Okay, I see I'm not explaining it very well. Give me a day to take pictures of my current project and perhaps I can get it clear in my mind before I try to explain it.

If your fist row doesn't jog, then none of the others rows will either even with color changes.

Yep, nearly all of it is rubbish. Yet it seemed so clear and lucid yesterday. Today I just have a splitting headache.