help needed lol

[lovelylilkatie]

Hey fellow knitters. I just picked knitting up and I'm having trouble with how tight I knit. I think I may need to knit looser but I don't know how, any suggestions?

[Mike]

Xanax

However you're holding the yarn take fewer wraps.

For me to crochet I have to take no wraps at all and just like it glide through as it wants.

[suzeeq]

Some people who knit tight tug the yarn after every stitch so if you're doing that, don't; making the next st tightens up the previous one. If you wrap the yarn around a finger, either wrap less or don't wrap. Check youtube for knittingvideos to see how different knitters hold their yarn, one of them may work for you.

[EmeraldSpider]

practice is my best answer. I use to knit super tight so I got some cheap but sturdy beginning yarn and knitted about 20 or so swatches and after getting use to the motion I loosened up. I also practiced holding the yarn in different ways. I am a right handed person but I use the German style of holding the yarn, I believe it is called continental. It is much easier for me to control my tension that way.

[Julia C]

I think one of the best things to do if you are new to knitting and knit tightly is to try larger needles. As you knit more and more you will find your groove. You will likely find after awhile you can go down in needle size. I was the opposite and when I started I knitted very loosely and usually had to go down two needle sizes. Now I am usually at the needle size or down one in a pattern. I agree with the less yarn wraps around the finger(s). I had to wrap around more fingers when I was knitting looser and now just wrap around my pinky.

[rsnowdin15]

I have several problems that are causing me to mess up on my knitting. I'm a beginner for one thing, and I really don't know what I'm doing. Secondly, I have a deadline. I have to knit this scarf by next May, and that sounds like a long time, but I still haven't gotten anything done. Thirdly, my stitches are too tight, and I don't really know how to loosen them up. I don't want holes in my project. And lastly, I cannot find anyone to tell me how to switch rows. I get one row done, and then mess up on switching to the second one. Everyone says something about looping it and all that, and no one can tell me in depth how to do it. Then I get frustrated and quit. I know if I got the hang of it, I'd be able to do it, and what size needles might I need. I bought 8, because that's what everyone was using in the tutorials, but I might have the wrong ones. Can anyone help?

[suzeeq]

There's a video on the Tips page called Demo of a small project. That shows casting on, working a few rows in stockinette and binding off. That may help you see how to turn and start a new row.

The needle size depends on your yarn thickness. I find 8s too small except for really thin yarn though most people use them for medium weight yarn. If you have a fairly thick one, those will be way too small. So what yarn do you have, what's it's brand and name?

[rsnowdin15]

I'm not sure what size yarn I have, but it says it's medium. The wrap on it says Caron Simply Soft yarn, and the other color I plan to use is Red Heart super saver, and it also says medium. The reason I bought 8 is because that's what it says on the wrap, but I could be misreading it. I am very new to knitting. My cousin needs the scarf for a school play, so the deadline is really stressing me out. I planned on getting the same brand yarn, but I somehow ended up with two different brands. Thanks for the video. I'll check it out in a little while and let you know if it helped.

[Mike]

I don't think you'll want to mix Super Saver and Simply Soft unless very soft areas coupled with fairly hard areas is the effect you're going after. They're also not really the same size (at least not always, some Super Savers are pretty thin, for that matter not all Super Savers in the same color are the same size).

8's are what I usually use for Simply Soft. I don't think I've knitted Super Saver, I use that for crochet.

Since you say you can't manage to turn and do the second row your stitches probably aren't too tight. That's the cast on edge. I don't know what cast on you're using but cast on around both needles (since you only have one size), that will loosen up your cast on edge, it is common to cast onto larger needles than you're going to be knitting with. But it will still be tight, things loosen up a couple rows in.

As far as turning, you just flip the piece over and start knitting the other way. That loose stitch you get at the end of the row goes away with practice. The odds of picking up knitting and being an instant expert are slim, it takes practice.

[rsnowdin15]

Thanks. I might just practice for a while and see if I can buy a scarf for the play. I'm not sure why I said I would do it. That's usually a mother's job. Anyway, I appreciate all the help. Y'all have been great.