I need help with RIBBING.

[AppleBlossom]

For some reason, I have never been able to do ribbing correctly. At first, my problem was forgetting to bring the yarn to the front when purling and to the back when knitting... but I still can't do ribbing! It just looks like a slightly lumpy garter stitch! Any mistakes I might be making that I haven't caught on to yet? Thanks :D

[Ingrid]

Your best bet is to learn to 'read' your knitting, so you can knit the knit stitches and purl the purls (as they face you.)

If you are working a k1,p1 ribbing, and you cast on an even number of stitches, then you'll always work k1,p1 on each row.



This is a picture that Jan has posted numerous times to help with recognizing your stitches.

[AppleBlossom]

Ohh, thanks. That'll help.

But, also, my ribbing isn't very... stretchy. It just doesn't look the way it's supposed to. Is it just me, or is something wrong?

[Ingrid]

It's hard to say without seeing it. But ribbing really doesn't show up well until you've done several rows. The first few just don't look as nice as they will later on, plus you need some amount of fabric to show the stretch.

If you can post a pic, we can see what's up.

Your yarn and needle size will affect stretchiness, too.

[AppleBlossom]

I'd show you a picture, but I was so upset with my attempts that I frogged it all... Oops. Thanks for your advice, though. I'll just try it again and won't give up this time

[suzeeq]

Yep, next time give it at least 6-8 rows; that's about how long it takes to turn into ribbing.