I think I am knitting wrong

[unicorndragon]

Ok, so I think I am totally doing this knitting wrong. I am a lefty and have been trying to learn to knit for the past, oh, 8 years. Only thing is all the books I find are for right hand knitters and so I tried doing the reverse since I am a lefty.

 

Well....my V for when I alternate rows of knit and purl look funny. For one they are not even, one side of the V is always longer than the other. And they look jagged. I would post a picture, but I am having difficulties with uploading.

 

But does my problem sound familiar to anyone? If some one could help me I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks in advance.

[DesertCrocheter]

First off, there's no wrong way to knit, regardless of what people tell you. Making stitches certain ways will produce certain looks or twists, but if you're aware of them (or even if you're not and just like the finished product), who cares? If you can read your stitches, and you're on your way, as you're paying attention to them and see this difference, you can knit anything you want, any way you want.

 

Now, to your problem:

 

Could it be a tension problem? Are you uncosciously tightening the yarn after make the stitch, which might pull one side of the stitch together (so the other side would look looser)?

[unicorndragon]

I have been watching how I tight I hold the yarn, but my tension could be the issue. But I still feel like I am doing something wrong.

[magiccrochetfan]

Does it look like the photos here http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/FEATwhyply.html

Of singles or multi ply yarns?

[Becky Morgan]

Is it possible that you're going around the needle the wrong way? I did that for several years before I caught on. Next time you're messing with yarn (as opposed to finishing something you have started), cast on a few stitches and deliberately go around the opposite of what you've been doing and see if that solves the problem.

[unicorndragon]

Ok, here is a sample I just did to show you what I mean...I hope you all can see it well enough...if not let me know and I will see if I can get a better shot.

[unicorndragon]

I work my stitches from the right needle to the left needle

[magiccrochetfan]

Some of your stitches look twisted to me. To avoid twisting, always work into the leg of the stitch that is closest to the point of the needle.

 

How are you holding the working yarn, in right or left hand?

[unicorndragon]

I hold it in my left hand and wrap it around my left pinky so that I can control my tension better. What do you mean by the leg of the stitch?

[magiccrochetfan]

Each stitch on the needle is like an upside down U, or you could say it is like a staple. One leg is in front of the needle and one is behind it. One is also closer to the point of the needle and one is farther from the point.

 

I feel like i can't communicate it well at in words, let me find an illustration if i can.

[magiccrochetfan]

Ok this has clear pics and discussion of stitch mount, twisted and untwisted stitches. http://abundantyarn.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/ways-of-knitting-part-1-introduction-to-stitch-mount/

See if that helps you at all:)

[magiccrochetfan]

Don't mean to throw a bunch of questions at you at once....But since you are holding the working yarn in your left hand, have you tried Continental style? It works well for a lot of people who learned crochet first.

 

 

Here is a short clear video for the knit stitch in Continental http://www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/the-knit-stitch-continental-continental

[Aggie May]

Ok, here is a sample I just did to show you what I mean...I hope you all can see it well enough...if not let me know and I will see if I can get a better shot.

 

:cheerRegardless of which direction you knit, you need to pass the yarn in the correct direction and knit into the correct side of the stitches or you will get twisted stitches, as you have,

When you pass the yarn around the needle, it should go under the needle then up between before you knit it off onto the other needle.

If you go over the top of the needle, between then under, you will have your stitch twisted unless you work into the back of the stitches on the next row.

If you pass the yarn correctly but work into the back of the stitches, you will also get twisted stitches.

Let us know how you get on trying different methods.

Have fun.

Colleen.

PS, Also forgot to ask if you knit Continental or English.

[magiccrochetfan]

If you pass the yarn correctly but work into the back of the stitches, you will also get twisted stitches.

 

If the back leg (leg behind the needle) is the leg closest to the tip of needle, then you will not cause a twisted stitch by working into the back leg.

[CraftyZone]

You tube has lots of easy video's for left handed knitters this may help you some. Even though I been knitting for more than 50 plus years I am always hopping over to learn something new to try. Nice part you can rewind video over and over again until your comfortable doing the stitches and patterns. I find it easier than books sometimes.

[unicorndragon]

I believe I have figured it out...with you help and youtube, I found that I have been doing the knit stitch wrong....I was going through the leg behind the need when I should have been going through the one in front that is closest to me! I had the purl stitch correct though cause I checked when I found I was doing the knit wrong.

Kinda feel stupid now...lol...but when I first started knitting I couldn't find videos or books that taught for a lefty verses a right...

 

Thanks so much for you help Kathy.

 

Virginia

[magiccrochetfan]

You're welcome, glad you got it worked out!

[DesertCrocheter]

I'm glad you've figure it out and feel comfortable with what you are doing. Hooray!

 

Now don't let this confuse you, but what you describe in your post is exactly how I knit. I knit continental combined, and I always knit through the leg at the back of the needle and purl through the front leg. It's just a different technique.

 

Yes, I know, it makes a twisted stitch, but millions of women in eastern Europe have been knitting this way for generations, it's not wrong (despite the people who insist on telling me I am knitting wrong, I'm not; I'm just knitting differently then them, the same way my Polish mother and grandmother, who taught me, knit). There's also eastern crossed, and several other knitting methods.

 

Here's my latest knit blanket: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=130642&page=17, post 162, where I knit a pattern written in English style with my continental combined style, and it looks exactly the same as the pattern photo.

 

There are times when having twisted stitches will affect the outcome of your finished item, but you needn't worry about that now. You can learn that later. Just make yourself some awesome scarves and shawls to practice your newly learned skill!

 

That's what makes knitting harder, I think--there are all different ways done by people in different parts of the globe, and the Internet has confused a lot of people who thought their way was the only way, and the right way. But thanks to the Internet, new knitters can find the style that works best for them. It's all good!

 

I believe I have figured it out...with you help and youtube, I found that I have been doing the knit stitch wrong....I was going through the leg behind the need when I should have been going through the one in front that is closest to me! I had the purl stitch correct though cause I checked when I found I was doing the knit wrong.

Kinda feel stupid now...lol...but when I first started knitting I couldn't find videos or books that taught for a lefty verses a right...

 

Thanks so much for you help Kathy.

 

Virginia

[Flia]

Here's a left hand instruction

[unicorndragon]

DesertCrocheter, I saw your blanket. Its beautiful. Not sure if I will ever be able to create something like that. I have tried to do cables before, but have always messed them up in the past. Maybe now that I know why my stitches looked funny I will be more successful when I try again. I do wish I knew someone locally that I could sit down with to learn better with, but now I have all of you to help me too.

 

Thank you so much.

 

I'm glad you've figure it out and feel comfortable with what you are doing. Hooray!

 

Now don't let this confuse you, but what you describe in your post is exactly how I knit. I knit continental combined, and I always knit through the leg at the back of the needle and purl through the front leg. It's just a different technique.

 

Yes, I know, it makes a twisted stitch, but millions of women in eastern Europe have been knitting this way for generations, it's not wrong (despite the people who insist on telling me I am knitting wrong, I'm not; I'm just knitting differently then them, the same way my Polish mother and grandmother, who taught me, knit). There's also eastern crossed, and several other knitting methods.

 

Here's my latest knit blanket: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=130642&page=17, post 162, where I knit a pattern written in English style with my continental combined style, and it looks exactly the same as the pattern photo.

 

There are times when having twisted stitches will affect the outcome of your finished item, but you needn't worry about that now. You can learn that later. Just make yourself some awesome scarves and shawls to practice your newly learned skill!

 

That's what makes knitting harder, I think--there are all different ways done by people in different parts of the globe, and the Internet has confused a lot of people who thought their way was the only way, and the right way. But thanks to the Internet, new knitters can find the style that works best for them. It's all good!

[magiccrochetfan]

I always knit through the leg at the back of the needle and purl through the front leg. It's just a different technique.

 

Yes, I know, it makes a twisted stitch, but millions of women in eastern Europe have been knitting this way for generations, it's not wrong (despite the people who insist on telling me I am knitting wrong, I'm not; I'm just knitting differently then them, the same way my Polish mother and grandmother, who taught me, knit). There's also eastern crossed, and several other knitting methods.

 

Here's my latest knit blanket: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=130642&page=17, post 162, where I knit a pattern written in English style with my continental combined style, and it looks exactly the same as the pattern photo.

 

 

Are you saying that your stitches are twisted when finished? Or that you make them differently than some techniques, but the final product is untwisted? Because from what I can see in the photo it doesn't look like twisted sts to me, but maybe I just can't see it. I knit combination style too and my sts are not twisted.

 

My attitude is that no st is twisted until it is worked...the orientation of the st on the needle before it is worked is immaterial, I just always work into the leg closest to ndl tip. (I don't even think about front or back of ndl anymore....actually not sure I ever did...I think when I read instructions at first i interpreted front to mean closest to the ndl tip, like it was at the front of the line ready to be knitted or something:lol)

[DesertCrocheter]

Sure you will! Cables look hard, but they're not. Now, not having any interest in cables is another thing. I think socks are beautiful and have no desire to ever knit a pair. And intarsia scares me but I'm working up to tackling next year.

 

I spent a lot of time making Warm Up America squares to teach myself how to knit English style for some patterns where twisting was an issue. And knitting my regular way wasn't working. English style just felt wrong to me, but I kept that knittinghelp video on loop and somehow got through it. But, once you have the basics down, and you do now (hooray!), when you want to try something new, you have loads of Internet videos and us here to help you.

 

Patty

[unicorndragon]

magiccrochetfan - after examining how I was knitting versus how I was suppose to be doing it, yes I was twisting my stitches. When I had my work in front of me I was going through the back of the stitch to work my next stitch (side furthest away from me) instead of going through the front of the stitch (side closest to me). In turn doing it the way I was I noticed that I was in fact twisting my stitches and didn't realize until now with the help of you all and youtube. That is why my end result stitches were looking funny to me.

 

I did a sample block with the what I have learned now and it came out looking just like the stockinette photo samples....YAY!!

 

I have a blanket that I have been trying to work on but was never happy with because of this little problem. I have taken it apart like 10 times cause it drove me nuts with how it looked and how it wasn't looking...lol...time to try again.

[magiccrochetfan]

Unicorndragon, I was actually trying to ask Desertcrocheter if her stitches were twisted. I could see in your photo that some of yours were twisted, but Desertcrocheters didn't look twisted to me.

 

So glad your stitches are happy now;)

[unicorndragon]

Oh, Sorry about that.......my stitches are very happy now......Thank You!!!