tension issues

[kiwikitti]

So, I've decided to teach myself to knit. Well i decided this LONG ago but gave up since the book I was using wasn't very useful. After getting the SnB books for Christmas, I picked it up again. And (yay me!) I can cast on wonderfully and am slightly adept at the knit stitch. I say slightly because i can not keep tension worth anything when I knit! Does any one have any tips for this? I don't remember worrying about crochet tension this much ever. (But then I was 7 or so when I learned and kind of made it up as I went... easier times for crafting and my perfectionist mind....)

[DesertCrocheter]

I wish i could help, but my mother tells me my knitting is waaayyyy too tight. I guess just practice will help that. I think it's that dang second needle--I don't have enough hands to control those and my tension. Patty

[lisalu]

There aren't any real tricks to it. Like anything else it just takes practice. If you were playing scales on the piano for the first time it would be jerky and hesitant. After 20-30 times it would be smooth and unbroken. Same with knitting, just keep doing it - on a practice swatch with smooth yarn - until you can knit without thinking about it. When you start to relax and knit at an even pace your tension will take care of itself. While you are practicing, find the best way to hold the yarn and needles that works for you and lets you knit without fighting the yarn. It gets easier....I promise!

[kiwikitti]

Practice makes perfect, I suppose. I guess I just expected to be perfect during my first (and second and third, ect...) go around. I like to forget all the time I had to practice to get my crocheting right but then I was much younger at the time and not nearly as perfectionist about my needleworks.

 

Thankfully at least I have the motions down so I guess the tension will just come with time... Why can't there be a magic knitting tension pixie who can dust my needles with magic good tension dust?

[smokeyp81]

Do you wrap your yarn around your fingers like you do with crochet? I find that I don't need to wrap the yarn around my finger....I just weave it in and out of my fingers. When I knit I hold my yarn like this....the second picture down...the pinky crook. I couldn't find a picture of how I hold my yarn when I crochet....I wrap the yarn around my pinky then across the top of my hand. Try some of these ways...maybe you will find one that works better for you.

 

Other than that....unfortuantly...it does just take practice.

[sarasara]

Yes, I agree that practice is the best medicine for this problem. When you are just starting out, the yarn and needles feel very awkward. I never thought I'd get tension right at first. My knitting guru told me not to worry about the tension at all to begin with. I just practiced and practiced knitting until suddenly I became comfortable with it and found the way of holding yarn/needles that worked best for me. I also noticed that with practice the stitches became more uniform and even - tension in action! It's kind of like riding a bike...you don't understand what you're doing or how it works at first and then once you get it, you've got it and it becomes second-nature. Sometimes it's hard to keep with it through the frustration, but there's a big payoff if you do. Hang in there!

[sammimag]

I ditto what other say. I knit on the tight side my self so I use larger needles often. If you seem loose go smaller.

 

I checked the website out. They showed an interesting way to hold the right needle. I don't hold it that way at all and that would be really awkward for me. I hold both needles similarly.

[karebear]

I am not sure if I am too late in this or not. But I was having the same issues. A friend showed me this link. http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/getting_started/

 

To me it was helpful as it helped me figure out that I was stitching Contential (sp?) style and it shows that way. To me it is very much like crocheting (at least the way you hold the yarn) so I was able to pick it up much faster then I thought.

 

Good luck!!

[artemis]

My tension issues are mostly nervousness with my knitting skills. I agree that practice is the biggest help. I just finished a huge shawl. By the end, my tension was much better because I had lots and lots of practice!