How's this look? I think it's too many stitches. Should I cut the strings in the back and lay it flat? More worrisome: why are my stitches coming out like that? It's a neat pattern but it doesn't look my like normal knitting. I checked a book to make sure I wasn't knitting backward. I put the needle through the front loop and looped the yarn around from left to right. That's the way I normally do it, I think but I originally taught myself to do it backward, twisted, so I'm always hesitant whether I'm doing it wrong. Could it be this yarn turns out different than normal? Or is it knitting stockinette without purling that does it? I might try to do this again knitting a bit tighter. I was kind of loose because I got worried about why my stitches were coming out like that.
3 comments:
It doesn't sound like you are knitting twisted stitches. (BTW I did exactly the same thing...when I taught myself to knit I did it twisted, & it was a long time before I figured it out.) Look at the base of each stitch. Is it crossed over like an "X" there? Or does it open out like two "U"s next to each other?
If the stitches are not twisted, it may look like that because that yarn seems to have a "nubbly" texture and it affects how you knit. It looks like you might be pulling it too tight on one side. Try to get the stitches as even as possible, even if you have to knit more loosely.
Anyway, regarding the gauge measurement: are the long strands at the back pulling part of your swatch around? You should have MORE than 4 inches of width to lay flat and measure.All the edges of a swatch tend to be distorted, so that's why you need to knit it considerably bigger than 4 inches.
If necessary, yes, you can cut the strands, but you wouldn't be able to re-use the yarn. I would recommend doing this one over with a bigger margin on each side--maybe 24 stitches total. Use fresh yarn, or unravelthis swatch, wind it into a hank, and carefully steam it (you can use a teakettle) to remove the kinks.
I know swatching is terribly frustrating -- but it's really important to do it in order to get the right size in the finished sweater.
Based on the stitch count here, I would also try a bigger needle--do you have a size 11? You can use a circular needle with this method.
Oh, and if you like how the knitting looks, and you can get the right gauge, don't worry about whether you're doing it "right" or not. It will be fine.
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