Why Does My Knitting Keep Getting Wider?

Many novice knitters experience that their knitting keeps getting wider as they knit. This has become the frustration of many beginners. In case this happens to you, do not panic.

Although you may have to frog your knitting in cases of mistakes, take it as part of your learning process. Your knitting becomes wider or longer because of two main reasons. First is you add extra stitches. Second is you change the yarn tension as you knit.

If you are unaware that you are doing either of these two reasons. It could be that you are doing one of the following culprits without realizing it.

Dropped Stitch

A dropped stitch happens all the time. When you put down your knitting needles or when a stitch fell off your needle and you did not notice it. The only challenge here is when you continued knitting and found the mistake later on.

So, how can you prevent this? Any mistake is less likely to happen if you pay attention to your work.

• Make it a habit to check on your work to see if there are bumps or gaping rows of ladders.
• Always count your stitches to make sure that you are not adding or decreasing a stitch.
• At the end of each row, pause for a while, and assess if you want to continue or have a break from knitting. It is better to stop knitting at the end of each row, rather than midway.

Extra Stitches

Another reason why your knitting gets wider is you are adding extra stitches as you knit. One reason that this happens is you make unintentional yarn overs as you knit. Another reason is you knit through the spaces between stitches.

So, how come you make accidental yarn overs? This yarn-over happens every time you bring your yarn in front of your work. If you do this and knit your next stitch, you are creating a loop. If this continues, yarn overs are inevitable.

Another mistake that you are unaware of committing is you knit in the space of two stitches. This unnecessary knit will create an extra stitch on your row. To prevent this from happening, always count your stitches before doing the next row.

Twisted Stitches

As the term implies, you get a stitch and put it on the needle the wrong way. Another reason you create twisted stitches is you knit from the back of the stitch. To avoid this from happening, look at your work every so often.

Twisted stitches are easy to spot. If you find them soon, you can make corrections while you have not knitted the next rows.

Tight Tension

Most novice knitters are nervous to make their first few projects. This is why they tend to hold the needles too close to the tips in the hope of avoiding errors. This tight grip on the needle tips tends to create tight tension on your stitches causing your knitting to get narrower or wider.

The closer your hands to the tips the smaller stitches you make because needles tips are narrow. You can avoid tight tension by holding the needles a couple of inches from the tips.

When you feel that you are having a hard time moving your needles back and forth, you are knitting too tight. So, loosen up and relax your hands.

These mistakes are preventable and fixable, so don’t fret if you encounter them. But, if you do not want to go through the hassle of frogging your yarn, then be mindful of your work.

Why Does My Knitting Keep Increasing?

How would you know that your knitting is increasing? If you are knitting a straight pattern but the edge is a bit slant, then you added extra stitches. If your stitches are equal to your cast-on, you are adding stitches somewhere in your work.

The first reason this happens is when you make your first row. Oftentimes, the first row is loose, and knitters try to fix it by pulling the yarn. When you do this, you are pulling two strands from the lower row.

• The strands go over your needle. So when you knit, you are creating two stitches instead of the usual 1 stitch. To prevent this from happening, follow these tips.
• Make sure you start each row the right way. Your stitches must be the same as the number of your cast-on.
• Pull your working yarn to tighten your stitch before you finish the entire row.
• See to it the row has the right tension before you start the next row.

The second reason is the accidental yarn over. As explained earlier, when you knit and your yarn is in front, you are bound to make a yarn over. To avoid this, keep your yarn behind your work.

If this looks difficult, keep in mind that your yarn must always be at the back of your needle. Whether you are beginning a row or in the middle, keep the yarn at the back.

Why Does The Yarn Between My Needles Keep Getting Longer?

Have you experienced your yarn get longer on your needle as you knit? If you have, then you might have created a backward loop cast-on. This type of cast-on is easy and fast to do. But, it is not suitable for all kinds of knitting cast-on.

Backward loop cast-on does not make proper stitches. This cast-on makes loose loops of yarn around your needle. This will be difficult to knit your first row.

If you do not pay attention to your needles and yarn, you are likely to pull more yarn every time you knit. If this continues, you will notice that your yarn has pulled ridiculous lengths.

Be careful when you make your cast-on. This is the base of your work, so do it well.

How Do I Stop My Knitting From Being Tight?

The reason for having tight knitting is the tension of your stitches. There are a few reasons that this happens. It could be your needle size, or you are holding the needles near its tips.

The following tips will help you prevent tight stitches.

• Cast-on with two needles When you do your cast-on, make sure you are using two needles. One must be smaller than the other. It is fine to use the same size if you are using small needles.This does not apply to big needle sizes. Casting on two big needle sizes can make too loose cast-on.
• Cast-on larger needles If you make a cast-on using small needles and find it too tight, then switch to a bigger size. Do not go overboard, though. The needles must still be appropriate to your yarn. One size bigger is enough.After you have created your cast-on. You can continue your knitting using your original needle size.
• Check the Space of your Stitches Before making your next row, check the stitches of your first row. Are they too tight? If they are, then adjust while you are still at the beginning of your work.To know that your stitches have the right tension, you must be able to see a little between stitches. Another sign is if your knitted row is bendable.
• Use a Different Cast-on If you have been adjusting the stitches yet they remain tight, your cast-on must be the problem. The possible solution to this is to use a different cast-on method.
• Hold your stitches When you cast-on, make sure that you anchor the stitches. This will prevent tight pulling of your working yarn.
• Relax your hands When you are nervous or excited, you tend to grip tight on the needles. Sometimes, you even hold them near the tips. These instances can cause tight stitches in your knitting.

How Do You Fix A Dropped Knit Stitch At The End Of A Row?

When you notice a dropped stitch on your work, fix it sooner before you continue knitting. You know that it is a dropped stitch when it hangs at the bottom like a series of ladder rungs.

Here are some easy steps to fix this dropped stitch.

• Use your left needle to pick up the last stitch in the series of ladder rungs. The stitch on your right needle must be in front of the needle. The ladder rungs of the working yarn from where the stitch fell off will be hanging out.
• Then, insert your left needle under the lowest ladder rung.
• Your needle must now have the original stitch and the working yarn from the row above the dropped stitch.
• Insert the right needle through the dropped stitch. Pull it over and pick up a stitch for this row.
• Repeat this process on to the next ladder rung. Place your left needle under the next ladder rung and pick up the stitch for that row.
• Continue to pull that dropped stitch up in every row. Repeat the process until you have fixed the hanging stitches and reach the top of your work.

How Do You Fix A Cable Mistake In Knitting?

When you happen to encounter an error in your cable stitches, do not frog your work right away. The following are easy steps to remedy this cable stitch error.

• Insert a small double-pointed needle through the stitches of the row below the error.
• Work up to the part of the offending crossing. Then, drop the involved stitches from the needle.
• Ladder the dropped stitches until you reach the held stitches.
• Then, proceed to rework your pattern, use the ladders as your working yarn.

You will notice uneven tension in your stitches. You can use a blunt-tipped needle to adjust stitches.

Related: Effect of Changing Needle Size 

How Do You Reverse A Mistake In Knitting?

If you encounter mistakes in your knitting, you can use the tinking method to fix them.

This method involves unknitting the stitches where you had your mistakes. It can be tricky at first, but it is better than other techniques.

Here are the steps in tinking.

• Insert the left needle into the hole under the stitch of the right needle.
• Slip the right needle out of the stitch as you pull the working yarn.
• Continue this process until you reach the part that you want to correct. Once you have unraveled the stitch, continue your usual knitting.

Why Does My Purling Look Like Knitting?

This happens when your pattern is a bit confusing or you are making a Garter stitch. This type of stitch is a combination of Knit and Purl stitches. When you do a Garter stitch, the front part of it has the Knit stitches.

The reverse side of the Garter stitch has the Purl stitches. When you make a Garter stitch, make sure that you knit the stitches on the front side. If you notice that your knits look like purl stitches, then you are knitting the reverse side of the knitted row.

You have to keep in mind that Knit stitches look like a looped yarn on the needle in a V shape. The Purl stitches have small bumps at the bottom of the stitches.

To avoid confusion, before you begin the next row, check the stitches first. If the stitches have the V shape, then that is the front part. It has your Knit stitches. This is the part to knit your work.

In case you see small bumps at the bottom of the stitches, then you are facing the reverse side of the project. What you need to do is turn your work to make sure you will work on the Knit stitches.

For starters, knitting mistakes are common and inevitable. No one has ever learned knitting without committing any mistake. It is part of the learning process.

You can limit your knitting errors by preventing them. How can you do that? Be mindful of your work. Relax your hands and read the pattern well.

When you are too nervous or too excited, mistakes are likely to happen. It does not matter if you take some time to finish your work. What matters is you learn the process properly right from the start.

Paying attention to your cast-on and stitches will avoid unnecessary mistakes. Knitting is a straightforward process. The only reason that you will derail in the process is when you become careless.