Weekly Questions & Answers

All beginning knitters have questions about the best way to do things, why different things happen while they are knitting, how to fix knitting mistakes and more. Here are some of the most common questions posed by new knitters, along with their answers.

Question from Nancey White.

What is the proper way to add on a new ball of yarn to a knitting project?  Should it be knit into a stitch somehow, or can it be "knotted" on to the end of the yarn you just ran out of?  I am very new to knitting.  Thank you for your help. 


Answer
1

Knit with your first skein of yarn until you are ready to change colors or you are about to run out of the first skein. The easiest place to add a new skein of yarn is at the beginning of a new row, so stop knitting at the end of a row when you have just a little yarn left.

2

Cut your working yarn so that you leave yourself a tail approximately 4 to 6 inches long. Pick up a working length of your new yarn, again leaving a 4- to 6-inch tail. Twist these two yarns together and knot them.

3

Pick up the working length of your new skein of yarn and continue with your knitting on the next row. Leave the two tails hanging for the time being.

4

When you finish your knitted item, go back to where you knotted the two yarn tails and untie the knot. Twist the two ends together if they came untwisted, and use a large-eye blunt needle to weave in your loose ends in the coordinated color of yarn on your garment. Weave your ends into the backs of the knitted stitches so that they will not show through on the front. Leave a short (1/2-inch) tail hanging down after weaving and cut any remaining yarn.

Question from Sarah 

When a knitting pattern say's  Make 1 what is the best way?

Answer

1

There are three main methods of increasing stitches, all of which are quite simple to do. The first is to make a stitch (M1) by picking up a loop between two stitches and knitting into the back of it. This forms a neat, invisible increase, so is often used in the middle of a row or where a series of increases are to be worked.

Lift the yarn lying between the stitch just worked and the next stitch and place it on the left hand needle, then knit (or purl) into the back of this loop.

2

The second is to work into the front and back of a stitch (inc 1 or inc in next st). This method is normally used at the beginning and end of a row, for instance on sleeve shapings.

knit first into the front of the stitch normally, then, before slipping it off the needle, knit again into the back of the same stitch, and slip the stitch off. The same method is applied to a purl row, in this case you purl into the front then the back of the stitch.

3

The third method is to make a yarn forward increase (yf) which, when completed, leaves a visible hole and is often used in lacy patterns.

(yf), knit a stitch, bring the yarn to the front, take it over the right hand needle and knit the next stitch. On a purl row (yrn), take the yarn over the right hand needle to the back of the work, then under the needle to the front.




If you have a knittingquestion for Knitting Galore, please email it to : dbjones5559@hotmail.co.uk  or  Please  post it as a comment here.  All questions will be answered, and many are selected and answered each wednesday here on the Blog.