Tension, tidiness and diagonal squares
My question is how to I keep an even tension and how do I get the beginning and end sides to be even. They are a bit loose/uneven.
Also I have tried knitting squares in the diagonal - starting with three stitches and increasing one at the beginning of each row, but they come out lopsided and looking very un-square like. Is there a trick to it?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pam Antink on -
Sadly Alison I'm only a simple plain knitter and can't read a pattern to save my life, however, it sounds to me that you are worrying yourself too much. As a plain stitch knitter I found knitting into the back of the first 4 stitches made the ends less loopy. Regarding diagonal knitting..........I didn't dare go there. Hopefully, once the Christmas celebrations over you'll receive a much more technical reply than I could ever give! But please please do not get stressed as the Ladies in Soweto are great at sewing together the wide variety of styles! Good wishes for 2012 - all the way through.
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Permalink Reply by Christine Johnson on -
Hi Allison,
I'm sorry you're having trouble with knitting - you sound just like me talking about crochet! I agree with Pam, you're probably worrying unnecessarily. Knitting is very stretchy and a slightly lopsided square will pull into shape when it's joined to others. I can't help much with tension, I suppose that's just practise. All my life I've had a problem with the left hand edge being looser than the right edge and I don't know why.
Try a diagonal again:
Cast on 3 stitches
Slip 1, increase in next stitch (knit into the front and back of the same stitch - if you don't know how google kfb and you'll find a tutorial), knit the 3rd stitch. (4 on needle)
Slip 1, knit 1, kfb, knit 1 (5 on needle)
Slip 1, knit 1, kfb, knit 2 (6 on needle)
Continue like this, always slipping the first stitch from the left-hand needle to the right, and increasing in the 3rd stitch on every row until a side edge measures just under 8" (19 cm)
Knit one row
Then decrease; Slip 1, knit 1, knit 2 together, knit to end of row.
Repeat this row until you have three stitches left and just knit them together or cast off.
The 'square' may look a bit diamond-shaped but it pulls into a perfectly adequate square.
Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by AllisonJ on -
Thanks ladies. I had another go at the diagonal and got it right this time. I think I may have forgotten to decrease on some rows previously.
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Permalink Reply by CHARIS GRIFFIN on -
Well done for persevering, Allison-no matter how long we have been knitting we all end up sometimes with squares that turn out rather a different geometric shape! A little tweaking (sometimes a lot of tweaking) goes a long way to fixing things!
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Permalink Reply by Pam Johnson on -
Glad it turned out OK Alison, I knit all my squares this way - so easy to get the right size no matter what yarn or needle size you use.
And Pam - maybe I can give you a lesson in a diagonal square at Yours LIve! :-)
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Permalink Reply by AllisonJ on
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I'm thinking that diagonal might be how I knit from now on too. I like how it ends up with a kind of border. Is it tricky to add in another colour for stripes?
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Permalink Reply by Philippa Green on -
Allison,
I started knitting on the diagonal over Christmas having done my first few square "horizontal". My dad advised me to do it (believe it or not!) as that is how he had knitted charity squares back in the 70s. I start with just one stitch and add one each row until I have a right angled triangle with two eight inch sides. Then I cast off one each row. As you say, it makes a neater square with a sort of border. It's also easier to get the right size without guessing how many stitches you'll need and I find I measure it less often. Once you're halfway there you don't need to check the size again!
And no, stripes aren't a problem - just add them the same as normal but of course, they will be diagonal stripes!
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Permalink Reply by Pam Antink on
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How lovely Alison that you Dad knitted squares in the 70's!
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Permalink Reply by Philippa Green on
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He couldn't remember which charity but thought it might have been Red Cross. He said they used to pull apart old jumpers. At university they had no TV so his housemate would get them knitting when they were sitting together listening to music in the evenings. I like the idea that it's something of a family tradition!
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Permalink Reply by AllisonJ on
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The problem I'm finding with knitting diagonally is that the corner of the triangle that I finish on ends up giving two longer sides, presumably because the work stretches a bit from the weight. Is there a way to get around that or do others experience the same thing?
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Babcock on
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Mine do that too. It's not really lopsided!
Once its bound off, just tug on it a little to reshape: if the cast on & bind off corners are "top and bottom" then grab the two "side" corners and stretch gently.
Remember, too, that your one square will be part of a blanket and the neighboring squares will help keep yours straight.
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Permalink Reply by Philippa Green on
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I think this might be because there is a different tension to the casting off than the casting on. I noticed it a bit after you mentioned it but hadn't really seen it before. As Michelle says, tug it a bit back into shape and remember it'll be held in shape by other squares. I always find the squares are never exactly square but that's the nature of knitting really. They're never exactly 8inches either!
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