(no subject)

[muladhara]

Hi guys, lurker and knitting n00b here. I apologise if there's an answer to this somewhere on the community but, at the time of writing, I don't have time to look.

See, I like making stuffed toys - I can also crochet, so that's easy, just going round and round, but with knitting, double pointed needles present me with a problem - laddering between the stitches over two needles. Is there any way to fix this?

I suspect the answer is "practice", or "circular needles". Practice I can do; circular needles, not so much (short of cash and nearby sources to purchase from). Any advice would be gratefully received, as it's driving me demented.

ETA: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who left comments and advice on this post. You are all awesome! :D

Comments

[antisoppist]

Probably practice, but other things that can help are:
1) knitting on more needles - if it's getting stretched between needles, add an extra one into the round and knit on 4 with a 5th rather than on 3 with a 4th (this might mean buying another pack of needles though).
2) move the "gap" round as you go so it's not always the same stitches where you change needles. When you get to the end of one needle, knit a couple more stitches from the next needle onto that one before putting the new needle in. If you're still getting gaps, at least it will be in a spiral rather than a ladder.

[uninvitedcat]

I tend to use your second suggestion, although rather than always going forwards I will occasionally stop knitting and shift the stitches around the needle set. I guess, depending on the number of stitches you have in your round, that's pretty much like a bigger jump forwards! It helps break up the spiral though.

[muladhara]

*nods* I figured it was practice, but did wonder if there were any "fixes" as well.

We have loads of dpns in the house since my gran was a mad knitter, so I can probably make up sets into five. In fact, one set I did use was already a five, so my gran probably knew about that (shame she isn't around to be asked, really. I feel like such an ass asking what seems like a really obvious question).

Thank you for answering, though c:

[antisoppist]

I'm only aware of the difference because I was taught to knit socks in Sweden where dpns came in packs of five. Then I came home to the UK and found I could only get packs of four and had to keep buying two lots.

[muladhara]

I checked some of my sets - I've got some for knitting socks that I bought in Lidl. Since they're a German company, the pack has five needles (I say this as if it's obvious because I sometimes buy Regia, which is a German made yarn, and their default sock pattern is made on five needles). Any others I've bought recently all have four (and guess what? They were all British!)

They are much more sensible on the continent!