I got my knickers in a twist!

[zats_clear]

I am working on the Butterfly Moebius pattern from The Knitter's Book of Yarn and I am wondering how to correctly twist my stitches around the needle.  It says "but in this case, you want to make sure there is one twist in your row - that is, somewhere in your cast-on row the base of the sts wraps over the needle once."  

uuuuhhhhhhh

yeah 

xposted in Ravelry here

Comments

[damned_colonial]

Have you cast on circularly before for a non-moebius project? If you have, you have probably read the instructions saying "make sure not to twist it". If you are like me, you probably twisted it once, at least, before you learnt not to do that. Anyway, it sounds to me like these instructions are asking you to do that on purpose.

How I make sure my cast-on is not twisted on a circular project: I lay out the circular needle flat on a surface and make sure that the row of cast-on stitches (i.e. the braid-like edge that will form the edge of my knitting once I get going) is all facing inwards, and that there's a smooth and uninterrupted sequence of stitches around the outer edge. If I were doing what your instructions say, I would first make sure my stitches were untwisted (as just described) then I would take one end of the circular needle and, by rolling it on the surface of the table or whatever, turn it exactly 360 degrees.

[ysobel]

*snickers at the current music field*

When you're joining stitches for knitting in the round, usually you want to make sure that the stitches aren't twisted, so that the cast-on edge doesn't wrap around the needles. http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Start.htm has pictures, under step three, of what twisted stitches look like, and what untwisted looks like, on dpns.

I usually check by holding the needles (whether circular or dpns) in position as though they were already joined, and make sure the cast-on edge is on the inside of the needles. So to *make* a deliberate twist, you'd want to rotate the stitches somewhere so that the cast-on edge loops around the outside of the needles and back to the inside.

(That twist will remain in the work, but then again, it does have Moebius in the name, so that's not surprising. :) )

[zats_clear]

take one end of the circular needle and, by rolling it on the surface of the table or whatever, turn it exactly 360 degrees.

yup, that is exactly what I thought and what I needed to know! I've been lucky...no twisted stitches, possibly because I have worked with circular needles right from the start!

thanks for verifying for me! It just did not look like much when I was knitting! I have since frogged and failed at recasting - not enuf tail (yeah, my husband had commentary on that!)

[zats_clear]

ok. 360 turn. that sounds like what I did, just did not look like I had done it once I got going on the first row. But hey, first row, so it's not supposed to look like much!

It's a pretty pattern and I am really excited to do it but am now too darned tired! And the pads of my fingers hurt from casting and recasting and peeling off too tight cast-on stitches and ...yeah, this was obviously not my night to knit!

thanks for the assist!

[yvi]

Oh, believe me, you can twist your stitches with circular needles just fine *weeps*

[zats_clear]

I have a question...do you know if you have twisted your stitches once you have started knitting? should it be obvious to me yet?

you have no idea how many times I have had to restart this shawl! srsly, it looks like such a simple project but fate has conspired against me!

I am about 20 rows in...it hangs down from the circular needles nice and straight. somehow, I see frogs in my future

*cries*

[zats_clear]

by the way,thanks so much for the visual! I have been knitting away on this beautiful shawl with time I do NOT actually have because I am dying to see it done but I am concerned greatly by the fact that the knitted yarn hangs nice and straight down from the needles when I hold it up (in a circle) - I am about 20 rows in thus far.

I did rotate fully...and I am keeping my fingers crossed and toes

[yvi]

I usually knew by row 3 or so... If it's hanging down nice and straight it probably isn't twisted. I am wondering, however, whether you might still be able to twist it...