Beginning Knitters, Split Yarn and Yahoo Answers

I like to read Yahoo Answers. My friend KR says the Reference Librarian in me is why I get so many "Best Answer" replies. Librarians are trained to hear the question behind the question.

Recently one person wrote in:
HELP! My yarn keeps splitting when I am knitting! I am using size 8 needles and this is my second time knitting. My needles are bamboo.
She rated my reply as Best Answer.

You say you are using bamboo needles, so that rules out your needles being too pointed. Bamboo needles are more rounded than metal ones. Bamboo, by its nature, gives your yarn a bit more traction as it runs along the needle. It's good to use with shiny, slippery yarns. Metal needles, on the other hand, have smaller points and slippery surfaces. They let yarn that catches and drags slide more smoothly during stitch formation.

If tension isn't your problem, you might try switching to metal needles to see if the problem is being caused by the nature of your needles.

With that said, I'm guessing the problem IS tension. You say this is your second knitting project. Almost every beginner I've ever taught to knit or crochet knits tightly because s/he is so intent on learning. If the loop of the stitch is really tight around the first needle, there is no slack to let the second needle in to form a new stitch. As you fight to insert the needle, you snag the yarn and split it. You can also snag your finger and poke holes. I've known beginning knitters to look like they lost a battle with a porcupine because they keep poking themselves with the needles.

Now, the hard part is -- how do you release tension?

1. You can consciously watch how you form your stitches and stop before you feel you have pulled the stitch down completely. (Stop at 3/4 instead of completely done.) It will take two-three rows before the new slack becomes evident.

2. You can ask a more experienced knitter to knit a few rows loosely for you. When you take the fabric back, it will feel like the other knitter was real "sloppy" compared to what you have been doing. Work to repeat the "sloppy" tension and keep yours that way. (Not working tightly is hard to do! It's like not thinking about pink elephants. )

3. You can quit holding the yarn that comes from the ball -- don't hold it with either hand. Let it hang loose. Don't think about tension right now. Concentrate on forming the stitches. Some will be big and sloppy. Some will be tight, but you will learn to make the stitches. Later, when you wash your project, the swish/swish tug of washing should readjust the tension throughout the pieces so you won't see big holes. (Read the care label. Some yarns need to be hand washed.)

Later, after you have the mechanics of stitch formation under control, you can start catching that yarn in one hand and holding it to put a little drag on the stitch to make the shape more uniform. There are two methods of stitch formation and carrying the yarn. One is European, one is American. Both are good. When you are ready, use the one that appeals to you.

Most of all, trust that after you have made one or two projects, you will catch on and not have this problem any more.

Goodbye, Big Friend

When my son Joe came to visit today, he found Hagar dead by the back steps. We had left him on the

dog run today because both Pat and I both were going to be gone. We didn't want him to have to stay inside for more that eight hours without a potty run. I wish now we'd left him inside. What is a puddle to clean up against losing a family member? The cable of the dog run got tangled in the steps and Hagar choked himself fighting to get free.

Hagar was my Pound Puppy. German Shepherd Rescue located him for me at the Everman City Pound. I really thought I wanted the little female they had there, but Hagar wouldn't leave me alone. The minute I walked inside the gate, he was following me and nudging my hand, wanting to be petted. The little female was too shy to come out to be seen, but Hagar loved me from the minute he saw me.

The people at the Pound called him Traveler because he was found running stray. Even though he was obviously a purebred dog, no one ever claimed him. One guy took him for a while, but brought him back when he learned he couldn't use him for stud if he didn't have papers. So there he was, probably on borrowed time, when we found each other. That was seven years ago.

I wanted to name him Thor, but Pat prevailed and we named him Hagar the Horrible, after the Viking in the funny papers. He was about 18 months old, and didn't have a lot of sense. I took him through obedience training. Pat taught him to quit slipping out the door and running off the moment it was opened. And he proceeded to become Family in Fur.

Lala was about the same age as Hagar. She was a sturdy toddler who liked to walk with her baby fist clutching his back. Of course, the minute he turned around, the wagging tail bowled her over. Lala never seemed to mind. He was her furry uncle. Years later, when we moved to Kansas, she missed Hagar so much that I wrote her a letter chronicling Flat Lala's adventures playing with Hagar in the evening. (More about Flat Lala at http://flatlala.blogspot.com )

Hagar liked being in the middle of our lives. That nose was constantly finding its way into your hand so you could pet him. Then he'd prance over to the old popcorn can that we kept dog biscuits in and poke it until we got the message he wanted a biscuit. (Not that we didn't really know.) Pat would take out two and make Hagar choose. There seemed to be a reason he wanted one over the other. Maybe he knew it didn't matter 'cause Pat would give him the second after he finished the first Still, he played Pat's game. I was a push over. Once the lid was open, he got his biscuit immediately. He had to do other tricks for Pat. He had to sit down and offer a paw to shake. We never could get him to chase a ball or roll over. There were some limits to what foolishness he'd put up with.


I was never sure if Hagar was Furball's dog, or if Furball was Hagar's cat. In 2002 when Pat was taking his Tour USA motorcycle trip, I found a six-week old black kitten caught in the potted plants on Helen's front porch. I knew the little thing wasn't Helen's, because Helen is allergic to cats. I was dressed for work and going to be late, but I took the baby back into my house and fed her some milk, then left her in the care of my three adult cats and Hagar. She was so small. I was afraid she'd get out the doggy door and get lost.

That evening I grabbed cat food, litter and kitten and took her to my friend Steve. He kept her until she was big enough to handle my herd, then she came home. I'd taken her over there so quickly that I hadn't even named her. Steve was the one who dubbed her Furball. Later I gave her the full name of L.C. Furball to go with my tuxedo cat, Dewey D. Cat. (Hey, I'm a librarian. What can I say?)

Furball was about 3 months old when she came back to our house. She still wanted a Mommy and she found one in Hagar. Wherever Hagar was, the kitten wasn't far away. She liked to curl up against his side or between his front feet. She played "Catch the Tail". It might have been dangerous if Hagar had noticed she was back there. Of course the night Pat got him to wagging his tail frantically for a biscuit and Furball was trying to catch it on the other end nearly sent the kitten flying across the kitchen like a hockey puck. Still, their bond was strong. Furball is a fine, dignified ladycat now, but she still cuddled her dog at every opportunity.

We had lots of adventures together. Hagar went with me to Kansas when I drove alone to my mother's funeral. He guarded our back yard against squirrels, bluejays and other mauraders. He slept with grandkids and gave them all the doggy love they ever wanted. He endured baths.

Hagar really loved it when we moved to Kansas. He thought he was a FARM DOG. No matter that we don't live on a farm -- we live in a village of 675 people. That was close enough for the dog that grew up in a suburb of Dallas. He got to ride in the back of Pat's pick-up. He got to run loose in the back yard whenever we were outside. He'd spend hours keeping Pat company as Pat worked in the shop. He had squirrels to chase and stray cats to keep off our property. Best of all, since Pat was self-employed, one of his people was home with him almost everyday. What more could a dog ask for?

Here there was no fenced yard. There was a big dog pen, but Hagar could dig out of it faster than Pat could fix it. So, Joe ran a 30' cable from the back porch to a corner of the dog pen and suspended a dog cable from it. That was the dog run. Hagar didn't use it much because he could get caught on a stalk of dead grass or the corner of a rock. He weighed 115 lbs., but he wouldn't pull himself free from dead grass. He'd just lay down, usually under the butternut tree, and wait for someone to get him loose.

I sure wish he'd sat down and waited today.

KnitPicks has a great Help Site

 

In the latest e-mail from KnitPicks, they offer help on how to join yarn. That's always a topic near my heart. I do like the Russian join, but am always open to learn new things.
Here's their link
http://www.knitpicks.com/content/index.php/cat/joining-yarn/different-color/?...
They give detailed instructions for Double Knit In, Duplicate Stitch, Felted In, Russain and Weaver's Knot joins. Check it out if you want to learn a new way to connect two pieces of yarn.
Once you are at their Help Site, browse their topics list. They cover all kinds of things: fiber notes, binding off, blocking, chart reading, knitting terms, felting... even How to Knit. It's a good resource to bookmark.

Links to Repairing a Dropped Stitch

I said earlier this summer that I would write how to fix a dropped stitch. Unfortunately, I haven't been free to do it.

Fortunately -- I don't have to! There are already great sources available on the Internet. If these don't work for you, just use Google, Dogpile, Altavista, AOL or whatever search engine you prefer and search "knitting dropped stitches". You'll find many more sites to explore.

(You will also find a decorative stitch called the "dropped stitch" which looks interesting. Hm... I wonder if it could be incorporated in socks? Hm...)

Here are the first ones I found. Knittinghelp.com and knitty.com are my "picks of the litter." They are well illustrated and even my aged eyes can see what they are doing.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php
http://www.ehow.com/how_113555_pick-dropped-stitch.html
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/FEATtheresa.html
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_2996614,00...