4 Common Mistakes When You Learn How to Knit
Having trouble with your first project? See if you're making these common knitting mistakes while learning how to knit
There's nothing as exciting as learning how to knit -- until you realize your carefully crafted scarf looks more like an accordion! What's going on? What did you do, and how can you stop it? Fortunately, most beginning knitting errors come from the same sources, and if you can spot them, you can fix them easily enough.
If you're just starting out learning how to knit, there are a few terms and hints that might help you keep your knitting in reasonable shape.
1. Tension
Most knitters wrap the yarn around their working hand so that they can keep the yarn at a constant tension. That prevents the piece from changing shape dramatically. Giving the yarn a gentle tug after knitting each stitch helps keep the piece together. Just make sure you don't pull too tightly, or it will become difficult to get your needle through the stitches.2. Dropped stitches
Dropped stitches are very common for beginners. If you notice you have fewer stitches than you started with, look for a conspicuous loop just sticking out by itself and pull it back onto the needle. That's if it's at the top of the work, of course. If you find it sticking out halfway down, you'll probably also find a bunch of strings on top of it. Use a crochet hook to weave those through the stitch until you get it back to the top.
3. Accidental yarn overs
When you're just learning how to knit, you may accidentally wrap the yarn over the needle, creating another stitch. Count your stitches frequently to make sure you don't! Watch yourself at first to see where your working yarn is going. After a while, it will simply become routine and you won't have to worry about it anymore.
4. Warped edges
There's a very simple way to make sure you have nice, neat edges, even if you're just learning how to knit. Knit the first stitch of each row and purl the last stitch of each row regardless of your pattern, and you'll have neat, pretty edges.
Being familiar with the common mistakes and errors made by beginning knitters is a great way to improve your skills and become a more proficient crafter. Let's avoid the common and mistakes from the very beginning and simply enjoy how fun it is to learn how to knit.