Ribbing and tension, pt. 2

2/24:  Now updated with pictures!

Last time, I discussed better tension in a 2x2 or more ribbing section.  This post is to tackle those instances where you're only working single stitches, such as 1x1 ribbing, seed or moss stitch, or even 3x1 ribbing.

To briefly summarize my last post:  the transitions between a k-p and p-k use different amounts of yarn.  Changing the stitch mount (via "combination knitting") in various combinations will change the amount of yarn used in that transition:

• "Short" transitions are worked KePe and PwKw;
• "Medium" transitions are worked KwPe, KePw, PwKe, and PeKw;
• "Long" transitions are KwPw and PeKe.

Which length to use will depend on the project, but, generally speaking, with ribbing, a knitter will want to use the short transition symmetrically so that it has the most pull-in at the transitions.  So a 2x2 ribbing section will look best when worked (Kw Ke Pe Pw) across both RS and WS rows.

All caught up?  Awesome.  So let's look at single-stitch transitions.

I hereby define, for purposes of this blog, a "single-stitch transition" as one where a single purl or knit stitch sits between two "panels" (widths can vary from one stitch to more) of the "opposite" stitches.  A 1x1 ribbing, or a 2x1 ribbing... 10x1 ribbing, seed stitch, moss stitch, might all benefit from this discussion.

Cast on some amount of stitches and work an inch or two in 1x1 ribbing.  If you're a tight knitter, it might not be quite so obvious, but looser knitters might find very loose, uneven knit columns.  The times that I am able to work a 1x1 ribbing suitably evenly, my hands ache for days afterwards and the object has very little elasticity.  Not the result we want from ribbing.

KwPw throughout - ick.  I'm not going to bother showing the stretched version.  Take my word for it, it's a hot mess.

If we think about it logically, based on the stitch combinations above, it is impossible to mirror a short transition (which is the ideal), or even a long transition if we wanted, with only one stitch.  KePeKe will give you short then long transitions on either side of the purl.  KwPwKw reverses that:  long then short transitions.

The best we can do to even out the pull-in on both sides of that purl stitch is to work each of them as medium transitions.  Pick whichever one works better for you:  work the purls eastern, or work all the knits eastern, and western for the opposite:  KwPeKw, KePwKe.  If you work on the tips of your needles, you might see even more improvement.

KwPe worked on both sides

KwPe stretched - notice the smiles are fairly even, even if the frowns look a little loose.  So the transitions are where we want them.  Let's make the stitches in each column a little more even now.

The last piece to this particular corner of the puzzle comes in working RS vs. WS.  For me, purling everything eastern and knitting western in ribbing causes the dreaded row-out, where the knits are generally actually larger than the purls.  To make it more consistent, then, I have changed my thinking into less "knit western" vs. "purl eastern", and more into a "column A western" and "column B eastern."  How is this applied when I work it?  On the RS, knits are worked western and purls eastern; on the WS, knits are eastern and purls are western.  So the knit column as I look at the RS is made up of stitches consistently wrapped western and looks much neater.

R1: KwPe
R2: KePw
Looking tons better!

A 3x1 ribbing, with the purl column (as viewed from the RS) worked eastern (so on the WS, the knits are eastern and the purls are western)

Same 3x1 swatch, showing the WS.

Seed stitch is worked similarly to a 1x1 rib.  Purling eastern on the RS pulls the stitches closer than working everything western (KwPeKw), reducing or eliminating the holes that plague many a knitter.   (Hopefully, obviously, you may have a better result with KePwKe on the RS).  I have found that I get satisfactory results regardless of whether I work the WS as KePwKe or KwPeKw.  The key is to make sure that the stitch mount is alternating with each stitch, and being consistent throughout the work.

I haven't had the opportunity to test out my theory on moss stitch, but I would hypothesize that working it like 1x1 ribbing will make it look the best.

Experimenting and swatching are the only way to see if it helps.  Other consideration, such as your tension and evenness in stockinette, and selvedges, still apply.  But hopefully you find the "magic" combination that works best for you.

Ribbing and tension, pt 1 (2x2 and up)

The TKGA's Master Knitter program makes you do ribbing, both 1x1 and 2x2.  I don't do a whole lot of ribbing, and it has showed.  But tackling this issue actually helps in other areas that I *do* do more often:  cables, seed/moss stitch, and others.

This post does not concern the 1x1, which I've found needs to be worked a little more differently.  I'll address that in another post.  But it does work (for me - obviously, you may have different results!) for 2x2 and up.  Knit cables that are surrounded by purls, too.

Don't know what the issue is?  Pull out some needles and yarn.  Do a k2, p2 ribbing for a couple of inches.  Then look at your swatch.  Loose closely.  Do you see it?  Are your knit stitches all the same size?  If so, congratulations!  You don't need to worry about this aspect.  Or are the stitches on the left of each knit column (right before the purl column) bigger or looser than those on the right? 

The needle is pointing at the wonky column, also highlighted in pink; notice the neat looking green column.

Having trouble seeing it?  Take it a step further and do a k3, p3 swatch.  Then take a look at the left stitches in the knit column.  How do they compare to the two k stitches in the column?

3x3 ribbing, showing the wonky column

For some, the reason for this (and its correction) is simple:  many knitters work purls looser than knits.  This excess yarn is then best seen on the reverse side, as a loose knit stitch.  Pull the yarn tighter when you wrap your purl stitches and voila!  Neater ribbing.  For extreme cases, combination knitting (which I'll discuss below) can also help to make a tighter purl stitch.  I was first introduced to this idea by a Webs' Tuesday Tip. 

For others, the solution isn't so easy.  The problem lies in the *transition* between the knit and purl stitches - moving the yarn from behind the needle (knit position) to the front of the needle (purl position) adds a little bit of extra yarn, which then works its way into both of the stitches, though it's easier to see on the knit side.  This is where some more creative "combination" knitting comes in handy.

Combination knitting describes the use of both the "western" and "eastern" styles of knitting.  These are achieved by wrapping your yarn differently around your needles.  I won't get into the history of these styles - there are plenty of other places to explain it and I won't rehash it here.  But briefly, in western knitting, you wrap the yarn counter-clockwise around the needle (if you're looking down at its tip), and eastern, you wrap the yarn clockwise.  In addition to changing the amount of yarn you use for a stitch, the different styles will change the orientation of the stitch on your needle.  In your next row, you'll work western-style stitches through the front leg on the needle; eastern-style stitches are worked through the back leg. Make sure you're working your stitches the correct way, or else you'll end up with twisted stitches.

Just about everywhere I looked for a solution to the ribbing problem had the same solution:  work all of the purls eastern and all of the knits western.  I tried this.  I tried it, plus tugging with everything I had.  I tried Portuguese knitting.  I tried continental knitting (yep, I've always been a thrower).  I tried Norwegian purls.  I went down a size, killed my carpal tunnel syndrome, and knit some great Kevlar-esque swatches.  I tried working everything eastern.  Still no good.  

I started looking at the stitches and, more importantly, their transitions.  Why do I not have the same problem with the p-k transition?  I pulled the ribbing out tight and started to notice that the k-p transition, even with the fixes, was still very loose, with a loop between the two stitches, but the p-k was very tight; that "loop", while there, wasn't loopy.  It was about as tight as you can get.

This shows the difference between the transitions.  The p-k transition in green is actually tucked very neatly behind the right leg of the first k stitch.  Compare to the k-p transition in pink.  Yuck!

Here, I have stretched the p-k transition as much as I can to show the tight "frowns" right before the k stitch.  This is the transition we want to replicate on the other side.  Pardon the lack of a manicure.

Many, many swatches later, with the help of Sara from Let me ExplaiKnit, I've learned something about the length of the transitions.  In a western-worked k-p, the yarn comes out the back of the k, around the left leg of the k, under the needle, then over the needle and back to the front.  That's a lot of extra yarn.  So I've assigned this a "long" description for the transition.

Kw Pw

If you work the k western and the p eastern, this distance is shortened:  out the back, around the left leg, under the needle, then over the needle, but it doesn't really go back to the front.  I've assigned this a "medium" description.

Kw Pe

If you work the k eastern and the p western, the yarn starts more forward when it comes out of the k, then goes under and over the needle back to the front.  This one is also a "medium" in my head.

Ke Pw

Finally, if you work both the k and the p eastern, the yarn takes the shortest possible trip around the needles:  front-ish coming out of the k, under and over the needle, no return trip to the absolute front.  So this one is "short."

Ke Pe

Using the same method on the p-k transition, working both western results in a "short" transition, one st eastern and the other western are both "medium", and both worked eastern give a "long" transition.

To make the ribbing look nice and neat and pretty, the transitions on both sides of the column need to match.  I tend to focus more on the purl column, but you can think about and apply it to the knit column as well.  Because we want ribbing to pull in, the shortest transitions are going to achieve the best results.  In the k-p transition, both stitches should be worked eastern, and the p-k should be worked western.  It doesn't matter how many stitches you have in between.

Stretched, you can see that the transitions match

The nice, neat, tucked 2x2 ribbing

Try it.  See if it helps.

One last note:  in a 2x2 rib, the suggestion to work all purls eastern and all knits western isn't without merit.  As detailed above, this will result in each side having a "medium" length transition.  But for ribbing, you want that transition to be tight, or else it won't pull in as much as ribbing should.

Next time, I'll dive into 1x1 ribbing, moss, and seed stitch.

Master Knitting, level 1

For Christmas, ~D and the kids got me the TKGA's master knitting level 1 program.  I've been knitting for about 11 or 12 years now.  I've done test knitting and tech editing.  The more intricate the lacework, the happier I am.  I figured I had this in the bag.

For those who don't know about it, the program is notoriously picky - almost no one passes on the first try.  They don't call you a "master" knitter for nothing; you have to earn that title.  I've seen some other contenders suggest that some reviewers will fail you just because they don't think someone should pass on the first try; after all, they didn't.  Others insist that you won't learn anything by passing straight away.  Regardless of the motives, it happens.  And I have to let go the idea that I'll pass in the first try.  I think my biggest gripe is that they don't give you *any* guidance for what they're looking for in your knitting.  They give you a stitch pattern and tell you to look it up.

Since I first learned about the program and some of its requirements a few years ago, I've been accumulating tricks.  Now that I have the packet, I know that some of them won't fly (such as the "improved" ssk - nope!  They want it the traditional way).  Some of them I just don't use (ribbing, for example).

A few general things I've learned as I start working though:

1) my tension is much more even with finer yarn.  The program makes you do it all with worsted weight, but I do very little actual knitting in worsted weight.  I use fingering or laceweight almost exclusively.

2) my Addi Lace interchangeables, while nice, don't really suffice for TKGA purposes.  I'm close to being a Knitter's Pride Platina Cubics convert (but I don't want to buy another interchangeable set).  They have a similar finish to the Addis, but are cubic and have long and amazingly sharp points.  Be careful when you sit on the couch (or pick up your 2 year old with the needles in your purse)!

3) relaxing gives me more even tension. I know some people get better tension when they're knitting bullet-proof sweaters.  But that just hurt my hands and actually made the guttering worse.

4) if the ball band says it's worsted (and I've tried multiple!), I can only get, at minimum 5.5 st per inch.  The 5 st that the program requires is still somewhat elusive.  I have managed to get it close enough that I can block it appropriately.  (Edit to clarify: the program doesn't specifically require 5 sts per inch.  There is a range given, of which 5 is the upper limit.  Because my trouble lies on the side of too many sts per inch (my sts being on the small side) I am arguing with my yarn, hands and needles to achieve the upper limit, so that I am within the appropriate range.  I'm sorry for any confusion I may have caused!)

5) knitting "eastern" or "combination" is more than just making the stitches wrap tighter.  It's about changing the path between stitches.  So, while "make all purls eastern" might help some people with their ribbing, it's not helping me.  More on this later.

6) it's more expensive than Patons, Northampton, or even Cascade 220, but I really like Valley Yarns Amherst.  It's giving me the best results so far.  But, being merino, it doesn't hold up as well to frogging.  Practice on the cheap stuff; work the final on the good stuff.

7) just because you've published a book doesn't mean you can really knit up to master knitting standards.  I find it hard to take someone seriously when their sample swatch looks rather like my 6 year old's first scarf.  The same is true for blogging, I'm sorry to say.  (That said, take anything I say here with a grain of salt!  I'm just cataloging my journey.  What works for me may not work for you).

I've gotten 5 or 6 of the swatches done now.  I'm holding off on blocking everything until I'm closer to submission.  (Another clarification: I did a bunch of pre-swatch swatching, complete with blocking, so I could get a good sense of how the yarn will react to the blocking.  It's necessary to know how many rows will equal a certain length in different stitch patterns after blocking).

I'll start getting into some of the technical stuff when I have a chance.  I do want to share (if anyone ever actually reads this) my thoughts on combination knitting.  Until then, keep knitting!  Have fun doing it!