April 21, 2004
Wonky Fix?
Hi all, despite the fact that I have not yet swatched or cast on, I do have a suggestion for fixing the wonkiness of the knit columns.
I've been knitting Pia from the latest Rowan, which also has a great deal of ribbing at the bottom. I've noticed that, for me at least, the columns of knitting look neater on the wrong side of the work. Apparently my purl stitches are better at holding shape on the knit side than my knit stitches are at holding shape on the knit side.
So, to me, it seems like a good solution to simply pull a switcheroo on the right and wrong sides - always purl when the pattern says knit and always knit when the pattern says purl, and then sew everything up with the "wrong" side on the outside. Do you follow? I think in this way I can achieve some dreamy ribbing.
Here's what I'm talking about, with a little cell phone camera illustration:
Right Side
Wrong Side
Does anyone else notice this phenomenom in their own ribbed knitting? Let me know if you think it might work for you, because I'm interested in how common this 2x2 ribbing tension problem is.
I agree with you completely. When I was doubting the shaping for Audrey, it always seemed like the wrong side of my work was nicer than the right side. At first I thought it was just the decreases and increases that looked better, but in hindsight, it was the neater ribbing that made it look so much better. Little late for me to apply this now, but great point!
Posted by: Karen at April 21, 2004 10:06 AMI really don't understand why this would happen, given that the columns are always made up of one side of knits and one side of purls (unless you knit in the round). But I've seen it several times. Any ideas? Bueller? Bueller?
Posted by: Julia at April 22, 2004 09:14 AM