5 Common Knitting Problems

5 Common Knitting Problems

Practice makes perfect, but even the most seasoned knitters still make a mistake or two. If you’re curious how to avoid some of the most common knitting problems, read below for some tips and tricks!

  1. Holes in the knitting When you’re not trying to have holes in your knitting, then they can be a bit frustrating. Luckily, there are a few simple explanations for why this might be happening, you could be wrapping the yarn over the needle by accident, knitting with uneven tension, or using the wrong size gauge. As About.com explains, the answer here is often just unknitting, also known as tinking back to the hole and starting over again from that spot.
  2. Dropped stitches It’s pretty common to have stitches drop off the needle, especially when you go to set down your knitting work and pick it back up again. The problem here is that you might not notice the stitch has dropped right away but no matter the circumstances, you can fix this problem pretty easily. Click here to see a great visual step-by-step guide for picking up a dropped stitch, complete with helpful photos.
  3. Not following instructions to a tee Maybe you misread a pattern, maybe the pattern was written in an unusual style, maybe you used different yarn than what was recommended, maybe the gauge was wrong, unfortunately, there are a little lot of little mistakes that can creep up when the instructions aren’t followed or understood exactly as written. Look everything over completely before starting a project, so you can double-check that the supplies match and see if something doesn’t make sense. And don’t forget, sometimes you just have to trust the instructions!
  4. Incorrect size When the final product doesn’t exactly look right, AKA it’s a few sizes too small or big, then you’re looking at tension and gauge problems. To diagnose whether it’s the wrong size gauges or simply how you knit, consider some questions posed by the Craft Expert, do you tend to knit tightly (and pieces are smaller than they should be) or loosely (leaving you with larger pieces)? You can use tension squares to count rows and stitches, which will give you an idea if you need a larger needle (your tension square has more stitches and rows than it should) or a smaller needle (your tension square has fewer stitches and rows than it should).
  5. Knitting the wrong way This common mistake is highlighted by Family Circle, and it can be a frustrating one. Oftentimes, you simply set down the piece for a break and pick it back up and it’s not facing the same direction.You’ll realize this when the pattern doesn’t seem to match up and go the full row, and it just takes some unknitting/tinking to go back to where you started.

The most important thing to remember regardless of the mistakes you make is to simply be patient. Though frustrating, most of these problems can be easily fixed and then become learning experiences for future projects. Donít sweat it!