Hanging Loose or Tugging Tight

    
October 25, 2021

Are Your Stitches TENSE?!
How to tell if you knit/crochet too tight or loose

We often have customers and students tell us that they know that they are "too tight" or "too loose" of a knitter or crocheter. Usually, they aren't. So we thought we'd tell you what it actually means for knit and crochet if you're too tight or too loose.

Knitting:
Too tight means that you have a hard time moving your stitches along the needle. This means that it also depends on how strong your hands are! If you have a hard time moving your stitches up and down the needle, first try switching to slicker needles, with the slickest being nickel-coated brass (like Addi Turbos or Rockets). If it's still too hard to move them, try holding your yarn differently, wrapping it around fewer fingers.

Too loose means that your stitches have no relationship to the needle size and they're inconsistent enough to show in the finished work. Each loop should touch the needle the whole way around with no empty space between the needle and the loop. It is FAR more common to have loose purls than loose knits. To tighten and even stitches out, give the yarn a little tug before wrapping the next stitch. So instead of 4 steps, you'll have 5: In, Tug, Around, Out, and Off. You can also try purling with a smaller needle than you knit with when working stockinette.

Crochet:
Too tight means that it's difficult getting loops through one another. Usually, you'll hear an audible pop when pulling a new stitch through. To correct it, try holding your yarn differently so that it doesn't go through as many fingers. You may also want to switch hook styles, from swan's neck to in-line or vice versa.

Too loose means that the loops aren't related to the hook size, and often means that the stitches are uneven. Each wrap of the hook should touch the hook the whole way around. Some too-loose crocheters pull all wraps UP so that on a DC, for example, the last loop (drawn through the stitch below) is twice as long as the first loop. To fix it, try wrapping your yarn around more fingers or not pulling the loops UP so much.

Basically, if you are comfortable with your stitches and you like the way your finished pieces look, then you don't knit or crochet too tightly or loosely at all!

Need help getting your stitches even? Come by and see one of our knitting and crochet teachers for some extra help! We're here for you!

Be safe, be well, be kind!

-Caryn & the Yarnivore crew

  Shop News

Featured Pattern & Yarn
Long color change yarns are so much fun, and when you use two or more together in a project, the results are really magical! The Trio Blanket by Susan Carlson (crochet - FREE on FeltedButton.com) is one of those magical projects. 
The pattern calls for three cakes of Scheepjes Whirl, worked with only one color per row, but looks so much more complex! It's so pretty, it almost seems to shimmer!

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Private Lessons
In-store and online private lessons are available! Please call us at 210-979-8255 to schedule a lesson! Wendy, Dawn, Moses, and Nancy M. are all available to help you with your projects! Private Lessons can be scheduled outside of regular hours at the discretion of the teacher.

The Tip Jar

Hey crocheters! Do you hate the way your turning chain looks when doing DC? Here's a way to beef it up - try the stacked single crochet instead of a turning chain. Basically, you SC into the first stitch on the new row, then insert your hook into the vertical bar you just created and SC again. This sort of stacks two SCs together and mimics the look of a DC! Click HERE and scroll to option 3 for a tutorial! Works for taller stitches too!

All regular classes are currently on hold until we can safely seat up to 6 students in the classroom. We'll let y'all know when we can offer them again. Until then, we're offering most of our class material in private lessons.

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If you have a question for one of our teachers, you can email us at yarnivoresa@gmail.com. 
You can also email Wendy with knitting or crochet questions at wendy.yarnivore@gmail.com or contact her through her Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Wendy.at.Yarnivore/

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