Help Desperate Newbie with Evil Purl Stitch!

[calendula]

Hi all,

Hoping someone will take pity on me. Self-taught knitting newbie. Everything was going swimmingly until I got to purl stitch. The basic problem is:
--The last stitch of EVERY row is VERY baggy (about 2-3x normal size)!

I have cast on and knit practice rows at least 30 times.
I have switched yarns.
I have tried making the cast on as tight as possible.
I have tried slipping the stitch (seems to make it worse).
I have knit in slow-motion to really focus,

and NOTHING helps.
I know there must be something very fundamental here but please can you send me any ideas? I have read that loose edges are common but it just seems strange to me that it is always the same stitch at the same place. It's not just the first row.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[SinginMamaTo2]

Hi. Total newbie here, too. I haven't even advanced to Purl yet!!

But my friend told me about www.knittinghelp.com and it has short tutorial videos and she explains things as she's doing it. Maybe that'll help.

Good luck

[calendula]

Thanks for the tip but I forgot to say that I did go there and have watched the vids several times. I think my basic technique is fine.....so it's still a mystery.

[pradiata]

Try this:

After you finish a row and turn your knitting to begin the next row, BEFORE making the first stitch on the new row, pull the yarn tight so there's no slack and keep the yarn tension tight for the 1st stitch or two. You may have to play around with this a bit to find the tension that works for you.

Hope this helps.

[katec67]

I have a book that says to avoid this, knit the last 3-5 stitches in a row fairly loose, then make the first 3-5 stitches of the next row fairly tight. This works very well for me.

[HoneyTree]

Originally Posted by pradiata

Try this:

After you finish a row and turn your knitting to begin the next row, BEFORE making the first stitch on the new row, pull the yarn tight so there's no slack and keep the yarn tension tight for the 1st stitch or two. You may have to play around with this a bit to find the tension that works for you.

Hope this helps.

:

I have also found that it's more a combo of what you do with the last stitch on the row and the first stitch on the next row. I've kind of incorporated an almost indiscernible "tug" at both stages to help with the big loopy stitches.

Calendula, I love your screen name. Calendulas are one of my favorite flowers!

[calendula]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to give the last and first stitches close attention.

One follow up question - does the type of cast on you use have any bearing on this? I'm doing the long-tail cast on currently and wonder if the other one (with the 2 needles) would make that last stitch firmer? What are your favorite cast-ons?

HoneyTree - thanks, calendula is my favorite too!

[Kyamo]

Cast on would only make a difference in the first row. Since this is happening on every row, changing cast on method will not help.

I second pulling tight especially right before and after you knit the first stitch in the new row. You may want to try slipping the first stitch in combination with pulling tight, however be careful as you can over do this and end up with too tight edges.