hi I'm Hannah from Knit with Hannah I'm
here today to answer the question why
does my knitting curl hi welcome to knit
with Hannah I'm Hannah I'm here with
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demonstrations with tips and tricks with
all sorts of things knitting. Now today
we're talking about curling knitting why
does it curl look at that it's like it's
the little cylinder not a flat piece of
knitting I'm gonna answer the question
for you I'm also going to give you some
ideas about how you can solve it and you
can change your knitting so it won't
happen so much and when it doesn't
actually matter and when it does. I will
get going and I'll show you one of these
samples that I've knitted up now okay
let's take a look at this knitting that
is curling at the edges and this one is
not only curling at the edges you can
see that it's almost rolling in on
itself but it's curling at the bottom as
well now this is a look that you may
very well want when you're knitting
especially if it's a baby beanie or just
any kind of beanie that is stocking
stitch related you may well say I fancy
that look at the base it just gives it a
bit of interest I really like that go
for it but the reason that this stocking
stitch curls at the edges is because
there isn't a balance between the
stitches when you knit you discard the
stitches from the previous row and they
have to go somewhere when you use the
knit stitch they fall to the back of
your knitting and when you use the purl
stitch they fall to the front of your
knitting so if you're alternating
between knit rows and purl rows they're
always falling on the same side of the
knitting and it's simple physics
if
physics can be simple that's all but
probably if you ask Sheldon from the
Big Bang Theory to you describe it for
you and tell you exactly what's going on
then he would be able to give you a much
better explanation in that respect than
I can! But I can tell you that you need a
yin and a yang with your knitting you
need balance just as we couldn't be
drinking coffee all day long we need a
few glasses of water as well you need a
balance with you knitting so just be aware if
you're knitting something in stocking
stitch and you want it to lie flat
you're gonna have a problem even if you
use the blocking method and you decide to
pin it out, make sure it's wet let it
dry so it's all flat that's not going to
help because it's still gonna curl give
it a little bit of time maybe even five
minutes and the blocking will only hold
it for that long because of the nature
of the stitch is the fact that there
isn't an even balance between the two
sides so let me show you a few options
and you'll have an idea of how you can
change that and make it better if you
want to change it at all so one option
here is to knit a square or knit
whatever you're knitting if you want it
to be flat with garter stitch edges this
is preventing the stretching the curling
on the edges here but it's not
preventing the curling that much here
this would be fine if you're making a
very long scarf and I am knitted a long
scarf with this method up a pocket on
either end with a super chunky yarn it's
fine it doesn't curl at the edges because
it's thick enough and bulky enough to
take the weight and to balance itself out.
With a fine yarn this is only an aran
weight so it's not that thin, just with
that fine, finer yarn is just not quite
ready to get to the point where it's
balanced. It's still curling at they cast
on and it's still curling a bit at the
cast off so that's your first
option and like I said that would be
fine with super bulky yarn, super chunky
yarn and that would work quite well.
Now this is another option and you can make
so many squares and sew them all
together and this would look really nice
this is the general technique whenever
I'm asked to make a baby blanket I use
this as well I give myself a garter
border so I have knit stitches all the
way down the side just like the previous
sample but I also have garter stitch
rows just after cast-off and make sure I
have enough yarn left over so I can do
garter stitch rows before I cast off so
the cast on edge it was upside down the
cast on edge starts and I have garter
stitch rows that is giving a balance I
then use the stocking stitch so it's
smooth on one side and it's lumpy on the
other and then I have that garter stitch
at the top before I cast off now when
it's a larger item then that is going to
work brilliantly because the weight of
it will actually hold it together and
stop it from curling I would say
definitely lots of these little squares
they'll have that edge to them to hold
it together to make it not curl quite so
much and when you sewed them together
for a blanket it's gonna look great or
use this method for a large item like I
said I use this method for making my
baby blankets the other option is to go
the easy route and go straight back to
basics garter stitch you cast on you
need every row and you cast off and that
balance is there very naturally because
you're casting off you're sorry you're
knitting every stitch and the discarded
stitches from every row are falling at
the back of every row so when you turn
it over they're falling at the back when
you turn over to over to do the next row
that you're they're falling at the back
it's evenly weighted and that has no
problem whatsoever it's not even
thinking about curling. Garter stitch can
look a bit messy I mean and look at that
I'm an experienced
knitter, sometimes it can look uneven and
they're just a little bit of a stitches
tiny bit bigger than any other one said
it's not that glamorous if you wants a
bit more interest you want it to stop
curling yes go for garter stitch or you
find something that is truly balanced
and you won't find anything like it
it is moss stitch also known as seed
stitch and this is when you alternate
between knit stitch purl stitch knit
stitch purl stitch knit stitch purl
stitch on every single row and then you
swap over on the other row where there
was a purl stitch you knit it so you are
giving a checkerboard effect and it's a
very small checkerboard effect so it's
not even thinking about curling just
like the garter stitch it is so finely
balanced that it works really well if
you just increase the checkerboard
effect so maybe you're knitting three
and purling three and knitting three and
purling three and you're doing that for
a few rows and then you're switching
over to create the little squares of
knit stitches and purl stitches then you
are going to notice that it isn't quite
so balanced it will be a similar effect
to this it may feel a bit like it's not
quite right but over a larger distance
then it works really well I have made a
couple of very large blankets with that
method it was as many as ten stitches
per per block ten stitches switching
between knit and purl across the row and
then something like twelve or thirteen
rows and for each set and then I
switched so it looks like a checkerboard
and that's as simple as it needs to be
it's just a case of balancing it out and
thinking about what size you want to
knit to smaller the finished size
the smaller the balance has to be and if
it's a small size like this these
squares
then you do want to go for garter stitch
or you want to go for seed stitch or at
the very most a double mas stitch which
is where you do the same thing as must
itch but you repeat it for two rows and
then you switch so that will look very
well done and it will look very balanced
there you are
you now know why your knitting is
curling and how you can prevent it and
of course if this is your problem but
you're going to sew it seem but you're
knitting on circular needles that's it's
a jumper and you're gonna sew the sides
together you're sewing a hat and it's
got a seam at the back he doesn't matter
because nobody's gonna notice it until
you've finished you know other than when
you're knitting you're going to notice
it so don't worry about it so much it
can feel a bit awkward just as you start
those first few rows but once you get
into it and you're up here it won't be
so cumbersome well I do hope that was
helpful you know all about your curling
missing and how you can prevent it now I
will see you again next Tuesday do
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I'll see you again soon bye for now
happy knitting