The Knitters Thread

moo2moo

Ordered yarn for something over a week ago and it still hasn't arrived. Am getting most impatient but it has spurred me on to finish some ufos. Stupidly they were all knitted I just hadn't got round to sewing in the ends.

Apologies for the hugeness of the piccies. Photobucket claims they're thumbnails but obviously they aren't.

skintchick

I'm knitting a few presents this year but am having trouble. I wanted to knit a snood/cowl/circular scarf so I got a circular needle and some Sirdar Denim Ultra Mega Chunky yarn which felt soft on the ball, but knitted up (ribbed edge, then stocking stitch, will finish with rib too) it is solid! It could stand up on its own!

Is there anything I can do to soften it up (wash it?) or should I ditch it and use the yarn for something else (if so, what?).

I've spent two days knitting this so it's really annoying - I already had to start again once cos I used one of my two balls doing it all in rob and realised I wasn;t going to have enough yarn to make it deep enough, so if I have to pull it off the needle again I'm going to be really cross!

hotpot1000

Have u knitted it too tight or used too small a needle? did you check tension- usually a pattern will advise you how many stitches to an inch you should be aiming for.

it sounds unuseable so I think you may as well unravel it and start again loosely for a few rows see if it's any different?

sorry but we all have things go wrong occasionally

onthebreadline

I would tend to agree with hotpoint 1000, sounds as if you have used too small a needle, and not checked the tension.

What type of wool is this eg, aran, chunky, extra chunky?? and what size of needles did you use??

Without seeing the pattern, I would say most of the ones being sold in the shops are extra thick chunky and extra, extra big needles, and nearly all in rib, which means you could knit one up in a few hours/night. (if you knit stocking stitch and it folds over you will be seeing the wrong side of your knitting).

You could even double up your yarn with extra thick needles. Just do a tension first.

moo2moo

The manufacturers recommend a 10mm needle for sweaters with the yarn you're using, I'd have thought a snood needed to be knitted on 12mm or even 15mm to get it loose enough. Are you using needles that big?

skintchick

The pattern said chunky wool and 6.5mm needles so that's what I've used. I think I'm going to finish it and then see how it is as I can always unravel it afterwards, but it might be useable finished, it is hard to tell. Interesting that you think I needed bigger needles - the pattern was from my local wool shop and written by someone local.

onthebreadline, I did say in the OP what wool I was using - Denim Ultra Mega Chunky. I didn;t check tension as there was no guide given about tension in the pattern. Also, I know stocking stitch will flop but I have rib either side it give it some structure, plus I quite like the flopping.

So if no guide is given to tension, how do you check it?

bellaquidsin

It should tell you on the ball band what size needles to use for that particular wool.

Bella

squeaky

Hi

We have a long running knitter's thread which is well worth a browse... The Knitters Thread

PolkaDotsAndLace

I find blocking tends to soften the yarn - I've done a scarf for my SIL this year using a chunky Sirdar (can't remember exact type) and while it wasn't as solid as you describe (I used 10mm needles) blocking finished it nicely, and it always helps get rid of the kind of curling in at the sides effect I get with stocking stitch.

valk_scot

Mega Chunky will be a thicker yarn than just Chunky, I would have thought? Thare will be less yardage to 50/100g too, which is why you'll be running out of yarn I suspect.

Does sound as if you've mismatched needle to yarn. Check the ball band for recommended needle size then go two needle sizes up to give a soft drapy fabric for this yarn. BUT...your pattern will be knitted for a skinnier yarn and if you use the same number of stitches for your cowl then it will end up huge. You'll either have to recalculate the number of stitches or buy some proper chunky weight yarn, I'm afraid.