My kitchener does not seem to be improving...

[Perogi]

I've done a few different Fern and Faerie soakers now and I am always disappointed with my grafting job. I just can't get it to look seamless. Any tips? I have watched the video at www.knittingatknoon.com repeatedly.
Also, in her instructions she says to make sure that the yarn is coming from the back needle but when I do the soaker it comes from the front needle. I knit along doing the decreases and shaping for the crotch and leg holes and when I bring that "flap" of knitting up to meet the stitches on the holder the yarn is on the front needle at the right hand side. I don't see how I could get it coming from the back needle. Is that a big problem?

[littleturtlemama]

nope, that shouldn't matter at all.

have you seen the kitchenr tutorial on knitty? Idon't have the link handy but if you googel "kitchener+knitty" it's the first link :)

[Perogi]

Great link!! Maybe I'll try only tightening the yarn after every few stitches and see if that helps.

[~Jo~]

When doing the kitchener, I always make the stitches loose and then halfway through the row or even at the very end, I come back to tightening each stitch. It's hard to do it (in my personel opinion) as you go. I find it easier to make it look like the other stitches around to do it after and pull slightly so the stitches are the same size as the other. Also a great tip is to do this while the kids are sleeping or just in a quiet space, it's a zen thing for me. LOL! ;)

[Susan_WW]

I agree with Jo. I do it really loosely then I go back at the end and tighten the stitches, trying to make the tension match the surrounding stitches.

If your yarn is on the wrong side, you can just knit/purl another row to make your yarn move to the right hand side of the back needle. HTH :)

[Perogi]

Well I tried again last night on a soaker I just completed and it was a complete disaster!!! Maybe I need to take it to my LYS and get some hands on help or something. I tried leaving it loose and tightening it about halfway through and had trouble with that. Then at the end I went to the wrong side and tightened it there but I did it WAY too tight. :LOL It looks horrible but I'm trying not to stress about it and just consider it part of my learning curve. I had planned to fairy the newborn stuff when we are done with it but I'm afraid no one will even want to use it with my lack of skill. :bag

Susan - do you find it that helpful to have the yarn start at the back needle??

[Susan_WW]

Honestly, I've never tried it any other way ;)

[pageta]

When I do it, it doesn't matter if the yarn is on the front needle or back. The key is to start with the opposite needle that the yarn is on (if it's in front, you do your first Kitchener in back or vice versa). Then when you're looking at the fabric, if you see the purl side, you do purl-off-knit and if you're looking at the knit side, you do knit-off-purl. So if you're Kitchenering garter stitch where you're looking at the knit side on both sides, you can do knit-off-purl on both sides.

So:
(1) start on opposite side as where the working yarn is
(2) where the PURL side of the fabric is facing you, do PURL-off-knit
(3) where the KNIT side of the fabric is facing you, do KNIT-off-purl

To get it started, I take the working thread and do just the last part of the three steps on each stitch. In other words, if the purl side is facing me in back and the knit side in front (typically true), I go through the back stitch knitwise but DO NOT slide if off the needle and then through the front stitch (where the yarn is coming from in this case) purlwise but DO NOT slide it off. Then I continue with steps two and three until all the sts are gone.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out the Magic Loop until I went down to my LYS and had someone show me. I will also confess that it took about six times doing the Kitchener for me to get the hang of it so I could read my knitting and know what to do stitch by stitch (as described above). So just keep trying - don't give up. Go to your LYS if you need to. You will get it eventually.

Edited to clarify: when I say knit-off-purl, I mean run the needle through the stitch KNITwise, slip the stitch OFF the needle, then run the yarn through the next stitch PURLwise. For purl-off-knit, it would be run the needle through the stitch PURLwise, slip the stitch OFF the needle, then run the yarn through the next stitch KNITwise.

[pmcgary]

When I do it, it doesn't matter if the yarn is on the front needle or back. The key is to start with the opposite needle that the yarn is on (if it's in front, you do your first Kitchener in back or vice versa). Then when you're looking at the fabric, if you see the purl side, you do purl-off-knit and if you're looking at the knit side, you do knit-off-purl. So if you're Kitchenering garter stitch where you're looking at the knit side on both sides, you can do knit-off-purl on both sides.

So:
(1) start on opposite side as where the working yarn is
(2) where the PURL side of the fabric is facing you, do PURL-off-knit
(3) where the KNIT side of the fabric is facing you, do KNIT-off-purl

To get it started, I take the working thread and do just the last part of the three steps on each stitch. In other words, if the purl side is facing me in back and the knit side in front (typically true), I go through the back stitch knitwise but DO NOT slide if off the needle and then through the front stitch (where the yarn is coming from in this case) purlwise but DO NOT slide it off. Then I continue with steps two and three until all the sts are gone.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out the Magic Loop until I went down to my LYS and had someone show me. I will also confess that it took about six times doing the Kitchener for me to get the hang of it so I could read my knitting and know what to do stitch by stitch (as described above). So just keep trying - don't give up. Go to your LYS if you need to. You will get it eventually.

Edited to clarify: when I say knit-off-purl, I mean run the needle through the stitch KNITwise, slip the stitch OFF the needle, then run the yarn through the next stitch PURLwise. For purl-off-knit, it would be run the needle through the stitch PURLwise, slip the stitch OFF the needle, then run the yarn through the next stitch KNITwise.

These are great directions and I knew exactly what you meant...This idea would also help when grafting the pesky EWS - with ribbing....Would just have to think...is the purl facing/knit facing...

[Perogi]

Awesome instructions, Tana! I'll post back when I have made another soaker and try again....but for now I'm on to tackle the PPants pattern...although there is some grafting there too, isn't there?

[willowsmama]

Do you have any of Theresa's patterns? Her explanation is the easiest I've ever seen. And it's gets to be a total zen thing for me too, I'm sitting there cross legged on the couch chanting 'knit off, purl, purl off, knit' . I have to do it when the kids are sleeping or I lose my spot and get very cranky.

[Cynthia]

....but for now I'm on to tackle the PPants pattern...although there is some grafting there too, isn't there?

Yes, but it's in the crotch where it doesn't show much.

I really think the key to grafting is to do a lot of it. Then adjusting the tension becomes automatic -- I almost never go back and fiddle with it.

If you want to practice you could use swatches; graft them with contrasting colored yarn, take it out, do it again.....

[ravingcutie]

I do my grafting loosely and go back and tighten it using a yarn needle to pull my stitches tighter. I find that I tend to pull one leg of the stitch tighter than the other as I graft and so going back through to adjust this really helps me out.

If you're worried about your yarn coming from the "wrong" side, stop one row earlier. For instance, to get my yarn to come from the back of the work, I have to stop after a Right Side (knitted row). If you stop after a purled row, you will have the yarn coming from the front needle.

Then I work my set up:
Purl through first stitch on Front Needle,
Knit through first stitch on Back Needle.

Then I sit there and chant the mantra:
Knit-off, purl (front needle)
Purl-off, Knit (back needle)

If I've made my stitches loosely the first time through there's no question of which row I need to tighten. I just start at the far end and then adjust the stitches, pulling the extra yarn with me as I go. I always tug at the fabric in multiple directions as I do this so the tension evens out and the stitches lay correctly.

I think the key is practice! The more I did this the better I got and the more natural it was. Now it's 2nd nature and I can just zip through it without thinking.

[pmcgary]

I think on the learning curve they look like crap for a while and then suddenly start to look like they "should"....I never saw a gradual improvement...just all of a sudden it was like I finally "got" it.

[clothusingmama]

The kitchener stitch had me completely baffled until I found this. http://www.spellingtuesday.com/kitchener.html I have no idea if I found it on my own or if someone pointed me there but I would be lost without it. Just follow each picture and the directions underneath it. Like others, I make the stitches very loose and tighten them up later. Good luck!!