I hate grafting with the intense passion of 1000 white hot..

[Muggins&Doody]

BURNING SUNS!!! :bang :mur
It always turns out slanty! WHY WHY WHY. Does anyone have any tips?
I hear the :violin playing for me.

[pageta]

Are you talking about the Kitchener? If so, it sounds like you're off by a half-stitch or something. Try using different directions - sometimes hearing it from someone else helps it make more sense. I think there are some good links posted in the Technique forum.

[Lauira]

Oh mama...so sorry you are frustrated!

I found this video immensely helpful to make sure my technique was right: http://knittingatknoon.com/kitchener.mpg .

But I don't pull it tight like she does - rather I leave it really loose (like the seam is an inch wide) and than when I finish (ie. the knitting needles are out), I tighten it up using my tapestry needle. This way I can totally match the tension of the knitting to make it completely invisible. It is realy easy to tighten up afterwards.

If it is "slanty" maybe part of your weaving is tighter that other parts which pulls one side of each stitch down? That is the only thing I can think of. If this is the case, you should be able to fix that by leaving the weve really loose until the end,

HTH! :)

[pamelamama]

What do you mean slanty? Can I get a pic?

[lifetapestry]

Oh mama...so sorry you are frustrated!

I found this video immensely helpful to make sure my technique was right: http://knittingatknoon.com/kitchener.mpg .

)

thanks so much for posting this-- it's a great video and I'd wish I'd seen it a couple of months ago. Pam, you should add this to your class resources for the WW soaker class.

Karla

[pamelamama]

Believe me, Karla, it's in there now!!

There's also a 'technique links' section here in teh main forums... there are a few neat grafting-related sites!!

ox pam

[Muggins&Doody]

If it is "slanty" maybe part of your weaving is tighter that other parts which pulls one side of each stitch down?


YES!! That's exactly what's happening. Thank you for the tips!!
Here is a pic for everyone (excuse the one leg cuff, I'm doing the other during naptime).
http://pic13.picturetrail.com:80/VOL460/2198062/4378444/62038018.jpg

[pamelamama]

maybe you're pulling each stitch too tight?

[Muggins&Doody]

es posible
I do like to pull those suckers tight. So the general consensus is that I need to do them a lot looser? Then pull them tight when I'm done?

[pamelamama]

what you are doing with kitchener is creating a faux row of stitches... each stitch you create with grafting should approximate the tension of your regular stitches.

they should never be tight.

xo pam

[Sheena]

Yes, not pulling them tight was a hard lesson to learn. I am a tight knitter so I was making them REALLY tight and it looked bizzaro. Keep 'em loose!

Your soaker looks great!

[ravingcutie]

I always have to go back & loosen 1/2 of every stitch....more like evening them out with my tapestry needle. Wah lah! No slant!