10 January 10

(As a side note, I've published this on Sunday 10, January 2010. I don't know why the blog is stating that it is Friday.)

Ever been knitting and the yarn you're knitting with just pulls apart?

What causes it to pull apart? It would be unusual for a plied yarn to come apart (you're knitting way to tightly). Most likely you are using what the industry calls a single-ply yarn.

When you examine the yarn closely you can see the twist that is holding the fibers together. The problem arises when the way you wrap the yarn around the needle to knit or purl you slightly untwist the yarn. Successive stitches completely unwinds the twist and the yarn just pulls apart.

The solution: just knit from the other end of the ball of yarn. If you have balled the yarn and there is no other end, then you will have to re-ball the yarn to gain access to the other end.

You're doing nothing wrong. It just happens that the way you knit and the yarn are just not cooperating. Changing the direction of the yarn will make cooperation possible. Don't change the way you knit!