I can't fix my twist can I? :(

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

4 hours into a knitting project. First time I've ever knitted in the round and I've just noticed I've made a mobius strip :( how on earth did that happen and how can I avoid it happening again?
I can't see a way to fix it.

Any advice please before I rip out my stitches?

How many rows have you done?

When you joined the stitches in the round you didn't get them all facing in the same direction and so introduced the twist.

I don't think you can fix it at this stage, it probably needs to to be started again.

There's a useful post here from the delightfully-named Louise Zass-Bangham about how you can fix a twist if you're only a single row in, or even two, but you would might be easier just to pull it down and start again. I think the trick is to lay the work out on a table in front of you so you can smooth all the stitches down and make sure they are all lying with the same side facing up on the table.

Sorry, don't think you can fix it - need to start again. I did the exact same thing and tried very hard to figure out a way to make it ok. But got it right second time by making very sure all stitches were facing the right way. Tribpot is right.

I've done about 18 rows of 100 stitches :(

I'm making a chainmail helmet (don't ask) I should have looked up about knitting in the round before I started. I didn't realise there would be pitfalls. I will start again, but maybe try it in the flat to start with cos the stitches were quite crowded and I was a bit muddled even counting them.

Thank you.

Sounds like a plan! Mine is about 244 stitches. I found it really helped with the counting to place a stitch marker every 20 stitches for cast on. I love stitch markers!

That's a good idea re stitch markers. I hadn't thought of that. Yours is huge!

It's big - but I'm getting front and back of a sweater at the same time so it all works out! Your chain mail helmet sounds interesting - hope it's going well second time round.

It's going much better, though just four rows in. My tension is much better this time, so it might have been a good thing all in.

Quite like the idea of knitting front and back of a sweater at the same time! Saves sewing up and the feeling of one piece down, loads more to go.

Yep - I knit virtually everything seamlessly as it's much less hassle overall (although others will rightly say you can't get the exact same 'tailored' look to a garment that isn't knit flat and seamed). Doing this at the moment - the sleeves are knit in seamlessly as well, hurrah!

It's extreme, but there us a fix. Have you made anything with steeks before?

See two rows down your knitting a stitch or two apart. Machine stitch is fine, or you can do it with crochet. Then cut between them and resew it the right way round.

It's how you out sleeves in Scandinavian colourwork sweaters, but can be handy in a disaster !

I like that tribpot :)

I think I might have messed that up if I'd tried knotty knitter - I'm not very experienced and might have panicked part way through. I'll remember it for future though.

I struggle terribly with joining in the round.
Two tips:
1 Immerse the needle in hot water before you cast on and straighten it.

(Work with thread markers as suggested earlier. I use just a bit of thread in a contrasting colour, about 2" long)

2 Stretch out the pin with the correct number of stitches in front of you on the table and wedge one end down with something heavy. (I use the Crudens concordance). The push all stitches so they lie the same way. Even so it nerve wracking to join in the round and I have had times when I have had to cut through after a couple of rounds and make the tiniest of seams.

thanks for the tips :) I had to send dh out of the room when I was joining up this time so I could concentrate!

Oh, you should have used him to hold the pin down, while he kept his mouth shut. AIBU?

I feel your pain. I am doing 2k2p ribbing, which I hate anyway. I'm on my 4th and hopefully last cast on and just realized I lost concentration and Knitted where I should have Purled and vice versa.

So I've just reverse knit a row.

At least it was just one!

Dutchoma!

Oh no Giles, it's a nightmare when casting on doesn't go right. Last night I managed to get back to where I was before I'd muddled it. I seem to have not used nearly as much wool as before and it does look better, so it was probably a good thing. However, I did on my first count think I'd gained a stitch (would have just knitted it together somewhere and hoped) but fortunately the next two counts were correct.

I wouldn't mind but I'm the worlds slowest knitter and finding circular needles really hard to hold without them slipping out of my hands.

It depends on your style of knitting. If you're used to straight needles, do you tuck one under your arm? What kind of circs are you using?

I don't know what you call them, metal things with a plastic string between the two.

I'm very cack handed (and have inflammatory arthritis) I stick my right needle end kind of in my crotch and hold it still with my legs while my left needle moves and my right hand does the wrapping bit. This isn't working with such short needles.

Right, I did wonder. I think what you're doing is called Irish Cottage or Lever Knitting - is a video of one of its biggest proponents showing off just how bloody fast she can do it!

Now, doing that with a circular needle is harder, because you can't use a joint of your body to hold the right needle still. But it can be done - is an example.

It sounds like you might have a rather cheapo pair of circulars, like Pony or similar? They are very slippy and particularly with acrylic can be a pain to work with. You might be better with wood or bamboo.

Alternatively you can get massively long double pointed needles to work on, but they bring their own challenges!

If you have arthritis, you should really use bamboo needles. They have made such a difference to my arthritic hands.

And I've managed to get past my ribbing. Thank fuck!

I had no idea there was a name for my knitting, how on earth did you guess. I don't hold it as stable as the lady does and clearly I'm a snail! I'm. Going to watch the video tomorrow. I thought I'd dropped a stitch where the garter stitch meets cos I dropped the needles again. So I worked one in very badly then discovered I probably hadn't. Doh. So I do need to not drop them.

They are very cheap needles, the only ones I could find in town. I must try some bamboo as my hand now is very sore. I am not going to give up.

I think double pointed would bring in a new level of disaster!

Thank you so much for your advice, it's very kind and much appreciated :)

Well done Giles!!

Ah we've discussed lever knitting on MN before - I find it fascinating. SO fast.

T'internet is the place to buy needles - I like HiyaHiya (steel and pointy) but they do bamboo as well - I quite fancy these Chiaogo ones, they're quite long which you might find easier to work with but it depends how you're knitting in the round - is the needle you're using shorter than the diameter of what you're knitting, i.e. you're able just to go round and round?

The needle is really short, not much longer than the palm of my hand.
I just hadn't realised there would be a proper choice!

Short needles are better for circular knitting, esp if the diameter of the item is similar to the length of the needle, otherwise you'd have to stretch the stitches to get the needle far enough out to make the stitch. But if you've got a bit of room to spare you could get longer needles to make it easier to knit in your style, or you could get longer needles + a longer cord to do it using the Magic Loop method.