Magic loop knitting?

Question

i love this technique, but im finding that where the 2 stitches (first and last cast-on stitches) join, i have a large gap. it carries on throughout the knitting. i have tried tightening the yarn between the 2 stitches but it didnt work.what do i do to make this gap not visible.

Answer 1

You are making what knitters refer to as "ladders" in your knitting.  The loose stitches look like rungs, or steps on a ladder.

To minimize this you are correct in that you try to tighten the stitches.  

It might help to try it this way.

When you come around to the 1st stitch in the round, knit it as you normally would.  Then insert the needle into the 2nd stitch.

Do NOT  wrap the yarn yet to make the stitch.  First give the yarn a "tug" to tighten up the previous stitch.  Now wrap the yarn and complete the knit stitch.

Answer 2

Besides tightening up the "connecting" stitches, you may also want to try loosening your tension on the other stitches so it balances out better.

I find that I knit more loosely when "looping" even if the tension feels the same as I'm working. I've switched to DPNs and back again with the same sock ... it makes a real difference: DPN v. circular.

The good news is that most of this will "out with the wash." The tension will even out with washing and wearing.

Happy Knitting!

Answer 3

A friend of mine adds one stitch to the total count and then knits the extra stitch and the first stitch together. I do basically the same except I loop the extra stitch over the first and pull it up tight. With either method you may have your stitch loosen up. Another way I've seen to do this is to exchange the position of the first and last stitches without adding an extra so that you actually knit the first stitch last and the last stitch first,you have simply slid one stitch inside and past the other. One of those methods should work to eliminate the void in you cuff edge.