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April 26, 2005

You're Not Gonna Believe This...

But I figured out what I was doing wrong.  I didn't figure it out by myself, so don't start thinkin' I'm a genius, but none the less, I fixed the uneven stitch problem.  I cruised over to Knitter's Review and did a search on the forums.  There was an excellent discussion on "rowing out".  I made a swatch over lunch and really concentrated on making the stitches by sliding the stitch to the taper before inserting the right needle and it dawned on me that I've been stretching the stitches out, which then don't bounce back.  My swatch looks fabulous - the stitches are uniform and there is no difference in tension between the knit and purl rows.  Yippee.  I learned an important lesson with this little exercise.  It is important to concentrate on producing quality knitting and think about your technique rather than just completing some mindless exercise (not that I can ever really zone out while I'm knitting, but you get my point).  I think the bamboo needles will be great because they will slow me down a little bit and make me concentrate on my technique.  I've decided (after this revelation) that I'm going to start from scratch on this little project (or I might leave the back and just frog the front pieces - I don't know).  I'll frog tonight and maybe finish tomorrow night and then I'll get some quality time with sock #2 before the bamboo needles arrive and I can start back in on the cardigan.  Thanks for all of your help and support during my little crisis.