Stitches

How do I maximize the amount of space I have to work with between the needles when knitting?

I'm just learning how to knit. Casting on goes just fine for me, but when I try to knit the first row, I seem to have enough room to fit my second needle into the stick to pull it off of the first needle. With each stitch I have less room, though, until finally I can't get the last few stitches off of the first needle. What is my problem?

Public Comments

1. This is a problem I had too when I started knitting. It's all a matter of holding the yarn very loosely and practicing a lot.
2. When you work a stitch, move the new stitch to the *shaft* of the needle before you take the old stitch off the left needle. You are probably working your stitches on the point of the needle, which is much smaller than the shaft, and the stitches are too small. It's the shaft that forms the right size stitch--which is why there are different sizes of needles. Edited to add: When you insert your working needle into the stitch on the "holding" needle, you should pull the stitch out enough to get the new stitch through it easily. No need to try to work the new stitch through the old stitch while it is resting at its normal size. Just put enough pressure on the stitch to open it up. Often, new knitters open the stitch so much, and pass that opening from stitch to stitch, that they end up with a huge stitch at the end of the row. You seem to have the opposite problem. It's okay to put a bit more pressure into opening each stitch as you work it. As you move from row to row, (1) your tension will even out and (2) the size of the worked stitches will even out. As the item is worn and washed, knitted fabric tends to work toward evening itself out as well.
3. Your cast on method may have a lot to do with your problem. There are lots of different ways to cast on stitches for knitting so maybe trying a different cast on may solve the problem you are having. Youtube has tons of videos on different cast on methods. 3 quick ones to look for are below - Long tail cast on Knit cast on Cable cast on