Questions about Knitting Scarves

[HoldingHope]

:shrug

okie dokie. I learned to knit over a year ago and so far have only started and completed one thing, a large square for a blanket I'm making for Noah.

Anyway, I was at the Florida LLL conference this past weekend and I won a HUGE basket full of tons of differnt colors and textures of yarn, about 15 sets of needles, and about 6 books!! It was awesome!

We're going to penn. in december so started knitting a scarf for my son and a scarf for my sister. The one for my sister is on size 9 metal needles and the one for my son is on size 10 bamboo.

I've never knitted a scarf before, but I'm quite fast at going through the rows. However, my friend, who, yes, has been knitting longer but not realy much faster than me, says she knits a scarf in about 2-3 hrs if she doesn't have any interruptions. Her scarves are GORGEOUS and a nice length. I'm finding that in 2-3 hours I'm not even half way through!

How long does it take you to knit a scarf?? I'm feeling like the end will never come! lol. My son's isn't too bad. I'm about half way through with his now, but his only started with 15 stitches per row, and my sister's had 22 stitches per row...hers is taking forever and a thousand days!

The other thing is that while I STARTED with 15 rows on my sons, it now has about 22-24, and my sister's started with 22 and now has about 28!

How in the world can I be knitting the same loops and end up creating more? And how do I stop that?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

[Punkie]

If I am knitting a really easy pattern, then I could do it in a few hours, but if they are more complex, then they take much longer. Anything that alternates knits and purls takes longer. I did the "Ribbed for Her Pleasure" scarf from the Stitch n B**** book, and it took much longer than one that I had in garter stitch.

If you're adding stitches, could it be that you are not putting the yarn behind the needle for the first knit in a row or not putting it in front for the first purl? That's an easy way to add stitches. Your best bet is to count them regularly, and then pull out a row if you added a stitch. A lot of the ladies in my knitting group like adding "life lines", where they put dental floss through a row. Then, if they ever have to unravel, it won't unravel past that point. I've never tried it. I just catch the loops, and I'm usually pretty lucky and don't lose any.

[vgabhart]

I think the previous poster answered the additional stitches question well.
As far as time goes, I've found the method you use to knit: continental, combined, etc., can make a big difference in speed. Also, just simple experience really effects your speed. Your friend is probably using larger needles too. 9 and 10 seem to be on the small side for scarves these days.

[HoldingHope]

Thanks for the replies! O.k., I'm getting sort of lost on the knitting lingo, LOL. I did try the garter/purl thing on the scarves, but only did it for about 6 rows, decided it was taking to long, and then just switched to "regular knitting", lol.

The blanket I did was with size 15 needles. I, too, wondered if the problem was the smaller needles. The only reason I'm using them is because I want tighter "stitching" (for lack of a more educated knitting word, LOL) because I want them to be really warm and don't want a lot of airflow between the yarn.

The extra stitches problem is probably what's happening. When I was doing the knit/purl thing I probably just got a little hurried and messed up with the yarn. I have NO IDEA how to take out rows.

thanks!

[Punkie]

This site has great videos that explain everything:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/

If you want to go directly to the page for correcting problems, its this one (http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php). Just scroll down a little bit :)

Bigger needles definitely make it go faster. If you want less airflow, maybe you could get a really chunky yarn to use with big needles. That way, since the yarn is nice and fat, there shouldn't be many "holes".

[HoldingHope]

thanks for the tip! What kind of yarn would you recommend that does that? I want to make scarves with all natural fibers. Do you know of any types of yarn that do that, but are also natural fibers and warm?

thanks!

[Punkie]

Wool is great :)

I've gotten some great, hand-painted wool from this store (http://handpaintedyarn.com/index.php). It is really inexpensive and beautiful. Go for the super bulky if you want to use really big needles. I also really like Cascade wool yarns. I bought my latest off of ebay, and its super soft :) If you have a good knitting store near you, then its always fun to go and rub all of their yarns :grin